Yorkshire Museum and Gardens

In the medieval kingdoms of Britain, the north was ruled from York. Anglian kings were baptised in its churches, Viking warriors plotted their southern raids and the Normans cruelly stamped their authority on the masses. From the ravages of war the city went on to flourish in a golden age of innovation, religion and trade.

Featuring some of the most prestigious and significant medieval objects ever found in Britain and exploring the lives of some of the most powerful people of the period, this new exhibition will tell the extraordinary story of how great swathes of the country were once ruled from within York's walls.

Suitable for

• Any age
• Family friendly

Admission

Exhibition included in Yorkshire Museum admission.

Until May 2014 we celebrate Yorkshire’s beginnings with a special exhibition at the Yorkshire Museum.

An exciting display incorporating sound, film and cutting edge technology with a wide range of fantastic world-famous objects will tell the story of Star Carr; the most significant site in Europe where post Ice Age people lived over 11,000 years ago.

Eleven-thousand-year-old deer skull head-dresses, bone harpoons and amber jewellery – amazingly preserved in peat – are just some of the highlights of the exhibition which will tell the story of the people of Yorkshire in the Mesolithic period.

The objects, on loan from museums all over the country, come from Star Carr, near Scarborough, North Yorkshire, where a number of Mesolithic settlements once stood on the shores of a huge lake. Star Carr is noted internationally as the type-site for understanding hunter-gatherer communities of the Mesolithic period in Europe. It has been investigated by archaeologists since 1948, including by researchers from the University of York.

The ancient finds will be displayed alongside exciting digital content giving visitors a taste of the sights and sounds that our ancestors would have experienced in Yorkshire 11,000 years ago.

After the Ice is the first in a series of displays forming part of a wider Prehistory in Yorkshire project. This three-year research and exhibition project is designed to link the Yorkshire Museum’s prehistoric collections back to the iconic Yorkshire landscapes in which they were discovered.

While this year focuses on the Mesolithic period and the site of Star Carr; years two and three will look at Bronze and Iron Age Yorkshire respectively.

Suitable for

• Family friendly

Admission

Normal admission charges apply.

Website

http://www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk/Page/ViewSpecialExhibition.aspx?CollectionId=42

Regarded as one of the most important books in English literature, Shakespeare's First Folio is a compilation of 36 works by the playwright. It took two years to print and no two copies are identical.

Currently only four copies are on display in the world - come and see one of them at the Yorkshire Museum.

Find out more at www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk

Suitable for

• Any age

Admission

Exhibition included in museum admission.

Yorkshire Museum:
Standard - £7.50
Concession - £6.50

Website

http://www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk

Meet Shakespeare this Easter at the Yorkshire Museum!

To celebrate Shakespeare's First Folio coming to the Yorkshire Museum we have a host of activities inspired by the playwright. Choose your side in the Wars of the Roses and make your own banner to show your support for York or Lancaster. Explore the real lives of Shakespeare's Kings like Richard II and Henry IV, and even meet the man himself!

Suitable for

• Any age

Admission

Standard: £7.50
Concession: £6.50

Website

http://www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk

The course will take place in the 150 year old Museum smithy, where everything is done as it would have been more than a century ago. Students will make a simple poker.

Martin Fox's background includes training as an architect, a degree in art history, and working as a full time archaeologist through most of the 1970s both in England and South America. He trained as a blacksmith in 1992 at Plumpton Agricultural college and has been demonstrating blacksmithing at the Museum for over 15 years.

Suitable for

• 18+

Admission

£90.00 per person to include materials, tuition, tea and coffee. Please bring any other refreshment you require. The café will be open for lunch.

Website

http://www.wealddown.co.uk/Traditional-Rural-Trades-and-Crafts/Irons-in-the-fire-Friday-16-May-2014

Clay Bears
Monday 26 May - Friday 30 May
11.00am – 1.00pm & 2.00pm – 4.00pm
Science Lab
To celebrate winning the Connect 10 “Museums at Night” competition for a visit from ceramicist Grayson Perry and his teddy bear Alan Measles, on 15 May, the Yorkshire Museum has gone bear mad this half term! Make your own ceramic teddy bear to take home in this artist led activity.

Teddy Bears Picnic
Every day
10.30am – 4.30pm
Finds Lab
Bring your teddy along to the Finds Lab and enjoy a Teddy Bears Picnic and other games for the little ones.

Storytelling Time
Every day
11.00am & 3.00pm
Enjoy a daily session of teddy bear storytelling and visit our very own big bear, who lives in the Library.

The Bare Bear Truth
Kids Curator Talk
Tuesday 27 May
12.30pm – 1pm
Find out all about bears in this special talk, including the stories of the bears who have lived at the Museum.

Suitable for

• Any age

Admission

Price included in admission costs to museum