Inside UK’s Largest Timber Building Still In Its Original Use

This is the largest timber-framed building in Britain to still be in its original use, utilising well over 500 trees 670 years ago. And today we're going through finding the amazing and sad secrets of its vast history from 1357 to 2026. The ground floor is surrounded by some of the earliest post-Roman brick in Britain. 20,000 bricks were purchased in 1358 for £6. But going inside, this undercroft is dominated by seven great oak posts, which is a problem. Positioned on low-lying ground beside the River Foss, flooding was always a guarantee, as seen by the array of flood markers as recently as 2015. Consequently, between the two world wars, the floor was raised 1.5 metres above its original level. The posts were shortened and placed on stone plinths to counteract the rotting. Scorch marks from torches are also visible on old posts, because in 1373, King Edward III licensed an arms house in this very undercroft for 13 poor and weak persons. This was just after the Black Death had wiped out a third of the city of York. Patient belongings would have been placed in these surviving wall niches beside their beds. The final remaining patients left the site around 1900. But even now, 653 years after Edward's Grant, 13 older members of York's community are still looked after by the same donors above this room. But what's it to do with these scales? This is the Great Hall, jettied over the undercroft. Double-naved as no oak timber was long enough to stretch across the hall. Much of the original medieval structure remains, including three simple slit windows placed high on the walls. Up here, the important wealthy individuals who funded the hospital beneath would meet. But the issues of the hall soon shifted from charity to organised business. In 1430, the Guild are granted another royal charter and renamed the Mystery of Mercers. These powerful merchants, assembled through charity in 1357, had solidified centuries of control over all imports to York. See, these sash windows were Georgian editions. So was the green court stand, moved from the original York Assize Courts nearby. This exact stand would have seen the infamous High Women, Dick Turpin, sentenced in 1739. But what about these scales? Well, with their monopoly, the Guild would check and uphold trading standards of all of York's merchants, using these scales, and mediate disputes with the court stand behind. Even these scales are 236 years old. That's the same age as the United States Supreme Court. But in this same hall, on a post, is something irresistible to history lovers. York was a royalist stronghold for most of the English Civil War. Back in the Undercroft, a small chapel can be found dating to 1411, now dominated by the Armorial Board of Charles II. This was due to a refurbishment following the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. And upstairs, Charles II's mother, Queen Henrietta Maria, boasts the largest portrait in the hall. An early 18th century depiction of the Queen Consort sat beside her crown. It's said she visited this hall during the Civil War, when it served as a prison. The Guild by no means took sides in the conflict though. In fact, the merchant right beside her, Henry Thompson, was a staunch parliamentarian. He happily purchased the famous Clifford's Tower from the sale of the Crown Lands. This was following the execution of Charles I, wife of Henrietta next to him. Amazing! Both parliamentarians and royalist troops had been detained here by the end of the war. And the only reminder of this bloody period is the initials of a prisoner carved into a beam. But the history has not even got started yet in this masterpiece. The answer to the rest of the story hides in a chimney piece. Going back to 1581, 7 months after Francis Drake completed the circumnavigation of the globe, and 19 years before Queen Elizabeth charted the famous East India Company, she granted the third and final charter to this Guild. They were now the Company of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York. The building's oldest portrait depicts one of the first merchant adventurers, a titan of the wool trade, the aptly named William Wooler, buried within York Minster, leaving behind a large sum of money to support future young York merchants. A Tudor merchant adventurer was quite simply a merchant who risked their capital in pursuit of trade, from York to Belgium to Russia to the Silk Road. This was venture capital 400 years before the existence of Silicon Valley. But what's the relation to the fireplace? In the hall is a 1590 portrait of a William Robinson, an MP, Lord Mayor and 58 years a merchant adventurer, governing during the 1581 charter. A governor's parlour was added to this building around 1950. Included in this extension was this stunning Tudor carved oak chimney piece. Symbolically this was moved here from the parlour of Robinson's old house 360 years after his key role in securing the future of this historic building. But you may notice the coat of arms are different to that of the main entrance. This puzzle actually tells an inspiring story between the building today in 2026 and this very channel that you are watching now. An eastern gatehouse to the hall was added in the 17th century. Here again is that same chimney piece coat of arms, with the motto God give us good adventure. This is the coat of arms of the Merchant Adventurers of England or London, used here in York from the 1581 charter until not long ago at all in 1969, when the York company finally received their own arms, proudly displayed in the Great Hall. Because even now roughly 170 Merchant Adventurers still gather here, still helping 13 older members of York's community, still supporting York's young entrepreneurs just like their predecessors did after the Black Death. And I have felt this personally. My first ever Instagram follower before this channel existed and the first supporter of Britmaps was Councillor Ashley Mason, Merchant Adventurer of York. 669 years after the creation of this group. But finally, amazingly, there's a piece of furniture even older than that. There are three anterooms between the parlour and the Great Hall. The Elizabethan Pride, displayed by fine decorative scrolls and vines on the exterior. Originally built to store cloth soon after the Elizabethan Charter that saw the Guild go from strength to strength. But now, storing fascinating reminders of the Guild's history around the world, such as the Nuremberg coffers, strong iron chests that once stored merchants' cash and valuables, look at the decoration on that huge lock mechanism. The second room displays a snowy Dutch oil painting from 1695, as well as this icon found in the attic here 20 years ago. The two background figures are the first and second abbots of Caves Monastery in Kiev, likely brought back by a Georgian merchant adventurer trading in Ukraine. Also, a baby's highchair clearly dated to 1642. But that is overshadowed by the most important piece of furniture in the whole building. A 13th century evidence chest. Purchased for 5 shillings in the 1400s to hold rolls and documents for company ownership. This oak and iron chest was crafted up to 800 years ago. But the most iconic object lies in the final anteroom. Brought here in 1997 after spending 153 years outside a tobacconist on Bridge Street, and then 24 years outside a Lendl tobacconist, which many of my viewers will remember. This is Napoleon, carved out of a single piece of oak. The sole survivor of three imported from France, whilst Napoleon was actually still alive. This was used to advertise his favourite obsession, snuff or ground tobacco, as he's holding in his hands. From Napoleon, to William Robinson, to the Queen, to Wooler, to the graffiti, to the hospital back to 1357, York Merchant Adventurers Hall is an institution for us all to be proud of. This is why England has the finest heritage on the planet. We stand on the shoulders of giants. If you enjoyed this one, please do leave it a like.