Review: York Castle Museum with kids

There’s history wherever you look in York, from Romans and Vikings to medieval walls – but to discover more recent times in the city, a day out at York Castle Museum with kids is unmissable.

review visit/contains affiliate links*

Set in the old Castle prison, opposite Clifford’s Tower, the museum regularly gets voted one of the top family-friendly attractions in York, and from its recreated Victorian street to interactive displays, vintage toys and notorious highwayman Dick Turpin, it’s not hard to see why.

Fantastic for a rainy day in York, you don’t need to wait for bad weather – we spent hours exploring, losing ourselves in some of the fascinating exhibitions and feeling thankful that our own home wasn’t like some of the period rooms we saw…

For more things to do in York with kids, check out my top picks

Starting with those period rooms, at times you could believe the inhabitants had just strolled out of view – from the 17th century dining room, all wood panels and carved furniture, to a Georgian drawing room, far more style than substance.

Then two very different views of Victorian Yorkshire, including a traditional parlour and an 1850s Moorland cottage, decorated as it would have looked, right down to the game hanging from the ceiling and spinning wheel near the warmth of the fire.

There are so many little details to spot which help bring the rooms to life, from a doll’s house to telescopes – all genuine artefacts from the period they’re depicting.

It’s a great taste of what’s to come on the recreated Victorian street of Kirkgate – but first, a detour into the Toy Gallery, with its collection stretching back more than a century (and small play area).

As well as traditional classics like a rocking horse, I spotted toys my parents would have played with – this would definitely be fun to visit with grandparents – as well as plenty from my own childhood, and more than one item which my daughter has owned herself.

Stretching across a couple of rooms, I think it was as fascinating for both of us – me spotting much-loved games I’d all but forgotten about, and sharing memories of playing others with her.

It’s fun to see the changing fashions too, as well as interesting to spot the differences between what’s aimed at boys and at girls.

At their heart, so much has stayed the same – dolls might look rather different, but they’ve always been a favourite.

The same went for the exhibition, Shaping The Body: 400 Years of Fashion, Food and Life, where I could quite easily have spent hours looking at the displays on changing styles and what it says about society.

Lots of great conversation starters for teens and tweens in particular, there’s still plenty for younger kids in terms of the quirky and very unexpected items in the collection.

Dying to look good? There’s an iron corset and a dress that would quite literally kill, thanks to the arsenic used to create its green dye.

Others had waists so tiny, it’s hard to believe anyone could have fitted into them… and as fashions changed, around another corner were bum rolls to create ever more dramatic curves.

Throw in plenty of wigs (and plenty of gruesome explanations about lice and nits to go alongside them) plus miniature dolls used as models to show what your finished dress would look like, along with some more modern fashions, from the 60s, 70s and recent decades.

Needless to say, with plenty of dropped jaws from my daughter, at the things people used to wear. Plus plenty to get you thinking about how fitness and food intake have changed along with society and its styles.

But while this was one of the most memorable sections for me, Kirkgate is deservedly the pride and joy of the York Castle Museum.

The street has been recreated to show the way it would have looked from 1870-1901, including shops named for actual ones which once stood in York – everything from a milliner and watchmaker to a printer and pawnbroker, gunsmith and saddlemaker.

With distancing measures in place during our visit, some of the interactive elements weren’t running – normally you can chat to the chemist about Victorian medicine and even buy some authentic Victorian sweets along the way, while the street is usually peopled with other characters too.

But there’s still so much to see, peering into windows, finding the life-size hansom cab with its model horse hitched up and ready to trot, all with authentic sounds playing in the background.

Or peek inside the schoolroom, as well as the police station, before discovering a little more about the teetotal movement in the cocoa house.

Elsewhere, there’s a reminder that life wasn’t as easy for all with the poverty-stricken homes in Rowntree Alley, complete with smelly public toilet…

The museum itself is split across two areas, with the cafe and shop in the centre, so your visit then takes you to the opposite half, passing from Victorian times to the First World War.

Download a map of the York Castle Museum here

From the patriotic fervour of volunteering at the start of the war to the recruiting office (where you can weigh yourself and test your own eyes), you move on through displays charting anything from soldiers’ train journeys to the front to the military progress of the Great War.

The collection is fantastic, mixing first-hand stories and everyday items with information on the political background to the war, a recreation of a bunker and medical treatment for the wounded.

I found some of it so moving that I was in tears at least twice, but it’s beautifully done, with plenty to engage younger kids as well as plenty of detail for older ones.

Fortunately a rather brighter time awaited – quite literally, with a colourful detour ot the 60s.

Also set out like a street, the first thing which strikes you is the exuberance, the impact of the colours, the spirit of the 60s as society started to change beyond all recognition.

Twiggy gazes out from one window, 60s music plays on the jukebox, and there’s even a Lambretta parked in the street.

As well as fashion, art and music, there’s a life-size replica of the 1962 Mercury Space Capsule used by John Glenn to orbit the earth.

All of which meant, it was finally time to go to prison…

There has been a jail on the castle site since William the Conqueror’s first fortress, and you can still step into the 18th century prison cells during your visit to York Castle Museum with kids.

On the walls, projections tell the stories of some of those held here over the years: previous inmates include a swaggering Dick Turpin and the last woman burned in Yorkshire.

It’s not just the prisoners though, there are stories from officials as well, so you get a sense of the justice system (or lack of justice system in many cases!) and what daily life was like in the prison, along with the rather haunting tales of those incarcerated.

There’s a database of former prisoners, where you can check if anyone with your name spent a spell in the cells too.

With thousands of items to see, and plenty of clever ways to bring history to life, we didn’t need the stocks or pillory of the prison exercise yard to keep us at York Castle Museum – you could easily visit time and again, and still discover something new each time.

For ideas of more things to do in Yorkshire with kids, check out my top picks

Need to know: Visiting York Castle Museum with kids

Tickets cost £17 for adults, £10.20 for children; under-fives are free. Tickets entitle you to admission for 12 months (excluding some special events).

It isn’t currently included as part of the York Pass, although this does give free entry to around 20 other attractions in York.

York Castle Museum is currently open from Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm, with half-hour timed entry slots for prebooked tickets (recommended during peak times and school holidays). See details of opening times here.

There are often extra family events taking place during school holidays and at weekends – click here to see what’s on.

Food and drink is available to buy, although the cafe was closed during our visit.

Pushchairs are not allowed on the galleries but baby carriers are available to borrow free of charge, and there is an area to store buggies as well as baby changing in one of the toilets.

Parking is available nearby at the Castle car park, or it’s easy walking distance from York centre, around five minutes walk from Coppergate.

For more things to do in York with kids, check out my top picks

PIN FOR LATER: YORK CASTLE MUSEUM REVIEW

Disclosure: Our entry was free for the purposes of review – all opinions on visiting York Castle Museum with kids are my own. This post contains affiliate links – any purchases you make are unaffected but I may receive a small commission

Images copyright MummyTravels

LIKED THIS? SIGN UP FOR MY EMAIL NEWSLETTER