Group visits

We’d be delighted to welcome your group to the museum for a fascinating and relaxed day out. Whether you are interested in medical and healthcare specialities, local and workhouse history or just want somewhere interesting to meet, we’d be happy to help you tailor arrangements for your group.

Key information

  • Self-led visit for 10 people or more: £9 per adult, £6.95 per child (5-16)– visit our two floors of exhibitions at your own pace and relax in the café and shop at leisure.  We are open 10am-4pm (last admission 3.15) and are happy to discuss the best time for your visit. We are usually quieter from 2pm when schools have gone home.
  • Self-led visit with a group talk for 10 visitors or more: £14.95 per adult – as well as exploring the exhibitions, meet a member of our Curatorial or Lifelong Learning team to get a real insight into one of the following topics:

Bloody Barbers and Splattered Surgeons

Four open cases, one containing a surgery set and the other a trepanning set.
A surgical set alongside two different trepanning kits, one pre-Victorian and one from the Victorian period.

Using objects from our collection, this informative, theatrical talk will bring to life the history of the barber-surgeon, from tearing teeth and bloodletting to bone setting. Travel from Roman York to Medieval London and beyond as we discover the origin of and role of this iconic historical oddity. This talk is complemented by rarely seen objects from our stores and will be an opportunity for the visitor to contemplate their next visit to the hairdresser’s.

This is an approximately 40-minute seated talk, followed by 20 minutes for visitors to ask questions and view the objects up close. Maximum capacity 40 people.

Curator Tour of the Galleries

Join our Curator for an expert-led tour of the museum galleries before being set free to explore them at your own pace. Learn more about how exhibitions are curated; hear some of the stories we couldn’t fit into the displays; and delve deeper into the complex history and modern ethical debates behind some of our artefacts. You’ll also hear how we continue to update our galleries to reflect the ongoing transformations at the cutting edge of medical innovation.

Maximum capacity 15 people. This is an hour-long walking and standing tour, although there are occasional opportunities for some group members to sit down at certain points. The tour is fully wheelchair accessible.

Questionable Quackery

An image of Disease Street, Thackray Museum's replica Victorian street.
A ‘quack cart’ located in Disease Street, our replica Victorian street.

This exciting and informative talk, making use of objects and archival items from our collection, will focus on the darker side of medicine delving into the deceptive world of quackery. Travelling back to the origins of the quack doctor and exploring the dangerous and daft cures of the 18th and 19th centuries, this talk will expose some of the most notorious historical medicines of the past 300 years and teach audiences the tricks and marketing techniques of crooks and charlatans who profited from their questionable quack cures.

This talk is an approx 45-minute seated talk, followed by 15 minutes for visitors to ask questions and view the objects up close. Maximum capacity 40 people.

The Front Line: Medical Museum or War Hospital?

A black and white photo of royalty in a military uniform outside a hospital, joined by a large group of nurses.
Photograph from our collection of King George V giving a talk at East Leeds Military Hospital.

Few know that during the First World War, the site of the Thackray Museum was the East Leeds War Hospital. Join us for a tour that explores the experience of real soldiers sent here to be treated. We will hear about their battle wounds; the care provided and reveal the outcome of their time at the war hospital. The tour is guided by a member of staff with a keen interest in military history and ancestry. It will be supplemented by contemporary photographs, poetry, and objects.

This is an approximately a 35–40-minute guided tour of the museum, followed by 20 minutes for visitors to ask questions and view a range of First World War-related objects. Maximum capacity 20 people.

Pride and Preventatives: The Scandalous History of Contraception

An image from a c.1910 catalogue advertising sexual hygiene supplies/products for Doctors and Midwives.

Join our Collections team to delve into the fascinating history of early contraception. This talk uses little-seen material from our Library and stores to showcase contraceptive devices from the late 1800s and early 1900s, explore the troubling links between early birth control and eugenics, and analyse some illuminating marriage advice from 1893. 

This is an approximately 40-minute seated talk, followed by 20 minutes for visitors to ask questions and view the objects up close. Maximum capacity 50 people. 

Content warning: This talk openly discusses adult topics, includes historic sources containing eugenicist language, and includes some graphic illustrations. 

Behind the Scenes: Store Tour 

Our stores, library and archive are teeming with objects, books and papers with their own fascinating stories, many of which are rarely if ever visible to the public. Smaller groups are invited to go behind the scenes, view some of our favourite objects, and learn more about the challenges of maintaining such a vast and unique collection. 

This is an hour-long standing tour, although a few chairs can be provided at specific points if arranged in advance. The tour is wheelchair accessible, but please let us know any access requirements in advance so we can made additional preparations. 

Maximum capacity 16 people. Groups over 8 will be split in two, with half the participants exploring the galleries, shop and café before swapping round.  

Bookings

  • To book your places contact us on 0113 244 4343 and select option 2 or email [email protected]g.
  • Free entry for coach/minibus drivers.
  • Free planning visit for one organiser and one free entry for the group visit.