IT was just a city cafe - but deep inside lay a secret that would change York forever.

For in the cellars of the York Coffee House in Pavement lay in wait a discovery that started the city's Jorvik story.

Beneath the coffee house was a Viking house.

It was uncovered during excavations in 1973. The cafe had closed and was to became part of the next door bank, Lloyds, on the corner of Piccadilly and Pavement.

York Archaeological Trust director Peter Addyman had been given permission to excavate the bank’s underground vaults.

He’d suspected there would some Viking deposits preserved in the waterlogged peaty soil down there - and he wasn’t disappointed. Archaeologists found timbers from a Viking building, as well as textiles from clothing and leather from shoes.

In 1973 Blue Peter presenter Valerie Singleton visited the site and interviewed Peter.

You can watch the video below - and look at some of the many artefacts found during the dig.

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It was to be the first of many incredible Viking discoveries in York. In 1976, in preparation of a major redevelopment at Coppergate - on a run-down site occupied by a pub and the old Craven sweet factory - archaeologists lifted the floor of an old cellar and found a well-preserved Viking house. It marked the discovery of the old Viking city of Jorvik.

The BBC is sharing its archives with Press readers and you can see for yourself the Viking house and its artefacts in this Blue Peter film which was first aired on January 29, 1973.