York Castle Museum

...visit the beautiful city of York twice a year for as long as I can remember. I never tire of staying in York because there is so much to see and do including fabulous shopping, historical streets and quaint tea-rooms and really excellent tourist attractions including the York Minister, the Jorvik Viking Experience, the York Dungeon, the Railway Museum and the subject of this review, the Castle Museum.

The Castle Museum is located, ...
...York is enclosed by a ring of main roads, along parts of which the original city walls still stand. The Castle Museum is located inside this circle to the south behind the Coppergate Shopping Centre (where the Jorvik Experience is located) and can be easily found on foot by following the green signposts. Alternatively, there is a car park in front of the museum which can be reached from Bishopsgate Street to the south.

I recently ... more

Thanks to the presence of a close relative I have been fortunate enough to visit the beautiful city of York twice a year for as long as I can remember. I never tire of staying in York because there is so much to see and do including fabulous shopping, historical streets and quaint tea-rooms and really excellent tourist attractions including the York Minister, the Jorvik Viking Experience, the York Dungeon, the Railway Museum and the subject of this review, the Castle Museum.

The Castle Museum is located, as one would expect, by the Castle! The centre of York is enclosed by a ring of main roads, along parts of which the original city walls still stand. The Castle Museum is located inside this circle to the south behind the Coppergate Shopping Centre (where the Jorvik Experience is located) and can be easily found on foot by following the green signposts. Alternatively, there is a car park in front of the museum which can be reached from Bishopsgate Street to the south.

I recently visited the Castle Museum just before Christmas for the first time is ages, but the hour or so we gave ourselves proved entirely inadequate to see all the exhibitions. We had just reached the costumes and hadn't even made it to the prison cells (very interesting) when we had to rush off. Luckily the museum has a special offer whereby you pay for one visit and then can come back anytime in the next year for free. Taking full advantage of this great idea, we went back to the museum on our visit to York this weekend.

Prices

Adult £6.50
Child £3.50
Under 5s Free
Concessions £5.00
With York Card Free

Any two adults with:

1 child £15
2 children £18
3 children £21
4 children £24
and £3 per child after that

The Castle Museum is a walk through 400 years of British history. It is essentially a museum of everyday life and a history of normal people like you and I.

The first exhibition you come to are the room scenes which include a Victoria parlour and a 1940s living room (see my photos). Apparently every item is genuine and the overall effect is fantastic giving a crash course in interior design throughout the centuries! Following on from the rooms is a large exhibit featuring everyday household items, for example a there is a section dedicated to cleanliness with all sorts of very interesting artefacts from primitive toilets and washing machines to beautiful old soap packets. The exhibit continues with items associated with births, weddings and funerals and then on into kitchens (with more room scenes including a charming 1940s kitchen and best of all a 1980's kitchen just like our old one!) and farming.

However the Castle Museum is best known for Kirkgate, it's Victorian Street. Apparently over 30 million people have visited Kirkgate making it one of the most popular attractions in the country. I remember this part of the museum from when I was a child and it has recently had an extensive make-over and now includes sound and light effects which, among other things, create night and day.

The street is, as it sounds, a meticulously re-created Victorian Street complete with cobble stones and life-sized shops and houses. All the items in the shops are authentic and you can actually step inside some of them and also visit a bank and fire station! Actors in full Victorian costume finish the effect. Kirkgate is the most famous re-constructed Victoria Street in Britain and it really does feel like you've jumped back in time. I loved it as a child and it's still great now (see photos below).

Appropriately, after the Victorians comes war - more specifically an armoury, a Civil War feature and an exhibit dedicated to the British / Home Front perspective of World War II. This is one of my favourite exhibits at the museum, particularly when my grandparents / great aunts and uncles are with me because they can find items they wore or owned.

By now you may be getting a little restless in most museums. The excellent thing about the Castle Museum is the very wide scope of the exhibitions keeps it really interesting. After the austerity of the war comes the glamour of the costumes and a fun section dedicated to toys throughout the ages with two wonderfully intricate dolls houses.

To finish there is a another reconstructed street, Half Moon Court, which hails from Edwardian Britain, a slightly later period than Kirkgate, evidenced by the early motor cars present. Again, I always really enjoy this street, especially the King William Hotel at the end (see photos).

Finally you reach the prison cells. Interesting the eighteenth century building that is now home to the Castle Museum used to be a prison where all sorts of Yorkshire men and women were jailed and some were even hanged on the premises. Prisoners were originally kept in the Castle itself but as the cells fell into disrepair the new building was started in 1701. The prisoners confined at the new building were generally those convicted of serious crimes, but debtors were also imprisoned here, and the most famous resident was Dick Turpin who spent his last days in the prison. The cells are grim, giving a real insight into prison life three hundred years ago, and all the more fascinating for that. It is also very worthwhile to read the stories on the walls of the cells which are informative, interesting and sometimes shocking!

Also located at the museum are a nice cafe which can be accessed before, during (often necessary as there is so much to see!) and after your tour though history. The cafe serves lunch between 12 noon and 2pm and sandwiches, cakes and drinks throughout the day. There is also an excellent shop which sells a wide range of souvenirs.

In conclusion I would highly recommend the Castle Museum. An excellent attraction for young and old this museum is a surprisingly reasonably priced gem. There is so much to see I would recommend allowing around two hours or more for your visit.

The Castle Museum is open daily from 9.30am - 5pm, excluding 25th, 26th December and 1st January.

Thanks for reading & I look forward to hearing your comments. Triciax
 

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