A Date with History

Join an Uncomfortable York walking tour and hear untold histories and diverse stories highlighting the impact of women, people of colour and LGBTQIA+ individuals from York's past.

What does York history mean for its residents? Whether you have lived in the city for a few months or many generations, why not drop by our workshop and share what York means to you?

Explore the hidden history of a remarkable hovercraft that whizzed passengers directly between Hull and Grimsby in the late 1960s. Join Paul Drury-Bradey of the Humber Hovercraft project.

Postgraduate researcher Hannah Armstrong of the University of York examines a 19th-century form of literary tourism which saw readers of medieval sagas sail to Iceland to see where their Viking heroes lived and died.

Thomas Cromwell is one of the most famous - or notorious - figures in English history. Discover his true place in the making of modern England and Ireland - for good and ill - with historian Diarmaid MacCulloch.

North, south, east and west: almost all societies for millennia have used the four cardinal directions to orientate themselves. Historian Jerry Brotton promises a journey of directional discovery.

Take a behind-the-scenes look at the legendary British Vogue magazine as author Julie Summers presents a beautifully illustrated talk about its fascinating and glamorous history.

What sort of music did diarist Jane Ewbank hear and perform as a well-to-do young woman living in early 19th-century York? Join musicologist Rachel Cowgill for a new take on Georgian York.

Join Pat Cullum, lead volunteer at Holy Trinity Goodramgate and learn how former York MPs Robert de Holme Sr and Nicholas de Blackburn made waves by taking to the waves.

Join a guided walk and travel back 220 years to the world of Jane Ewbank, the 26-year-old daughter of a York apothecary who enjoyed a rich cultural life in the city.

Writer Max Adams discusses a fascinating century of change in early Medieval Britain when kings Æthelbald and Offa dominated the political landscape of the rising power of Mercia.

Join us for an interactive role-playing game session set in Renaissance York, featuring women printers operating in the city.

From the first printed ‘Strange Newes’ sheets of the 16th century to the sensationalism of today’s digital age, author Terry Kirby reveals the seedy history of tabloid journalism.

Have you faced the fiery poo-bison? Been chased round a garden by an escaped bear? No? Then you've obviously not been on The Filthy, Beastly Tour of York! Enjoy a family-friendly guided tour.

Leading archaeologist Duncan Sayer reveals how ancient DNA is helping us explore the movement of people in the early Middle Ages, from AD 450–750.

Have you faced the fiery poo-bison? Been chased round a garden by an escaped bear? No? Then you've obviously not been on The Filthy, Beastly Tour of York! Enjoy a family-friendly guided tour.

Enjoy a live performance of an experimental, multi-media composition based on the mathematics used to crack the enigma code during World War II.

Archaeologist Julian Richards explores the genetic history of the British Isles from hunter gatherers to Huguenots and beyond, as well as the evidence provided by archaeology.

Author Frederik Cryns traces William Adams’s remarkable rise from humble English pilot to a position of immense influence in Japan’s foreign relations in the 1600s.

Take a journey into the soul of Northumbria with writer Jake Morris-Campbell as he seeks to understand the deep past and uncertain future of his homeland.

Join author Jean Strouse for the riveting story of portrait artist John Singer Sargent and his relationship with an eminent Edwardian family, the Wertheimers.

Rebecca Earle of the University of Warwick reveals how, alongside painters, patrons and dealers, privateers formed part of Europe’s early modern art world.

Join us in the beorsele or beer-hall of the Duke of York pub for an evening of beer and Anglo-Saxon poetry.

Historian Allen Warren explores the life and legacy of York’s most remarkable 20th-century Dean, Eric Milner-White.

Find out about the background to an exciting new exhibition at the York Army Museum, Object Journeys, and have input into the choice of archives and objects included.

Visit the Council for British Archaeology (CBA) offices and find out more about archaeology and the work they do across the UK.

Find out about the background to an exciting new exhibition at the York Army Museum, Object Journeys, and have input into the choice of archives and objects included.

Join archaeologist John Oxley on a guided walk exploring how the narratives of York’s City Walls evidence and support York's case for World Heritage status.

Learn how churches have developed over the centuries and enjoy a guided tour around one of England's most important ecclesiastical buildings.

