The site of York’s medieval Jewish cemetery, known as Jewbury, has been granted protected status by the government to shield it from developers.
It was prompted by preliminary discussions by York Council for its use as mixed-use development scheme.
The decision follows advice from Historic England and consultation with the Chief Rabbi, Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe, Foundation for Jewish Heritage, York Liberal Jewish Community and the Centre for the Study of Christianity and Culture.
First edition Ordnance Survey map of the Jewbury area of York showing the site of the cemetery as a parcel of land used at that time as an orchard. (1:10,560 scale, surveyed 1846-1851, published in 1853)
Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, said: “The scheduling of Jewbury recognises the exceptional historical and cultural significance of this site. Medieval Jewish Cemeteries are very rare, with only ten having been positively identified in England, and none are as extensively understood as this one. It represents an irreplaceable archaeological and cultural resource that deserves protection.”
Excavations at the Jewbury site have demonstrated that approximately 50% of graves remain undisturbed, with well-preserved remains.
Detail of the Jewbury Cemetery Plaque, commemorating the site of the medieval Jewish cemetery of York. © Historic England Archive
In the early 1980s, as part of development on the wider site, the remains of almost 500 individuals were excavated and removed for study. Despite some uncertainty at the time, it is now accepted that this is the site of York’s medieval Jewish cemetery.
On 8 July 1984 the human remains were reinterred in a plot on the south side of the site, in the presence of the then Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Great Britain and the Commonwealth, the Late Lord Jakobovitz and members of York’s Jewish community.
The location is marked by a plaque commemorating the medieval Jewish community of York.
The cemetery provides insight into York’s medieval Jewish population, particularly significant given the 1190 massacre at Clifford’s Tower, and the expulsion of all Jews from England a century later, in 1290.
York is already one of only five English cities designated as an ‘Area of Archaeological Importance’ (AAI), which grants a level of protection by requiring the local authority and York Archaeological Trust to be notified before any disturbance of the ground. The Jewbury site falls within the York City Centre AAI.
