Merchant Adventurers’ Hall

In 1357 a number of York’s men and women came together to form a new religious fraternity. By 1430 most members were mercers – dealers in textiles, and alongside the fraternity they set up a trading association or guild. The guild started out with a different name: The Fraternity and Guild of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1430 King Henry VI gave the organisation a new name, the Mistery of Mercers of York. Eventually it became The Company of Merchant Adventurers.

The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall has been in continuous use for over 650 years. It was built on top of an earlier Norman mansion, on the banks of the river Foss. The Hall has traditionally been used by the guild to transact business affairs, meet together socially, to look after the poor and to pray to God.