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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 18h

If the (massive) key fits… …the thing is although it does fit, once again this is a faux lock. The real one is on the top with its decorative lock plate.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 29/09/2026

Because you asked so nicely here’s a video of us popping a key into one of our 17th century chests. Sadly we can’t open it (due to poorly hinges) but we have some photos below.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 29/09/2026

It's National Coffee Day? Hold our tea (sorry - we are from Yorkshire it's the law)... How about this fancy pants coffee pot made in York in 1799 for your morning brew?!

We are looking at a silver coffee pot in a vase form, reeded borders, engraved with foliate decoration and an initialled cartouche, hinged raised cover with a knop finial, on an oval foot, the underside inscribed.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 28/09/2026

We are a very old building. We have lots of keys. We have lots of keys that DO open things. Join us for a one off instalment of, “Keys of the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall that are pretty and also serve a purpose”.

We are looking at two pewter plates with an assortment of large brass and iron keys in various shapes and sizes.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 28/09/2026

If we post keys that actually open things would you be interested in seeing them? Or is it just the thrill of looking at pretty keys that don't open anything?

We are looking at a key with a thick oval bow, wide stem and intricate key ward.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 25/09/2026

Apologies for a repost but it's the Merchant Adventurers Michaelmas Feast this evening so we are very busy trying to stop the devil urinating on our blackberries. The post will explain more...

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 24/09/2026

We are a very old building. We have lots of keys. We have lots of keys that don’t open anything. Join us for a one off installment of, “Keys of the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall that are pretty but completely useless”. 🔑 🧵

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 23/09/2026

Have you ever wondered what York looks like from a hot air balloon? Well we can tell you - it looks *chefs kiss*

We are looking at a view of York from the air - lots of tiled roofs surround the gothic stone masterpiece of York Minster. In the distance the city is replaced with open patchwork fields and the Howardian hills in the distance.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 22/09/2026

Three amazing things about this 16th century letter: 1. It is written in code. 2. It complains about pirates. 3. It is written by King Henry VIII!

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 21/09/2026

Apparently oysters are aphrodisiacs. Perhaps not this one. 😬

We are looking at a close up of a medieval drawing of a circular oyster painted brown with a beak - the oyster has teeth.

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Reposted by Merchant Adventurers’ Hall

The Linnean Society of London @linneansociety.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Stop! Hooo goes there? We need help. We are trying to raise money to save damaged rare and beautiful books in our library. One of them holds this very anxious looking owl in a book on the natural history of Alaska (1874-1881) by American naturalist Lucien M Turner. Pls can you help? bit.ly/45wG7YG

Naturalist illustration of an adult female great grey owl (Ulula cinerea lapponica) perched on a mossy tree stump, facing forward with a round facial disk, concentric feather markings and bright yellow eyes.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 21/09/2026

A close up of one of the Hall’s Tudor fireplaces. Until the 1580s, heat came from open hearths set in the floor. This fireplace is one of four providing heat, light and possible cooking facilities for the almshouse in the Undercroft.

We are looking at a section of a brick Tudor fireplace as well as some cobwebs.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 18/09/2026

STAND AND DELIVER! A brand new ghost has arrived in the garden at the Hall - a highwayman and his trusty steed. As you will know, Dick Turpin (dick by name and by nature) met his demise at York Tyburn.

We are looking at two wire sculptures - one of and 18th century highwayman with a long coat, trucker hat and two pistols. Behind him is a horse who really wants to get away from him.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 17/09/2026

AI 1980's? No thanks we have the 1580's. We even have the big shoulder pads. 🤩

We are looking at a half-length portrait of William Robinson, who was Governor from 1578-80 and 1590-1591 and benefactor to the Company of Merchant Adventurers. He was also Lord Mayor of York in 1581 and 1594 and M.P for York in 1584 and 1589. His right shoulder is towards us. The figure is set within a painted arch. His right shoulder is towards us. He wears red Alderman's robes, a fashionable ruff and a black skull cap. On the forefinger of his right hand he wears a gold ring with a Coat of Arms. He was also Lord Mayor of York in 1594 and M.P for York in 1584 and 1589. After cleaning the ghost of a staff could be seen in his right hand.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 16/09/2026

‘Wood’ you believe it’s nearly Thursday. Thank you. We are here all week. 😉

We are looking at a section of the Great Hall’s oak framed roof. The central posts are visible which then branch out to the vast space above.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 15/09/2026

Something spooky this way comes! Yes the ghosts are baaaaaaaack! From 19th September to 1st November ghostly wire sculptures will appear in green spaces across the city, including the Hall's garden. Spooooktacular!

