Barley Hall

What We Offer Visiting Schools:

School Trips

Experience what life was like in this magnificent restored medieval townhouse with the help of our friendly Barley Hall servants.

A visit to Barley Hall allows students to become immersed in life in a wealthy merchant’s townhouse in the Middle Ages. Learn about the Snawsell family who lived here towards the end of the medieval period and discover how the remains of their home were uncovered and restored.

Please note that Barley Hall is a historic building and features uneven floors, narrow stairs and steps between rooms. Facilities such as accessible toilets and a lift are unavailable due to the nature of the building.

If you’d like to find out more about visiting Barley Hall, please contact our reservations team directly by phone (01904 615505) or email schools@yorkat.co.uk

Virtual Outreach

Can’t visit us in person? With York Archaeology learning virtual outreach, you can invite a Tudor townsperson or medieval medic into your classroom via videoconferencing. All you need to take part in a webcam, microphone and access to a videoconferencing platform.

Why Choose Us for an Educational Visit:

School Trips

Barley Hall offers a unique and immersive look at a wealthy medieval home in the company of a costumed guide, with activities to spark your pupils’ interest and bring history to life. Admission now includes the brand-new ‘Beasts at Barley Hall’ exhibition, exploring the stories of animals in medieval life.

Extend your visit to Barley Hall with our 45-minute workshop sessions, designed to spark your pupils’ interest in the past by exploring a variety of fun and interesting themes.

Designed with Key Stage 2 in mind, but suitable for all key stages, our learning team are happy to discuss your specific learning aims.

Virtual Outreach

York Archaeology learning’s award-winning school workshops have been adapted for access online. Wherever you are in the world, they can deliver a digital history lesson straight to your classroom with our live virtual outreach sessions. Your students can spend 45 minutes exploring life in the middle ages. So, do you want to meet with a medieval medic, chat to a servant or experience the story of the struggle for the crown between the Houses of York and Lancaster first-hand from one of the city’s residents. The choice is yours.

Subjects and Topics Covered:

School Trips

Your class can choose to have a guided tour of the house with our friendly costumed Barley Hall servants, with plenty of challenges, roleplay activities and medieval merriment along the way. Discover the story of the building from its beginnings as accommodation for the Priors of Nostell to its loss and rediscovery by our archaeology team in the 1980s, and enjoy viewing the Hall dressed as it might have been for urban life in the late 1400s.

Find out more about the range of workshops on their website.

Virtual Outreach

In these social history sessions, you can discover life in a medieval city as recounted by our diligent citizens. From the pageantry and politics of a royal visit, to the hustle and bustle of a prosperous townhouse, there’s bound to be something to get your students in a medieval mindset.

Find out more about the range of virtual outreach options on the website

Accreditation and Awards:

Barley Hall is an accredited museum

Group Sizes Catered For:

School Trips

Barley Hall can accommodate groups between 15-35 people, including teachers/leaders. Larger groups can be split down into multiple timeslots.

Virtual Outreach

York Archaeology learning recommends virtual outreach sessions for class sizes of up to 40 children, so that all pupils have the opportunity to interact with the virtual host, but you can discuss your exact requirements when placing your booking.

Itineraries, Resources, and Workshops:

Teachers interested in booking a trip to Barley Hall can find all the necessary information in their handy teachers’ guide.

Available on their website, our fun and informative vodcast series ‘Shaking Hands with the Past’ helps pupils investigate medieval artefacts and is ideal for watching in the classroom.

You can bring the Tudor period to your classroom with our loan boxes. Put history in your students’ hands by hiring these exciting collections of real and replica objects that can be used to complement a visit to Barley Hall and to aid a study on Tudor history at school.

You can also order souvenir gift bags for pupils to take home as a memento of their school trip.

Risk Assessment:

Risk Assessments for visiting Barley Hall and York Archaeology learning workshops are available on their website.

They have qualified first aiders at all York Archaeology learning sites; however, they do recommend you have a first aider as part of your group.

Education Department Information:

For any educational enquires please contact our reservations team via schools@yorkat.co.uk or by calling +44(0)1904 615505.

Pricing Information:

Attraction Visit Prices

York Archaeology is proud to offer educational visits to three of our attractions in York: JORVIK Viking Centre, DIG, and Barley Hall. If you wish to visit more than one attraction, you can save on admission costs with our joint attraction tickets.

*One teacher free with every 6 child places booked.

**Schools do not have to visit all three attractions on the same day.

Prices may be subject to change. Please contact our Reservations team to confirm prices at the time of booking.

Workshop Prices

Workshops are charged in addition to attractions admission.

All workshops cost £3 per child, with teachers attending free.

Please note that the workshop price grants admission to the classrooms only at DIG or Barley Hall.

Payment Options

The following payment methods are accepted:

• In advance: over the phone with our Reservations team
• On arrival: by cash, card or cheque
• By invoice: after your visit (UK addresses only)

Please bring your booking confirmation with you when you arrive for your visit.

Facilities:

https://learning.yorkarchaeology.co.uk/educational-visits/educational-visit-jorvik-viking-centre/

Accessibility and Disabled Facilities:

Unfortunately, due to the structure of this historic building, wheelchair access is extremely limited. The ground floor can only be accessed by people who are wheelchair users via ramps over thresholds. There are steep stairs and high thresholds throughout. If you have particular requirements you would like to discuss with Barley Hall, please contact the reservations team.

You can learn more about our access provision at Barley Hall on their website.

Opening Hours:

When making your booking with Barley Hall reservations team, you will be offered a schedule with a time of entry to Barley Hall. School visits schedules are currently being offered between the times of 10am and 3pm.

You must arrive 10 minutes early to allow time to complete paperwork and for the friendly medieval guides to welcome your group and prepare them for their visit.