Find out how ancient peoples dealt with death as classicist Robert Garland explores the beliefs and practices of a wide range of cultures and traditions.

Join archaeologist Barry Crump as he explores the more unusual and unexpected ways people have made and used coins from the Roman period onwards.

Take a trip through time with Lottie Adcock of Dance the Past to find those dances that broke boundaries and shocked polite society.

Discover the fascinating history of how flooding has shaped York over the centuries on a guided city centre tour. What clues to the past do York’s castles, bridges, churches and halls offer?

From Europe's earliest wallpaper to printing on ice, join Helen Smith, Director of Thin Ice Press: the York Centre for Print, to learn about the history of printing in York.

From medieval times to the 2008 financial crash and the present day, economist Martin Slater explores the central role and changing fortunes of the National Debt.

Immerse yourself in the world of the Vikings as expert speakers look at the past, present and future of festivals and public events on a Viking theme.

Drop into the York Army Museum and the Eye of York and learn about D-Day with the East Yorkshire Regiment Living History Group.

Take a tour of Fishergate Postern Tower’s Medieval masons’ marks and then watch a professional stonemason cut a mark on stone and, if you like, design your own!

Visit a letterpress display reimagining women’s knowledge about plants. Join in a botanical printing activity and discover a book of flowers written for a queen.

York Lindy invites you to a free one-day swing dance festival, featuring a pop-up exhibition, dance classes, history and music talks.

Take a tour of Fishergate Postern Tower’s Medieval masons’ marks and then watch a professional stonemason cut a mark on stone and, if you like, design your own!

Join our expert speakers as they look back over 200 remarkable years of rail history and assess its transformative impact on the city of York and the wider region.

Take a tour of Fishergate Postern Tower’s Medieval masons’ marks and then watch a professional stonemason cut a mark on stone and, if you like, design your own!

Join historian Tracy Borman as she unlocks the mysteries of Holbein’s enigmatic artwork The Ambassadors, revealing the secrets it tells us about the Tudor court.

Visit a letterpress display reimagining women’s knowledge about plants. Join in a botanical printing activity and discover a book of flowers written for a queen.

Take a tour of Fishergate Postern Tower’s Medieval masons’ marks and then watch a professional stonemason cut a mark on stone and, if you like, design your own!

Take a tour of Fishergate Postern Tower’s Medieval masons’ marks and then watch a professional stonemason cut a mark on stone and, if you like, design your own!

Enjoy a Playback Theatre performance which takes its inspiration from the histories of disabled people in York and encourages attendees to share their own stories from 2025.

From decrypting enemy messages to penning propaganda and infiltrating organisations, writer Claire Hubbard-Hall reveals women’s pivotal role in the history of the British intelligence services.

Join Arthur Bradley of the University of Lancaster as he explores the relationship between theatre and sovereignty in modern political theory, philosophy and performance.

Learn more about Alexander the Great’s life, personality and impact as historian Stephen Harrison of Swansea University offers a fresh perspective on his reign.

As part of the Joseph Rowntree Centenary, The Rowntree Society explores the story of Rowntree’s relationship with Trade Unions during the 1920s.

Join us for an informal session in the ancient and medieval arithmetical gymnasium.

Hear the story of the production of the five groundbreaking Royal Commission volumes on the archaeology and Architecture of the City of York from Roman times to the 20th century. Join Peter Addyman, former Director of York Archaeology.

Join a workshop led by Lottie Adcock of Dance the Past and take a trip through time to learn some of the most scandalous dances in history.

Join us for StreetLife's Queer Walk of York, an LGBTQI+ heritage trail of sites of significance to the city's queer communities, and a post-walk conversation on Spaces of Queer Activism in York.

Celebrate the comedic genius of Ray Galton and Alan Simpson (Hancock’s Half Hour and Steptoe and Son) at an event showcasing the archive acquired by the University of York in 2024.

Modesty, flamboyance, filth. Join writer Nina Edwards as she unravels the intimate narratives woven into the fabric of our most personal garments.

Join bestselling author and journalist Sonia Purnell for a discussion of the complexities, intricacies and mysteries of leadership, focusing on Pamela Churchill Harriman, daughter-in-law of Winston Churchill.

