A Short History of Barley Hall
The oldest parts of Barley Hall date back to 1360, when it was constructed as a townhouse for the Augustinian Priory of St Oswald at Nostell near Wakefield, so that priors could attend important ceremonies and services.
When the Priory fell on hard times, the canons were forced to make money by renting out properties.
A new wing was added to the house in 1430, and it subsequently passed into the ownership of William Snawsell, who was a goldsmith to the Minster canons and owned considerable property in the surrounding area. You can view William’s workshop in The Gallery of the townhouse where at least three craftsmen, known as journeymen because they were paid by the day, would have been employed. On three year apprenticeships, most of their trade would have been in silver or silver gilt.
As you wander around Barley Hall, there is a sense of history coming to life starting from the moment you stumble across the structure: accessed from Stonegate at the point where the cast iron Red Devil sits, just before you come across the banner for the Olde Starre Inn, you enter a snickleway into Coffee Yard; as the building is dissected by this thoroughfare, a large pane of glass has been placed at the end of the Great Hall so that you are suddenly transported from the dark alleyway through a looking glass, as it were, into the heart of medieval life.
Inside you will discover the room, dating from 1430, where meals took place as the family sat at the raised high table at the end flanked by the common people at either side and feasted on banquets of such delicacies as beef and herb pottage, brawn in mustard sauce, thrushes in salt and cinnamon or curlew in a sauce of salt, sugar and river water, washed down with sweet wine or spiced hippocras (wine) and figs with cheese. Fine linen wall hangings adorn the hall made using natural dyes and woad and there is a smoke hole above the fireplace.
Elsewhere the house contains fascinating glimpses of the past – in the Store Room, now the admissions area and shop, which also served as a sleeping place for servants, the timber dates back to 1360. It is still possible to see the original carpenter’s mark in the main beam where it joins the wall – four straight lines and a diagonal etched into the surface – a coded instruction to builders to place the timber in the fourth main bay from the east on the north side of the building.
All furniture and utensils have been authentically recreated with reproduction pieces based on items seen in Flemish paintings, owing to the fact that many medieval dwellings contained objects connected to the Low Countries, and include brass chandeliers, metal trenchers and 20 different types of pottery based on originals found around York featuring purple Humberware and local Hambleton Greenware.
In The Gallery added to the back of Barley Hall during the late 1500s, there is a window made of horn strips: this was commonly used in medieval times, as horn was cheaper than glass and involved soaking cows’ horns in water, cutting and rolling them into strips; only the semi transparent central section of the horn could be used.
You can also view The Lesser Chamber or Lady’s bedroom, also with carpenters’ marks and The Great Chamber which was the grandest private room and inner sanctum for the master of the house.
Alderman Snawsell retired in 1492 and died at the grand old age of 80 when Barley Hall began its decline and was divided into smaller and smaller units.
Although the York Archaeological Society has successfully completed the restoration work, the building is still one of York’s lesser known assets and additional revenue is required to complete its furnishing.
Supported by a number of enthusiastic volunteers and societies, Barley Hall has become an important part of York’s heritage and is set to be one of the city’s major tourist attractions.
Opening Times:
Open throughout the year from 4 days to all week during school holidays.
From 10.00am till 4.00pm or 5.00pm
Last admission an hour before closing.
Address:
Barley Hall
2 Coffee Yard
Off Stonegate
York
YO1 8AR
Tel: 01904 610275
Barley Hall Website
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