York divided over plan for new ‘Roman quarter’ (hotel and 153 flats included)

Bid to fill underground visitor centre in complex with artefacts not even dug up yet shocks archaeologists

No one in the column of tourists making their way to York Minster along the city wall even glances at Northern House. The slab of beige 1960s architecture is not a building that provokes much passion.

But the layers of mud beneath it are a different matter. A plan to demolish Northern House to unearth the centuries of history below and create a new Roman-themed visitor centre, hotel and apartments has caused a row among archaeologists.