User:Overbomb/Barley Hall

Barley Hall
The interior of the Great Hall
General information
Town or city	York
Country	England

Barley Hall is a reconstructed medieval townhouse in York, England. Although much of the building has been rebuilt using modern materials, it has retained some of its original structure.

History

The building was first erected circa 1360 for use by Nostell Priory. Over time, additions were made to the house and eventually, it was rented out as a residence for private citizens. In 1466, the hall was rented to William Snawsell, a local goldsmith who owned a shop on the nearby Stonegate street. After Snawsell's tenancy, the hall continued to be used as a private residence until it was seized by the crown in 1540. Further additions and alterations were made to the hall, including demolishing parts of the walls to make a public alleyway to allow pedestrians to cross between Stonegate and Swinegate.

The hall was subdivided into smaller units and eventually used as a series of small warehouses. As recently as the 1970s, the hall was used as a plumber's workshop and showroom, and a signmaker's shop. In the 1980s, the building was scheduled for demolition to make way for offices and apartments, but was purchased by the York Archaeological Trust, which began restoration work to turn it into a hands-on museum.

Architecture

The building is comprised of two main sections. The northern part was the original building used by Nostell Priory, and consists of the shop/admissions area, the steward's room, and the greater and lesser chambers. The southern part, made up of the great hall, the vestibule, the gallery, the parlour, the pantry, and the buttery, was added in subsequent stages. The current hall also consists of an education room, modern toilet facilities, and staff areas.

The Great Hall

The most impressive room is the Great Hall. It consists of a series of tables and benches arranged around a central hearth. The tile floor, roof, and wall hangings are replicas based on archaeological remains, and the table settings are also carefully researched. Although this two-storey room can be seen from the public alleyway through the glass wall, visitors admitted to the hall are encouraged to sit on the furniture and handle the objects. Much of the timber framework in this room has been replaced with modern reconstructions, but several of the timbers are original pieces of the medieval structure.

Modern Museum

The hall is currently serving as a museum to allow visitors to get a feel for life in medieval York. Although it is generally open throughout the year, it does undergo occasional closures during the winter months or for private events. Members of the public can hire the hall for weddings, birthday parties, corporate events, and other venues. In addition, the hall often hosts special events, such as Song and Saga Night, Medieval Mysteries, Barley Hall by Candlelight, and specialty markets. The hall also occasionally puts on specialty exhibitions, including Plague, Poverty, & Prayer (describing medieval medicine) and Stonegate Voices (a description of life on and around Stonegate in the twentieth century, based on interviews with people who lived and worked there).