History Coming Alive
Discover over 600 years of history with the Merchant Taylors’ of York and our magnificent medieval Hall. Our free digital guide on Bloomberg Connects offers a behind-the-scenes look with exclusive videos, stories, and interactive tours.
Explore the Hall’s origins, York’s guilds and livery companies, and the role of tailors in shaping the city. Trails guide you through the Great Hall, the Blue Hall, our garden, and beyond.
With multilingual options, accessibility features, and ASL content, everyone can enjoy the experience.
Through our guide, you’ll uncover exclusive insights and multimedia content created with the help of our Members, giving you a behind-the-scenes look at both the Company and the Hall.
What you’ll find in our digital guide:
- A stunning fly-through video of the Hall, featuring a warm welcome from the Master of the Company.
- The fascinating story of the Hall’s origins and details on how to plan your visit.
- An introduction to York’s historic guilds and livery companies—and how tailors helped shape the city’s history.
- Interactive trails and tours guiding you through the Great Hall, the Blue Hall, our beautiful garden, and out into York itself, where the history of the Taylors comes alive.
- Insights into the Company’s work today, how to hire the Hall for special events, ways to stay connected, and how to support our charitable efforts and the preservation of the Hall.
Scan signage on-site or explore now by downloading the Bloomberg Connects app.
Start exploring →
We are working to bring you updates on our research into the Merchant Taylors archives. What is being uncovered is fascinating as we explore over 600 years of this remarkable Hall’s history. It will take some time, but we will post it here as soon as possible.
In the meantime we are delighted that the HERSTORY display outside the Mansion House will include information about an 18th century Taylor.
Mary Knapton, 1725-1801, was a tailor, businesswoman, mentor and mother. She made and sold mantua dresses from her shop in Davygate, trained 14 female apprentices and became a Master Taylor in 1753, one of 78 in that period women. The York Taylors Guild was unusual in the UK as it admitted women to become Taylors in their own right. Mary’s mother was a taylor, as was her daughter, Jenny.
To discover more, please follow this link...
We are currently working with the Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past (IPUP) at the University of York to discover more about its Georgian period
"York boomed in Georgian times and struggled to keep up with the social and cultural demands of the well-to-do. The ancient Hall of the Company of Merchant Taylors in York, still in use in Aldwark, found a new role – as a catalyst to the growth of Georgian high society:
Theatre productions were first performed at the Hall by impresario Thomas Keregan prior to transferring to the newly built York Theatre Royal on St Leonard’s Place;
The Lord Mayor of York upped his game – hosting dinners and social events at the Merchant Taylors Hall whilst he had the Mansion House built on St Helen’s Square;
The hall was let during Race Weeks, presumably for use as a social and meeting space;
Women tailors expanded their business, making the mantua dresses popular at the time and selling them to “the fashionable”, who flocked to use the newly built Assembly Hall on Blake Street and
During the French Wars in the early 1800s, the Hall was let to the Colonel of the Leeds Volunteers.
