But the mud layers below are a different matter. A plan to demolish the Northern House to reveal centuries of history below and to create a new Roman-themed visitor center, hotel and apartments has sparked controversy among archaeologists. Development in the Roman quarter of York The York Archeology Trust (YAT) teamed up with a local developer, North Star, to propose the creation of a huge underground museum filled with Roman artifacts that are sure to be found under the Northern House. The development of the “Roman Quarter” – to be called Eboracum, named after the Roman forerunner of York – will be funded by the replacement of the Northern House: a 10-storey building with an 88-room hotel, 153 apartments and office space. However, the plan has rivals from Historic England, who described it as “confusing and contradictory”, to the Council on British Archeology. “We are very shocked by the brutal approach taken by this particular development,” said Neil Redfern, executive director of the CBA, which represents more than 600 institutions. Archaeologists usually board after a development is proposed, he said, and the excavations are no bigger than necessary. “What this proposal does is say, no, we would like a visitor center and to get this visitor center we want to dig a very, very big hole to find the material that we could then put in this center visitors. And to afford it, we will need an extremely large building at the top. “ “Today’s North House is definitely not a beauty,” said Johnny Hayes, a former independent York City councilor and veteran of many town planning campaigns. “But it was built before the conservation area was created and two mistakes do not do the right thing. “If it is built, I think it will become one of the most hated buildings in York.” A Roman column outside the York Minster. The city was once an important part of the northern Roman Empire. Photo: Loop Images Ltd / Alamy “There are a lot of unanswered questions,” Redfern said. Only a third of the site would be excavated, so what about the rest? The YAT would not take more than two years, and digging six meters to Roman level would mean passing through Viking and English deposits – what if they made an excellent find? What happens to the visitor center plan if they find nothing? What if the developer crashes or sells with the design license? Protected from the April hail at the back of the Northern House, David Jennings, CEO of YAT, has answers to some of these questions. The techniques have improved since the 1980s and archeology has to do with the unexpected, he says, convinced that the two-year deadline would not jeopardize the excavation. The reason they will excavate only a third of the land is because the Northern House was partly built on an old gas station, which had fuel tanks dug deep into the ground, so a lot of material was lost a long time ago. “This is truly an opportunity once given to a generation,” Jennings said. “It’s been 30 years since we saw an excavation of this magnitude.” The adjacent Aviva Building, built in the 1990s, was the last large-scale excavation. He revealed that there was a camp of Roman citizens on the south bank of the river Ouse, with a road about below Tanner Row leading to a bridge to a legionnaire camp. Lendal Tower and Bridge on the River Ouse in York. Photo: John Potter / Alamy “We will be able to begin to explain the connections around the old Roman road, the city’s economy, the meat they ate. “In previous excavations we have found a dormitory and pieces of Roman tents in the name of a centurion mentioned in the Hadrian’s Wall, Sollius Julianus,” says Jennings. Only this area, with the architectural styles created before the invention of conservation areas, could withstand such a development, Jennings said. Elsewhere in York, buildings are smaller, so developers are less likely to have to pay for archeological excavations. “This is one of the few places that can be done, because of the location, the scale and the relationship between us and a local development community,” Jennings said. “It depends on whether the emphasis is on conservation or on new discovery.” The skeleton of a Viking woman on display at the Jorvik Viking Center in York. Photo: Anthony Chappel-Ross York is home to British archeology – CBA headquarters are a five-minute walk from the Northern House. The city is a place of international importance in part because so much history happened nearby, from the proclamation of Constantine as emperor in 306 to the battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, but also because the city’s wetland has retained so much material. Eboracum would be twice the size of the hugely successful Jorvik Viking Center, the result of a similar archaeological excavation from 1976 to 1981, also conducted by YAT – before York’s Coppergate Mall was built. Coppergate’s excavation was successful because the lack of oxygen in the water allowed leather shoes, timber from Viking two-story houses, and even spicy lime-sealed cisterns to be preserved, the aromas of which can still be experienced in the center. The Covid-hit British tourism industry has returned to pre-pandemic levels in York and earlier this month saw the opening of a new City Walls center and the reopening of Clifford’s Tower, the motte and bailey castle built by William the Conqueror during his genocide in the north. campaign. “The beauty of York is that archeology is both below and above ground, because the above-ground expression of buildings, street patterns and hiking plots is a reflection of what lies beneath the ground,” Redfern said. “The most valuable feature of York is the human scale that comes from the first people who went there and started developing this place. “It simply came to our notice then. “We know the York Archaeological Trust well,” Redfern added. “It’s a good archeological site. I just do not think they have made the right choice. “
