Excavation of four medieval properties in Coppergate, a street known to be particularly prosperous in the 13th-15th centuries, has revealed the most extensive archaeological view of an 11th- to 17th-century secular townscape ever recovered in York. Anoxic conditions which preserved the underlying Viking Age remains so well, were maintained in 11th- to 13th-century deposits. They allow an unprecedented view of York's houses, workshops and properties during centuries when none survive above ground and documentation is sparse.