Review of The Yorkshire Museum in York

We’re lucky to be a stone’s throw away from the historic city of York, and The Yorkshire Museum in the city centre really is unmissable. With unique and compelling world-class family-friendly exhibitions, this is a must-see for big and little kids alike.

Absolutely everything in The Yorkshire Museum is child-centic from the engaging, interactive exhibits to the historical costumes on offer for children to try on and enact historical figures, and the compelling games which help immerse visitors in history in a playful, imaginative way. The museum even provides additional children’s toilet seats and step ladders in the bathrooms, making this is undoubtedly one of the most family-friendly museums we’ve visited in the UK.

We worked our way around the museum, starting with the first exhibition, Star Carr: Life After The Ice weaving our way through several rooms  dedicated to life 11,000 years ago, a few hundred years after the last Ice Age. We were wowed with artefacts from one the most famous Mesolithic sites in the world, Star Carr, spanning how people ate, worshipped and lived in the Middle Stone Age. My children were amazed by an antler headdress; a uniquely decorated stone pendant, the world’s oldest complete hunting bow and the earliest evidence of carpentry from Europe.

Next stop was the Mary Anning Rocks exhibition which tells the inspiring story of Mary Anning (1799-1847), a pioneering palaeontologist who changed the way we view the natural world. Best known for discovering Jurassic marine fossils in Lyme Regis on the southwestern coast of England in Dorset, I (shamefully), had never heard of Mary Anning before and was astounded by her achievements especially at a time when so few women were recognised for their work.

Anning unsuprisingly struggled financially for much of her life and being a woman, was not even eligible to join the Geological Society of London, and was often discluded from full credit for her contributions.

However, her friend, geologist Henry De la Beche, who painted Duria Antiquior, the first widely circulated pictorial representation of a scene from prehistoric life derived from fossil reconstructions, based it largely on fossils Anning had found and sold prints of it for her benefit.

Then it was back 150 million years to discover lost giant dinosaurs in an award winning exhibition, Yorkshire’s Jurassic World, which all of my children, particularly my dino-loving three year old daughter, Florence, was stunned by.

There, you are able to appreciate the finest details of an ichthyosaur as its flesh and skin are superimposed over its preserved skeleton, tremble at a terrifying Megalosaur tooth as you witness its hunting habitat, and much more. Florence and I spent an hour colouring in and drawing dinosaurs adjacent to the exhibits which we then added to other childrens’ work hanging in the art corner. This activity really helps cement the learning in a fun, creative activity.

Onwards to Medieval York: Capital of the the North, and awe-inspiring artifacts spanning the York Helmet, Gilling Sword and Ormside Bowl, providing deep insight into York’s position as capital of the North during the Anglian, Viking and Medieval periods.

The exhibition explores how York became England’s second city and how its fortunes rose and fell with its ties to the Crown and the Church.

As the capital of religion, royal power, commerce, art, conflict and wealth across the Anglian, Viking, Norman, Medieval and Tudor periods, we discovered how the most powerful people in the world once ruled from within York’s City Walls.

My personal highlight, as someone who is originally Greek, a British, Yorkshire-born Greek Cypriot to be exact, aware of the Romans defeat of the ancient Greeks, was the exhibition, Roman York-Meet the People of the Empire.

A huge floor map shows the extent of the Empire, images of mosaics and frescoes decorate the walls and a mighty statue of Mars, the God of War, dominates the space.

A vast, four-metre square mosaic floor and a wall fresco, both found in York are not only on display but also available for you to touch and walk on. Here you are encouraged to become a Roman – slipping on a pair of sandals and stepping across the mosaic back into the cosmopolitan, busy and wealthy city that was Eboracum.

Florence then built her own Roman city with wooden bricks!

Hand puppets and books were also on hand for extra fun factor!

What a wonderful visit, which ended happiky with a trip to the gift shop which was suprisingly filled with affordable souvenirs, chocolate lollies, historical books for all ages reflecting the exhibits, stationery, jewellery and homeware.

We left with our bags full as you can see!

This was a complimentary press visit.