Barley Hall
Barley Hall
Once home to the Lord Mayor of York, the building was long-forgotten and was scheduled for demolition until York Archaeological Trust restored it to its former glory, giving you the chance to experience what it would be like to live over five hundred years ago.
Schools
A visit to Barley Hall allows pupils to get a totally hands-on experience and gain an insight into life in the past. Discover what life was like for a child living in Tudor times. What did they eat? Where did they sleep? Through investigating artefacts and using role play, your class will find out!
Your visit to Barley Hall can either comprise a full or half day spent as a Tudor in our specially designed sessions, or you can take a Tour of the Hall with a guide from Tudor times and choose specific workshops to tie in with your school’s needs. Every school visit will include interacting with our costumed characters, who will describe the contrasting lives of the Hall’s wealthy residents and their poorer servants.
Barley Hall Workshops
Experience life in a medieval townhouse with the help of the servants at Barley Hall. With a range of specifically designed, interactive and fun workshops to fire the imagination, Barley Hall will give a little taste of domestic life in the Tudor Period.
Full Day Experience
A Day in the Life of a Tudor Child
Your class will spend the whole day at Barley Hall, dress up in Tudor costume and become servants for the day. They will lay the tables, polish the brass, make soap and clean the buttery and pantry. They will also learn about some of the more refined aspects of Tudor life through the Tudor School session. Will your class be disciplined enough to become servants at the house?
Half Day Experiences
Medieval Manners
Join in with life at a highly respectable household and learn all about how to behave in polite society. You will learn to mind your manners at the table, dress correctly, greet your companions and join in with medieval festivities to celebrate the season.
Tudor Discoveries
Scholars and explorers are on hand to bring you the latest discoveries of the Tudor Age. The world is changing and do you have what it takes to keep up? Would you make a good trader? Or will you chase gold as an alchemist? Try your hand at some of the latest inventions and have a go at being a Tudor Explorer!
Individual Workshops
Tudor Medicine
A chance to learn about Tudor medicine and how illness and ailments were treated hundreds of years ago. Discover the methods used by the barber surgeon and find out about some of the Tudors’ most gruesome diseases and grisly cures. Not for the faint-hearted!
Tudor Weapons
Hear how weapons of all kinds were used in everyday Tudor life, from sport and hunting to self defence. Discover how weapons could be status symbols or valued items of costume, and handle some of these weapons for yourself.
Tudor School
Meet the School Master and see what school would have been like 500 years ago. Recite the alphabet, write with quill and ink pens, and learn to count with jettons. A fun session with plenty of activities to put you through your paces!
Please note: a maximum of 32 children can be accommodated in the ‘Day in the Life of a Tudor Child’ and ‘Tudor School’ workshops.
Part of the Jorvik Viking CentreJorvik group.
