Barley Hall York

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 the Reservations department 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.

We are part of York Archaeology

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 ‘The ‘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 are, 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!

Barley Hall is an accredited museum.

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

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 recommend 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.

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 compliment 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.

Visitors can take photos and record, but not use this content for commercial purposes.

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

A free familiarisation visit for up to 2 members of staff can be arranged at time of booking via their Reservations Team.

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

School Trips

Our school visit prices are:

*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 (charged in addition to attractions admission)
To complement your visit to Barley Hall, choose to add a fun, thematic workshop to your schedule, designed to spark your pupils’ interest and develop their knowledge. Our current workshop offer for Barley Hall can be seen here (https://barleyhall.co.uk/education/workshops/ ), with our Plays and Performances workshop set against the backdrop of our new Shakespeare exhibition, The Bard at Barley Hall. All workshops cost £2 per child, with teachers attending free.

Virtual Outreach

Our virtual outreach prices are: 

We now offer discounts on multiple bookings so it’s easier than ever before to book several sessions to support your class’ learning across the term or for other classes studying this topic to share in the experience.

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.

Single male and female toilets are available, and we recommend you visit the facilities in small groups before or between your activities. There is no accessible toilet.

Storage baskets for coats and bags are available. These are not secured or supervised and are for use while on-site only.

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.

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.

“We loved our Barley Hall visit… we wished we could stay even longer!” – Y3 pupil from York

School visits are booked through Barley Hall’s Reservations Team. Who can be contacted via email: schools@yorkat.co.uk or telephone: 01904 615505