York Castle Museum

Events

Browse through our events or click on the following sections to skip to the area you are interested in:

Summer Fun holiday activities, Astronomy Events, Finds Days, Royal Salutes, Summer Tai Chi,Yorkshire Museum Bookclub, Workshops, Tours, Curators' Talks.

Grand Reopening of the Yorkshire Museum

1 August, Yorkshire Day
From 11.30am, museum opens at noon

Celebrate the reopening of the Yorkshire Museum with us following its nine-month refurbishment. We'll have music from 11.30am in the Museum Gardens (weather permitting) and six Roman soldiers will be patrolling the grounds to entertain visitors.

Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, will officially open the museum at noon, and the doors will open revealing our three major new galleries, Roman York, Medieval York and Extinct, as well as the History of York audio visual spectacular and the upstairs Learning Level.

After your visit, enjoy sandwiches, coffee and snacks from the new-look museum shop or an ice cream from our van in the gardens!

Exclusive Golden Ticket Day
31 July, 10am - 5pm

This private preview day for families is for readers of the York magazine, Your Local Link, and entry will only be permitted with a Golden Ticket from the magazine. No photocopies allowed.

Ticket-holders will be admitted on a "first come, first in", basis, so please be aware there may be some waiting at busy times.

Summer Fun

Fun in the Labs

2 - 27 August, 10am - 12.30pm and 1.30pm - 4pm

Come and join us during August for drop-in practical sessions for all the family in our brand new refurbished labs!

Week 1: The Roman Army, 2 - 6 August
Drilling and story telling for new Roman recruits with our Roman Centurion

Week 2: Mosaic Magic, 9 - 13 August
Make a mini Roman Mosaic to take home

Week 3: Dynamic Dinosaurs, 16 - 20 August
Take a close look at some real fossilised dinosaur footprints. Find out which dinosaur might have made them and work out how big and fast it was.

Week 4: Funky Fossils, 23 - 27 August
Make your very own fossil cast.

A Really Wild Wednesday!

18 August, 11am - 3.30pm

Join us for this free and fun event for all the family in the Museum Gardens, with lots of hands-on and exciting archaeology and science activities to take part in.

Activities will include making jewellery, casting fossils, making mosaics, hunting mini-beasts, making a stone trough, panning for gold, Chinese writing, birdwatching, firing rockets and exploring Tudor cures and potions.

Astronomy Events

Observatory Open Days

Every Saturday 11.30am - 2.30pm

Come and gaze upon the stars in what is the oldest working observatory in Yorkshire.

You'll be finding out about the galaxy in one of the most historically important astronomy centres in the country.

The observatory was built in 1832 and 1833 and its 4in refractor telescope was built by York man Thomas Cooke in 1850 before he went on to make the then-largest telescope in the world. York played a crucial role in the development of astronomy in the 1780s when York-based astronomers John Goodricke and Edward Piggot laid the foundations of the study of stars of varying brightness.

Free entry

Finds Days

7 August (at York Art Gallery), 2 October, 4 December

10am - 1pm each day

Bring along your archaeological finds and get help and advice with identifying them from our Portable Antiquities Scheme staff. Staff from the scheme also run other regular Finds Days at Hull and East Riding Museum. Click here to find out more.

Free.

 

Royal Salutes 2010

6 February (Accession of the Queen to the throne)
21 April (the Queen's birthday)
2 June (Anniversary of the Queen's Coronation)
10 June (the Duke of Edinburgh's Birthday)
12 June (the Queen's official birthday)
15 November (The Prince of Wales's birthday).

The Museum Gardens host several formal Royal Salute ceremonies a year, organised and attended by soldiers from York Garrison. They culminate in cannon fire at noon and are held around the same dates every year. The Gardens are closed during the mornings prior to the Royal Salutes for security reasons.

Summer Tai Chi

Every Wednesday in July
8.15am - 8.45am

Join us for these weekly Tai Chi sessions in the tranquil setting of the Museum Gardens. Free event, all welcome, no booking necessary.

Yorkshire Museum Bookclub

First Wednesday of the month, 6pm - 7.30pm

A new bookclub with a difference! Join the museum team for a lively discussion about novels related to the exhibitions and collections. There will be special opportunities to handle genuine objects linked to the book themes.

6 October - The Emperor's Babe by Bernardine Evaristo
3 November - Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
1 December - Sovereign by CJ Sanson

Workshops

All materials are included in the price unless otherwise stated.

It's Cartoon Time!

15 September, 2pm - 4pm

Richard Stansfield, creator of Yorkatt and Eric of the York Press, and illustrator for York Museums Trust, will show you how to draw animal cartoons. Specimens from the museum will be available for inspiration. No previous experience needed!

£5 per person. To book a place, telephone 01904 650333.

Making Mosaics

25 September, 10am - 3.30pm

Create your own mosaic tile inspired by the Roman mosaics on display in the museum, under the guidance of Catherine Boyne Whitelegg.

£25 per person + £5 for materials. To book a place, telephone 01904 554277 or email adult.education@york.gov.uk

Close-up Photography

5 and 7 October, 10am - 4pm
17 October, 1pm - 4pm

Learn how to take imaginative close-up images with your digital camera, using insect and animal specimens from the museum. Photographer John Potter will also show how images can then be processed and enhanced using Photoshop Elements.

£15 per person. To book a place, telephone 01904 554277 or email adult.education@york.gov.uk

Lino Cutting and Printing

6 and 13 November, 10am - 4pm

Kirstie Briggs Bateman will teach techniques in lino cutting and printing using inspiration from the medieval tile and glass collections at the Yorkshire Museum.

£50 for two-day course. To book a place, telephone 01904 650333.

Enamelling and Metal Clay Jewellery

20 and 27 November and 4 December, 10am - 4pm

Lynn Glazzard leads this introductory course which runs on three Saturdays:

Day 1 - Introduction to enamelling on copper
Day 2 - Introduction to the art of silver clay
Day 3 - Introduction to enamel on metal clay

£120 for three days or £45 for individual workshops. To book a place, telephone 01904 650333.

Stained Glass

11 December, 10am - 3.30pm

Ann Sotheran will lead you through all the processes needed to create your own piece of stained glass, inspired by the beautiful examples in the museum.

£20 per person + £5 for materials. To book a place, telephone 01904 554277 or email adult.education@york.gov.uk

Tours

The Gardens in Autumn

6 October, 2pm - 3pm

A guided tour of the Museum Gardens with Sjaak Kastelijn, gardens manager, to look at the autumn horticultural highlights.

Free. To book a place, telephone 01904 650333.

Torchlit Tours

24 - 31 October, 6pm and 7pm

Explore the new galleries and objects of the Yorkishire Museum by torchlight in this special series of tours.

£5 per person, no need to book

Curators' Talks

All these lunchtime talks are free (aside from usual admission charge) and run from 12.30pm - 1pm, no need to book.

The Stories a Greek Urn can tell
28 September

927AD: The First King of England
12 October

The story of Bangle Lady: a Roman from Africa
26 October

Medieval Stained Glass
9 November

Walking in the footprints of Dinosaurs
23 November

A brief history of Yorkshire
7 December