We are looking at an opaque wire sculpture in the shape of a medieval female merchant.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 14/09/2026

We’re not sure about this Saturday Night Fever reboot…

We are looking at a close up of a medieval manuscript showing two very coordinated black devils who appear to be strutting their funky stuff on a green chequerboard dance floor. Another devil has perhaps had too much to drink and thinks they can fly and is hovering over them.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 14/09/2026

In a one off episode of Fungi Watch at the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall… May we present this majestic specimen of a Laetiporus, commonly known as chicken of the woods.

We are looking at a cherry tree with a mustard yellow fungi growing in brackets out of the side of its trunk. In the background is the Hall which is matching in a very similar yellow shade.

We are looking at a close up of a cherry tree with a mustard yellow fungi growing in brackets out of the side of its trunk.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 11/09/2026

It’s cloud appreciation day. Here are some particularly excellent North Yorkshire clouds. 👍

We are looking at the sky which has some lovely white and grey fluffy clouds which are just obscuring the sun. The blue sky is indigo blue.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 10/09/2026

When you're a medieval guildhall but all anyone wants to talk about is a medieval "tapestry"...

We are looking at a close up of the Bayeux tapestry showing William the Conqueror looking a bit blankly whilst pointing at an unseen figure. He holds a standard in one hand.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 09/09/2026

Names of Merchant Adventurers from history: Marwood Bustard Butler Burton Dyxon Darton Lancelot Driffield Theophilus Garrencieres York Horner Suckling Spendlove To be honest we just picked out the humorous ones because we are children.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 08/09/2026

Today we thought we'd talk about this gentleman who some of you may recognise. Joseph Rowntree was a Quaker, confectioner, philanthropist and Merchant Adventurer. Plus as you can see in this photo quite the natty dresser.

We are looking at an older gentleman who is balding but has a very tidy white beard and is wearing wire frame spectacles. He looks directly at the camera with a warm expression. He is wearing a three piece check wool suit with a string tie held with a metal clip.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 07/09/2026

It has been 16 days since we have posted a picture of the Great Hall's roof. For those getting withdrawal symptoms - here's your fix.

We are looking at the Great Hall on an early September evening. The lights are on illuminating the oak framed splendour which is the roof. It soars up majestically in perfect medieval harmony.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 07/09/2026

Lets head into the new week with the same confidence as Dr Maud Sellers does standing on the steps of the Hall... ...but perhaps without the fur. 🤢

We are looking at a black and white photo of a middle aged woman standing on the steps on the Tudor entrance to the Hall. She is relaxed and eschews confidence. She is wearing a long skirt over which is a thigh length jacket. She is wearing a long fur stole around her neck and a big hat with feathers.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 04/09/2026

News! Exciting news! The Maud Sellers display is here and looks, if we do say so ourselves rather splendid!

We are looking at the display on Maud Sellers in the Great Hall. It consists of a table top panel which mirrors a desk and three panels which have been made to look like an Edwardian screen. At one end is a cloak hook with a coat, fur stole and feathered hat.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 04/09/2026

This is amazing but we did think it was a loaf of bread... 😐

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 03/09/2026

Are we all in need of a medieval hug? We think so. ❤️

We are looking at two figures hugging. One is dressed in blue and is wearing a brown pointy hat. The other is an angel with wings and an orange halo. It looks like both are in need of a hug.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 03/09/2026

Have we 'peaked' your interest? We spelt peek wrong. Sorry. 👀

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 03/09/2026

We have something very exciting on its way to the Hall! Here is a sneaky peak of a new permanent display on Dr Maud Sellers: steamboat lady, traveller, historian, archivist and the first female Merchant Adventurer in 400 years. Join us for a short thread on the indominable Maud...

