Eboracum Roman museum no longer on 'planned list' - York Archaeology

York Archaeology – formerly known as the York Archaeological Trust – has admitted that while plans for some kind of Roman attraction in York  remain on its 'wish list' they are no longer on a 'planned list'.

The admission comes following the collapse of the original developers and site owners - Rougier House Developments and Rougier Street Developments - with debts totalling £24 million.

York Archaeology, working with Rougier Street Developments, had once hoped to create a major new underground museum, Eboracum, at Rougier Street as part of the planned regeneration of the area.

The organisation – which created Jorvik - claimed the Roman museum had the potential to bring 500,000 visitors to York every year, and could boost the visitor economy by £21million.

Even after the entire Rougier Street site was put on the market in March last year just months after being granted planning permission, York Archaeology chief executive David Jennings said he ‘remained optimistic’ that plans for the new museum could still go ahead with whoever took over the site.

Artist's impression showing what the entrance of the Eboracum Roman museum might have looked like (Image: Planning documents)

But now that Rougier House Developments and Rougier Street Developments have gone into liquidation, that optimism seems like a distant memory.

York Archaeology declined to comment this week on the news the original developers had gone into liquidation.

But in a statement to The Press, the organisation said: “We are obviously disappointed that we were not able to proceed with the Roman Project, as we saw a huge amount of interest from the public.

“However, the project was specifically tied to that site (Rougier Street), so a Roman attraction for York is very much on the ‘wish’ list rather than ‘planned’ list.”

Conservation champion Johnny Hayes, who opposed the scheme throughout, said he was unsurprised they had ultimately come to nothing.

The Rougier Street development had been out of scale and unviable, he said - and the Roman museum essentially tacked on to it as a sweetener.

"Thank goodness it has ended when it did rather than after a big hole had been created in the city centre," he said.

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There was huge excitement when plans for the Roman museum – expected to do for Roman York what Jorvik did for Viking York – were first unveiled.

The museum would have been part of a major regeneration of Rougier Street proposed by Rougier Street Developments which would have seen the demolition of Northern House, Rougier House and the Society Bar building and their replacement with a new, 10-storey building that would have included scores of new flats as well as offices and shops.

The original Roman Quarter plans in Rougier Street, which were rejected by council planners as 'monolithic' (Image: Planning documents)

The Roman museum would have been partly on the ground floor of the new building – and partly underground. York Archaeology said it would have been twice the size of Jorvik and would ‘do for Roman York what Jorvik did for the Vikings.’

The organisation – which has charitable status – also planned a two-year archaeological dig, with public involvement, to investigate the Roman archaeology on the west side of the River Ouse, where the Roman civilian city once stood.

The Coppergate dig in 1981 sparked huge interest in York's Viking past. The Eboracum plans - which included a two-year archaeological dig - would have done the same for York's Roman past, York Archaeology said (Image: Supplied)

But not everybody was happy with the plans.

City planners sensationally rejected the original proposals in early 2021, saying the proposed 10-storey building was too big and too ‘monolithic’.

The developers submitted revised plans. Instead of one new building, there were to be two – and the design was described as more ‘fluid’.

The revised proposals included an 88-room aparthotel, 150 new apartments, 25,000 square feet of office space – and Eboracum.

The revised, more 'fluid' plans for the proposed 'Roman Quarter' in Rougier Street which were approved by York planners (Image: Planning documents)

There were those who still opposed the revised plans, such as Mr Hayes. But they were approved by the city council in October 2022.

Then, just a few months later, came the sensational news that the whole site - planning permission and all - had been put on the market.

York Archaeology insisted they were still optimistic that the Roman museum could go ahead.

But the news that Rougier House Developments and Rougier Street Developments have now both gone into liquidation seem to have put an end to the Roman museum plans once and for all.