Yorkshire Museum

What to see at the Yorkshire Museum

The Yorkshire Museum has displays giving you an insight into the history and culture of Yorkshire including a number of important artefacts.

The museum’s highlights include:

• the Cawood sword, which is believed to date from the early 12th century;
• the Coppergate Helmet, the best preserved of only six surviving Anglo-Saxon helmets, which was discovered in 1982 during excavations for the Jorvik Viking Centre;
• the Ormside Bowl, an intricately decorated silver and bronze Anglo-Saxon bowl dating from the mid-8th century;
• the Middleham Jewel, a late 15th-century pendant discovered by a detectorist in Middleham, North Yorkshire in 1992;
• the Bedale Hoard, a hoard of 48 silver and gold items dating from the late 9th- and early 10th-centuries which were found by metal detectorists near Bedale, North Yorkshire in 2012;
• and the Vale of York Hoard, also known as the Harrogate Hoard, consisting of 617 silver coins and 65 other Viking artefacts.

Temporary exhibitions at the Yorkshire Museum

In addition to its permanent collection, the Yorkshire Museum also hosts a programme of temporary exhibitions. Current and planned exhibitions include:

After the Ice: Yorkshire’s Prehistoric People
This display explores life in Yorkshire before the arrival of the Romans. Archaeological finds are shown alongside digital content and natural science specimens. Highlights include tools, jewellery and objects from Star Carr, a Mesolithic site occupied over 11,000 years ago. Items preserved in peat, such as birch bark rolls and bone harpoons, offer insight into early life. The exhibition also reflects changes in landscape and environment across thousands of years.

Yorkshire’s Jurassic World
This exhibition traces 150 million years of Yorkshire’s Jurassic past, revealing the creatures and environments that once shaped the region. Displays include fossils, digital reconstructions and large-scale projections. Visitors can explore ancient coral seas, deep oceans and dinosaur habitats. CGI, lighting and interactive elements bring each setting to life. Highlights include an ichthyosaur fossil with overlaid skin, a life-sized Megalosaur and a large sauropod vertebra nicknamed Alan. Fossilised plants help illustrate the wider ecosystem. A Virtual Reality experience is also available.

Medieval York: Capital of the North
This display explores York’s role as a political, religious and economic centre from the Anglian to Tudor periods. It features key objects from the Yorkshire Museum’s permanent collection, including the York Helmet, Gilling Sword and Ormside Bowl. Several recently acquired items appear for the first time. The exhibition examines York’s changing status as England’s second city, shaped by its connections to royal power and the Church.

Visiting the Yorkshire Museum

The Yorkshire Museum is in the Museum Gardens at the northern end of the city centre. Most points of interest in York are no more than a 20-minute walk from here.

For the most part, the museum is wheelchair accessible. Both the lower and ground floors are fully accessible but wheelchair users don’t have access to the reading room and historic library on the first floor and only one wheelchair users is allowed on the first floor at a time due to fire regulations.

Allow 1–2 hours for your visit to the Yorkshire Museum.