We are looking at a workshop and in the foreground is a large display panel in the shame of a screen. It has an illustrated coat rail with an green coat, fox fur and elaborate hat hanging from it. At the base is a travel trunk and suitcase. Above is text, illustrations and photos.

We are looking at an older lady with white hair wearing a graduation gown with a cap in her hand. She looks directly at the camera with a fixed but tired stare.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 02/09/2026

Look at our chest. It's a late 17th century Nuremberg coffer with a faux lock on the front. Beneath the lid it is fitted with a complex lock mechanism beneath a guard-plate. A basic chest you say. How dare you! Go on, take a closer look...

We are looking at a small late 17th Century iron Nuremberg Coffer, painted black. The coffer has two hasps and with a faux lock on the front of the coffer. Beneath the lid it is fitted with a complex lock mechanism beneath a guard-plate inscribed with a pair of primitive mermaids supporting tulips.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 01/09/2026

It’s the 1st September. It’s meteorological Autumn. Bring out the jumpers*! *technically still too warm for jumpers but we can hope. 😆

We are looking at the Hall from the garden on an autumnal day. Despite the blue sky and sunshine, there are leaves on the ground.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 31/08/2026

Happy Bank Holiday Monday! Is it that sunny in York? Sadly not - it is a Bank Holiday after all. ☔️ Is that blue sky photoshopped? No that was real but who doesn’t love a cloud? 🤨 Is the Hall always that beautiful? You betcha. 😍

We are looking at one side of the Hall from the garden. We are peering through climbing flowers on a pergola to the timber frame, yellow ochre plasterwork and brick masterpiece beyond.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 29/08/2026

Right we’re going on holiday. We just need a few hundred volunteers. Bring your own rope.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 28/08/2026

Finding good materials for building has always been a challenge. Luckily for us in 1358 we had a Carmelite Friary across the road who also made bricks. 20,000 of the little beauties were bought from the Friars for £6. 🧡

We are looking at a section of the wall of the Hall from the garden. It is made up of medieval brick, newer brick, medieval stone and reused stone. You can also see three windows with their stone frames and diamond glazing.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 27/08/2026

Woof! Bark! Grrh! Woof! We were just wishing all the good canine boys and girls out there Happy International Dog Day! Here are some of our four legged friends from around the Hall. 🐶🐩🐕🦮🐕‍🦺

We are looking at a montage of four dogs from around the Hall. Two are in paintings, one in a stained glass panel and one in a print.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 27/08/2026

Good morning! Why thank you. We just woke up like this. 💋

We are looking at the Hall from across the river Foss. It is a late summer and it is a warm slightly hazy morning as the sun catches the yellow plasterwork of the Hall. The bricks of the chapel glow in the sunshine.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 26/08/2026

Well Wednesday surely flew by! Did you think you’d got away with not hearing some gubbins from us today?! Ha you’d be so lucky! Here’s a 19th century watercolour of the Shambles with not a wizard or ghost shop in site.

We looking at a watercolour in oranges and browns showing York’s most famous street with its jettied buildings and wide window sills displaying joints of meat. In the distance is the Italianate tower of St Crux church.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 25/08/2026

Not sure the peep hole is strictly necessary if the door is wide open…

We are looking at a scene from an illuminated manuscript showing a tonsured Abbot wearing a black habit watching through a small hole in a wall a monk getting it on with a lady in a pink dress on a red bed. The door is wide open though and a curtain for privacy has not been used.

We are looking at another scene from an illuminated manuscript showing a tonsured monk wearing a black habit watching through a small hole in a wall the abbot getting it on with the same lady in a pink dress on a red bed. The door is wide open though and a curtain for privacy has not been used.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 25/08/2026

We have had a busman’s holiday today: the Tudor and Victorian extravaganza which is Heslington Hall. Plus look at those hedges! 🥰

We are looking at a large brick built Tudor building with a central block and then a wing on either side. The windows are stone mullioned with some larger bay windows on the main block. In the front is a parterre of box hedges.

