The consultation document on the two possible City of York Council office sites being circulated to all households in the city contains a rather startling statement to anyone interested in railway history.

In the section describing the merits of the old railway West Offices, it says: “West Offices is on the site of the medieval Council of the North headquarters.”

This comes as something of a surprise, since it has always been understood that the headquarters of the King’s Council of the North was housed in the Lodgings of St Mary’s Abbey after its dissolution in 1539, hence the origin of its present name, The King’s Manor. The only headquarters anywhere near the West Offices is the former headquarters of the North Eastern Railway Company, just across the road and at present undergoing conversion to York’s first five star hotel. You have to wonder… If some new hitherto unpublished research has unearthed new information about the West Offices site, then I suggest a thorough archaeological excavation should be undertaken to validate this, before any scheme to convert the buildings is embarked upon.

Alison Sinclair, Norfolk Street, York.