It is now thought that the Guildhall was a built as a Royal palace of Henry II and completed by 1157, although there is no absolutely certain evidence that it was in Royal ownership before 1228.Stocker, D.A., et al (1991).St Mary's Guildhall, Lincoln. The Survey and Excavation of a Medieval Building Complex C.B.A. /City of Lincoln Archaeology Unit: The Archaeology of Lincoln, VolXII-1, pp. 6–7 & 38–39. In 1251 the building was sold by Henry III’s butler, Michael de la Burne, to the guild of St Mary of Lincoln. It remained in the ownership of the guild until 1547 when it passed into the ownership of the Lincoln City Council. Until 1614 it was leased to various tenants, but in that year it was leased to the recently established Lincoln Christ's Hospital School, a Bluecoat school. This lease continued until 1633, although the school had moved to a new site on the Christ’s Hospital Terrace, just below Lincoln Cathedral, in 1623. Subsequent leases were to the Fawkes family who sub-let parts of the property. In 1815 it was leased to Coningsby Waldo Sibthorp MP of Canwick Hall; the lease shows that the northern part of the property was being used for malting. Following the Municipal Reform Act 1835, his son Charles de Laet Sibthorp was able to purchase the Guildhall and the Paddock behind for £455."Stocker", p. 10 The paddock behind the buildings was used as the first home of Lincoln City Football Club between 1884 and 1895. Gradually the Lucas family of builders took over the leases for the property. The Maltings had been leased to the brewing firm Warwicks and Richardsons, which ceased operations around 1913. The Sibthorp Street estate was laid out in the 1890s and the two early houses of the west wing of the palace were demolished in 1896 to make way for the street.