We are looking at some excellent shaped yea hedges against a cloudy sky.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 24/08/2026

Have you seen our new stained glass window? Celebrating the Coronation of King Charles III and the flora and fauna of the British Isles it is rather beautiful addition to the Hall if we do say so ourselves. Here it is taken during the near total eclipse.

We ae looking at a painted glass window decorated with roses, thistles, daffodils and shamrocks. It also has birds, spiders, beetles and snails. It is dimly lit with shadows of leaves and flowers on the limewashed wall.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 21/08/2026

It’s Friday! May your weekend be as epic and fabulous as the Great Hall’s roof. 🤎

We are looking at the Great Hall in all its quiet majestic glory. The floor is popping, the roof is serving all the oak frame looks and its drip is drippier than an ice cold beverage in a heat wave.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 20/08/2026

Just some medieval oak frame action for you. Look at the wind brace on that. 😘

We are looking at a close up of the oak frame roof in the Great Hall. It shows a wind brace - a diamond shaped section of timber which stops the roof from racking in the wind. The oak is a honey brown colour.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 19/08/2026

Happy recovery Merle! 🦇 We've had robins, pigeons and sparrows in the Hall (and intentionally the odd owl at weddings) but never a bat. 😍

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 19/08/2026

The early 1990's: all shell suits and scrunchies. Oh and in our case some mock Tudor lighting and some very very questionable seating...

We are looking at the Great Hall in the 1990's, it is looking a little worse for wear - a bit dingy and a little drab. There is an oak table with three chairs around it and three paintings on the oak panelling at the back illuminated by picture lights. The roof is dark with one solitary mock Tudor lantern illuminating the space.

We are looking at another photo of the Great Hall in the 1990s. Once again there are the mock Tudor lights and then on the floor are a series of stackable metal chairs with ill fitting faded green chair covers. To one side are two children looking around the Hall - their backs are to us.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 18/08/2026

Apparently the “grapes” are infact “apples”. So… The apple harvest is about to start. Have we got our hedgehogs at the ready? What do you mean they’re drunk?!

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 18/08/2026

Right everyone the wine harvest is about to start. Have we got our hedgehogs at the ready?

We are looking at a scene from the Bestiary of Rochester showing three hedgehogs having what we can only describe as the best time collecting grapes off vines. One is covered with grapes and is heading off into the burrow whilst the other two are on their backs rolling around in the grapes. The whole scene is then gilded with the exception of the blue and green vines and the brown hedgehogs.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 18/08/2026

What? Where? Whom? Wha? Yes it’s our new and one off episode: what’s that random silver object that you have there? What do you think it is?

We are looking at a small silver object measuring 12.7cm - it has a plain tubular body of slightly waisted form having a round top. The other end has a thread edge.

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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 17/08/2026

Victorian? Got a pesky church which is "unsightly"? Have no fear just use dynamite and blow it up!

We are looking at a watercolour painting showing a view towards the Market Cross (now gone) behind which is All Saints’ Church. On the right is St Crux Church, demolished in 1887. Various figures gather around a figure who could be a town crier. Another figure drives sheep and a horse pulls a laden cart. The view shows Pavement as it appeared in 1813 before the Market Cross was removed – on the left hand is a two gabled timber house, originally the residence of Christopher Herbert and was afterwards occupied by Sir Roger Jaques. Higher in the street is – the Rawdon Market Cross beyond it the Church of All Hallows now called All Saints Pavement. In the foreground of the picture on the right is the Church of St Crux the place of Sepulchre of the Robinsons, the Herberts, the Jaques and the Rawdons – St Crux is a noble Church of the Perpendicular period but the tower was thrown down and badly restored after the Reformation – At the West End of the Church is a Street called the Great Shambles, the entrance to which appears in the picture where Lawrence Rawdon lived and Marmadyke was born. A little higher in the Pavement stands a Gabled house in or near which the Robinsons lived. The flagging in front of St Crux was formerly the Goose Market. The Market Cross denotes where the principal weekly Market of the city was held.

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