Places to visit

Yorkshire has a variety of vernacular buildings which are open to the public. Just a few suggestions (not wholly vernacular!) are listed below, arranged by traditional Riding, but the interiors of many more can be visited as shops, pubs, cafes, B&Bs, youth hostels, bunk barns and other establishments.

York and East Riding of Yorkshire

  • Barley Hall, York. A reconstruction of a complex of two medieval timber-framed buildings.
  • Merchant Adventurers Hall, York. Medieval timber-framed guildhall, built in 1357-61.
  • Merchant Taylors Hall, York. Medieval timber-framed guildhall, not open to the public on a regular basis but you can take a virtual tour from their website home page.
  • Hull and East Riding Museum, Hull. Contains the re-erected frame of a timber-framed house from Queen Street, Hull.
  • Jacob's Well, York. A medieval building usually open for coffee on Wednesday mornings.
  • Hornsea Museum, Burns Farm, 11 Newbegin, Hornsea, East Yorkshire. Folk museum sited in an 18th century farmhouse.
  • Beveley Guildhall. Eighteenth century court room incorporating the remains of a medieval timber-framed house.
  • Beverley Youth Hostel, Friar's Lane, Beverley, East Yorkshire. A restored Dominican friary with wall paintings. Now used as a Youth Hostel, but also open to the public at certain times - phone for details.
  • Maister House, Hull. 18th century merchant's house, owned by the National Trust. Access to hall and staircase only.
  • Burton Agnes Hall. Brick country house of 1601-10 with great hall with plaster screen, elaborate staircase.
  • Burton Constable Hall. Brick country house thought to be built from 1500 onwards on the site of a pele tower.
  • Skidby Mill. Four-sailed working windmill and East Riding Museum of Rural Life with exhibitions on agricultural and village life.
  • East Yorkshire pubs. Also information here on the history of pubs in Hull and Beverley.

North Riding of Yorkshire

  • Braithwaite Hall. 17th century farmhouse in Coverdale owned by the National Trust, with some fine original features including fireplaces, panelling and oak staircase.
  • Nunnington Hall, Nunnington. Stone-built manor house owned by the National Trust.
  • Shandy Hall, Coxwold. Originated as a timber-framed medieval manor house. Some wall paintings survive.
  • Ryedale Folk Museum. Open air museum at Hutton-le-Hole housing several vernacular buildings from the North York Moors.
  • Spout House, Bilsdale. A 16th century cruck-framed house, located 8 miles north of Helmsley on the B1257. Open to the public daily, Easter to 31 October, 11am to 4pm, courtesy of the North York Moors National Park Authority.

West Riding of Yorkshire

  • The Ark, Tadcaster. Timber-framed house dating from the 15th century, now used as Council offices but open during office hours.
  • Calverley Old Hall. Landmark Trust property available for holiday bookings.
  • Cowside, Langstrothdale, Upper Wharfedale. Rare late seventeenth century wall paintings discovered during renovation. Not currently open to the public but may be booked for holidays and may be included in future Landmark Trust Open Days.
  • Markenfield Hall, near Ripon. Moated and fortified 14th century manor house.
  • West Yorkshire Country Houses. Leaflets available from West Yorkshire Joint Services on Bolling Hall, Cliffe Castle, Oakwell Hall, Shibden Hall and Ilkley Manor House, as well as various churches.
  • Norton Conyers. Late medieval manor house.
  • Bishop's House, Norton Lees Lane, Sheffield. Built in about 1500, the oldest surviving timber-framed house in Sheffield.
  • The Folly, Settle. Striking seventeenth century house which is also home to the Museum of North Craven Life.
  • Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, Sheffield. Former steel-working site, now a museum, with industrial buildings and workers' housing. Other museums of the Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust are also accessible from this site.
  • Wortley Top Forge Industrial Museum. A seventeenth century iron forge with ancillary buildings.
  • Worsborough Mill, near Barnsley. A 17th century water-powered corn mill.
  • Oakwell Hall, Nutter Lane, Birstall, Batley, West Yorkshire. Stone manor house built in 1583 and furnished as a family home of the 1690s. The roof construction is visible from inside the house.
  • Colne Valley Museum, Cliffe Ash, Golcar, West Yorkshire. Three weavers' cottages exhibiting the life and work of the 19th century in restored period rooms: the loom chamber with working hand-looms and a spinning jenny, weaver's living room, gaslit clogger's shop.
  • Shibden Hall, Halifax. 15th century house, with barn and folk museum.
  • East Riddlesden Hall, Keighley. National Trust property comprising seventeenth century manor house and aisled barn.
  • A Walk around Kettlewell. A walk looking at the buildings of this village in Upper Wharfedale.
  • Slaidburn Village Trail. A walk around the buildings of Slaidburn, a village which is now in Lancashire but was formerly part of the West Riding.
  • Browsholme Hall, near Clitheroe. A house of 1507, now in Lancashire but formerly in Yorkshire.