Join author Paula Akpan for a revelatory history as she takes you into the fascinating worlds of the queens and warriors who ruled vast swathes of the African continent.

Throughout time, there have been stories of people being visited or attacked by nocturnal monsters. How can modern science help us to understand this cultural history? Join psychologist Dan Denis.

Historian Eleanor Barnett charts the ingenious ways people have sought to extend the life of food and reuse leftovers from the 16th-century kitchen to the present day.

Discover what linked York and Münster historically, the background to the cities’ twinning, and how links are ongoing today.

Join us for a ground-breaking exploration of African culture and identity as author Luke Pepera journeys through 500,000 years of history to connect with his extraordinary heritage.

Find out how researchers study the sounds of the past with Mariana López of the University of York.

Join historian and bestselling author William Dalrymple as he explores how India transformed the culture and technology of its ancient world - and our world today as we know it.

Writer Linda Porter presents the compelling story of the misunderstood and underestimated elder sister of Henry VIII, Margaret Tudor, whose determination to fight for the rights of her son, James V, is at the core of her dramatic life.

Take a journey across time and space, and explore the history of medieval Britain through the biographies of illuminated manuscripts and their creators with author Michelle P. Brown.

Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the modern railway, rail historian Roger Backhouse examines how railway posters developed from the mid-19th century.

Join Barbara Brend, a specialist in the field of Persian painting, as she examines two manuscripts illustrated in late 15th-century Herat.

Conservator Alison Gilchrist discusses the significant collection of stained glass at All Saints and its recent restoration, before leading a tour of the windows.

Celebrating the Friends of York Archaeological Trust’s 50th anniversary, author and archaeologist Richard Morris revisits and reflects on 1970s York and the founding of York Archaeological Trust.

What was life really like aboard a pirate ship? Join historian Rebecca Simon for a rollicking account of pirates’ codes - the strict rules essential for survival at sea.

Join archaeologists as they discuss the damaging effects of global warming on waterlogged archaeological sites and explain how two projects aim to tackle this issue in York.

Join Emma Waring and Donna Yates of the York Maastricht Partnership as they explore some of the ethical dilemmas surrounding T-Rex fossils, controversial art and human remains in museums and galleries today.

From the 3,500-year-old Ringlemere Cup to the Anglo-Saxon Staffordshire Hoard, hear about amazing treasures unearthed by detectorists, mudlarks and fieldwalkers.

Join historian Carolyn Twomey as she explores the various social and ritual roles of the baptismal font in the premodern past and its significance to parish communities.

In 1983, civil servants role-played the descent into nuclear conflict. Join us for dramatised extracts from the WINTEX-CIMEX document and an expert discussion panel.

Learn more about York's fascinating heritage on a guided walk with Neil Redfern, Executive Director of the Council for British Archaeology.

Join our interactive workshop and learn to print and sing tonic solfa - a system of musical notation popular in 19th-century Britain and used by missionaries throughout the world.

Love it or hate it? The Willow Disco was an infamous part of York’s nightlife culture for 42 years. Join us to mark the 10th anniversary of the Willow's closure and the launch of the Willow Community Digital Archive.

Love it or hate it? The Willow Disco was an infamous part of York’s nightlife culture for 42 years. Join us to mark the 10th anniversary of the Willow's closure and the launch of the Willow Community Digital Archive.

Love it or hate it? The Willow Disco was an infamous part of York’s nightlife culture for 42 years. Join us to mark the 10th anniversary of the Willow's closure and the launch of the Willow Community Digital Archive.

Love it or hate it? The Willow Disco was an infamous part of York’s nightlife culture for 42 years. Join us to mark the 10th anniversary of the Willow's closure and the launch of the Willow Community Digital Archive.

Come along to St Olave’s Church to celebrate all things time related. Enjoy a series of short talks during the day, and poetry and music presented by Navigators Art & Performance in the evening.

Come and see the carving of a Viking ship recently discovered on a stone on Pikeing Well, the 18th-century Well House on New Walk.

Come along to St Olave’s Church to celebrate all things time related. Enjoy a series of short talks during the day, and poetry and music presented by Navigators Art & Performance in the evening.