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 specialties, local and workhouse history or just want somewhere interesting to meet, we’d be happy to help you tailor arrangements for your group.

You’ll find key information below and on the pdf download. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Key information

Self-led visit for 10 people or more: £9.50 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 10 – 5 (last admission 4.15) 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 Life Long Learning team to get a real insight into one of the following topics:

Bloody Barbers and Splattered Surgeons

Using objects from our collection, this informative, theatrical talk will bring to life examples from the York Guild Book of Barber-Surgeons to chronicle the history of the barber-surgeon, from tearing teeth and bloodletting to bone setting. 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 35-40 minute seated talk, followed either by a behind-the-scenes tour of the stores (for groups of under 18 people) or a 20-minute close-up object viewing session for larger groups. Maximum capacity 40 people

The Front Line: Medical Museum or War 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 either by a behind-the-scenes tour of the stores (for groups of under 18 people) or a 20-minute close-up object viewing session for larger groups. Maximum capacity 20 people

Bones, Bodies and Beats

Join us for a tour that picks out medical devices, tools, and innovations that enable us to tune into the beats our bodies make. Guided by a member of staff, this tour will explore the upper galleries and introduce you to some of the more technologically based science in our collection.

This is an approximately a 25-30 minute guided tour of the museum, followed either by a behind-the-scenes tour of the stores (for groups of under 18 people) or a 20-minute close-up object viewing session for larger groups. Maximum capacity 20 people

Sex & Drugs

Meet our Collections team to take a light-hearted look at some of our more risqué objects, from shudder-inducing syphilis treatments to a tobacco smoke enema.