Merchant Adventurers' Hall

It's a beautiful timber-framed Guild Hall built in 1357. Amazingly it's still owned and used by "The Company of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York". There are interesting artifacts including chairs, chests, silver, art, etc. There is also a good cafe on the ground floor. They have laminated sheets describing each room and their contents but I found it easier to download the same thing through Bloomberg Connects "the arts + culture app".

Absolutely remarkable. An architectural marvel, and a tribute to the underpaid, talented carpenters who created the astonishing wooden frame which sustains it all these centuries on. I have been twice and find new things each time and always leave impressed with the sheer beauty of the building. The most astonishing thing in the building is in my view the painting on the top floor ..the Company Portrait. I thought it was a photograph it is in fact an astonishing painting. Read the information attached. There is now a shop and a cafe in the building. In my view a shame, but it generates...at £3.95 a coffee!...a lot of revenue.

The aesthetic of the great hall was somewhat dampened by tacky cardboard cutouts, cheap chairs stacked around the place and half baked token kids activities. The rest of the place was nice. Almost period, a few tacky bits bolted on for various reasons. I think the thing I was missing was the depth of traded and merchant adventure stories.

It was nice to stand in such an old building and imagine all the history and people that have come and gone. All the big decicions that were made there. But it is a very short experience for the money. But then it was cheaper than a pie at the xmas markets.

Highly recommended, must-visit place in York. Ancient, peaceful place. You can enjoy the sunshine with cream tea during summer holiday