York Castle Museum can be hired for evening events: a seated banquet for up to 70 guests, or a buffet reception for up to 120. The event takes place on Kirkgate, a recreated Victorian cobbled street lined with shop fronts, inside the museum in the centre of York. The hire is handled by York Venues, the events arm of the charity York Museums Trust, which also manages three other historic venues in the city.
Seminars and company events
York Venues presents the castle museum under its events and corporate hire offer. The format on offer is an evening party or special occasion on Kirkgate, so it suits a corporate dinner, a client reception, an end of year party or a staff celebration rather than a daytime conference. The street can hold a seated banquet with tables laid along the main street for up to 70 guests. For larger groups the team proposes a buffet reception for up to 120 people. The team can help organise food, drink, music and entertainment. Handheld, lapel and lectern microphones are listed among the facilities, which allows speeches and awards during the evening. The pages we read do not list a daytime meeting room, a projector or a breakout space, so ask whether your agenda needs more than a dinner format.
Weddings and receptions
The venue page is titled for weddings and events, but the text we read only describes party and special occasion hire on Kirkgate. York Venues says it is most celebrated for weddings and civil ceremonies at the Hospitium, a different building in York Museum Gardens run by the same team. If you plan a wedding, ask the team whether the castle museum can host a reception and compare it with the Hospitium.
Rooms and capacities
Kirkgate, the Victorian street: seated banquet for up to 70 guests with tables arranged on the main street; buffet reception for up to 120 guests. No other room or capacity is published for the castle museum in the pages we read.
Accommodation
The museum has no bedrooms. York has a large choice of hotels within walking distance, so plan rooms for guests who travel and confirm times with the team.
Catering
York Venues has a partnership with the caterer Bradshaws, which makes it simple to organise food and drink for your guests. The team can help you pick food and drink to suit the event.
History and setting
The museum occupies a former debtors prison and an adjoining former women's prison, both Grade I listed, on the site of the former York Castle. It was founded by Dr John Kirk, a doctor from Pickering, North Yorkshire, whose collection of social history items reflects everyday life in the county. Its reconstructed Victorian street, Kirkgate, is one of the best known displays. By hiring the space, you support York Museums Trust, a charity.
Getting there
York Castle Museum is in the centre of York. The pages we read do not list transport details. York Venues is based at St Mary's Lodge, Marygate, York YO30 7DR, and the team can send directions and access information for guests with limited mobility.
