White Hart Hotel Leisure and Spa Development Project

In October 2025 we began the construction of the new 11m Indoor Vitality Pool, Gym and Sauna facilities which will become our new Aquitaine Pool & Spa. Located on the ground floor of the Eastgate Coach House Wing, works will be completed in spring 2027. During the construction works, we will be posting regular updates and timelapse videos to help guests and the community in Lincoln to see how the project is progressing.

CGI Images of the pool and spa

Three people are in an indoor pool area, enjoying a moment of leisure; one man relaxes in a small round pool, a woman steps into the water, and another woman sits on a lounger near two empty chairs.

Mood board featuring a brass wall sconce, terracotta tiles, a white lounge chair, olive tree in a pot, and a sample of Farrow & Ball School House White paint—perfect inspiration for a spa-inspired development project or leisure-focussed interior.

Timelapse Video 9 – September 2026

August 2026 Report

There was a small smithing hearth containing hammerscale cut through an earlier spread of lime mortar on the south side of the excavation area (see photo below). The Roman wall revealed during the underpinning is emerging on the west side of the site running diagonally through to the corner of the excavations. The second Roman wall appears to have been completely robbed out and is not visible in the excavations.

Three workers in orange safety gear and helmets excavate a rocky archaeological site, using tools and collecting soil samples amid scattered stones and wooden planks, as part of a larger development project.

Timelapse Video 8 – July 2026

Timelapse Video 7 – June 2026

June Report

A exciting discovery has been made with the presence of a robber trench for a very large wall that runs the full length of the excavation area and beyond its limits. The same feature was recorded to the east of the pool in the rear access/bins area last year but it is only now clear that it was a robbed out wall. The robbed out wall trench is very wide c.5ft (though the wall itself might have been a little narrower) and this raises questions as to what such a substantial building was doing on this site? There are two possibilities

1) That it is the remnant of a Roman building that survived into the 13^th century or thereabouts (it is a little high in the expected sequence but not impossible)

2) That it is part of a church (also not impossible)

All this is speculation at the moment and we will have an update on this once we know more.

Rectangular archaeological excavation pit with stratified soil layers, exposed rocks, and metal supports along the perimeter—part of a leisure development project.

Timelapse Video 6 – May 2026

Timelapse Video 5 – April 2026

Timelapse Video 4 – March 2026

February 2026 Report

There has been a discovery of a very a large feature which may be a corn drying kiln associated with brewing. There are a few other examples from around the country, including one that was excavated in Northampton in 2014 which was 13th century in date. The White Hart example appears to be larger but may be a little later in date.

The sloping sides are lined in plaster and the base where there is a layer of charcoal, is lined with pitched tiles. Three steps lead down into the kiln but the back wall (where the kneeling man is situated) was damaged when a 20th century brick partition wall was constructed. The superstructure of the kiln has gone but the grain would have been laid out on a mesh of woven twigs or reeds for drying, well above the charcoal fire below so that the grain did not catch fire during the drying process.

Timelapse Video 3 – February 2026

January 2026 Report

Preparatory work for the construction of a new pool and gym complex at the White Hart Hotel has been in progress since December 2025. Archaeologists from Allen Archaeology Ltd have been monitoring this work which included the excavation of a trench for the sheet piling that’s required in advance of excavation of the pool itself.

The excavations lie at the rear of the White Hart Hotel in an area that was a stable and stable yard from around 1700 onwards. Cobbles belonging to that yard were found during previous evaluation of the area in 2023-24. The stable block was demolished and the yard area was briefly remodelled as a garage prior to construction of the present building on its site which dates to 1938. The façade facing Eastgate has a very large double door reminiscent of entrances into stable yards. In the 1950’s the area was modified to provide offices and other back of house facilities for the hotel.

A trench was dug around three sides of the pool area in order to install trench sheets to retain the ground whilst the excavation of the pool is carried out. Work on this strip around three sides of the pool has revealed further evidence of medieval stone wall foundations, previously recorded in 2024, which run back from Eastgate, dividing the area into three or four properties. At the back of one of these properties were three hearths. The latest in the sequence was a small square intensely burnt area with fragments of hammerscale indicating that it may have been used for small-scale ironworking. This had replaced a much larger pit with evidence of burning. Also dug into the pit, on the very edge of the excavations was a rectangular hearth that had been lined with roof tile. Tile hearths have been found elsewhere in the city and are typically 14th century in date. All the hearths appeared to be for industrial, rather than domestic, use although the function of the two earlier hearths is as yet unknown.

The stone wall of a cellar beneath the Victorian building on the corner of Bailgate was also recorded.