York Castle Museum

Collections

The Yorkshire Museum's collections have all been awarded 'designated' status for their national and international importance.

Our collections include the thousands of items on display in the museum and many more items that are behind the scenes in storage.

This section gives an overview of everything, whether or not it will be on display.

Archaeology

Our archaeology collection of nearly one million objects ranges from the earliest prehistoric finds up until the twentieth century and is the one of the most comprehensive in a regional British museum outside London.  View Collection

Astronomy

The York Observatory, in the Museum Gardens, is the major part of our Astronomy Collection. It was built in 1832 and 1833 and is the oldest working observatory in Yorkshire.  View Collection

Biology

Over the last 180 years the Yorkshire Museum has amassed a biology collection which now contains over 200,000 specimens from all the major biological groups.  View Collection

Geology

Our outstanding geology collection includes minerals, rocks and fossils from across Britain and the world, and covers everything from gems to meteorites.  View Collection

Star Objects

This section highlights objects which are rare, beautiful, interesting, or tell a story. In many cases they are not always on display and our website gives us the opportunity to show them to you.

A History of the World

A selection of star objects from the Yorkshire Museum have been included in the BBC's A History of the World project  View Collection

Cave of discovery

Hundreds of fossil teeth and bones from exotic animals found in a cave in North Yorkshire became the first scientific evidence to challenge the traditional view of Biblical creation.  View Collection

Champion Trees

York's Museum Gardens are home to seven County Champion Trees, the biggest examples in Yorkshire identified by the Tree Register.  View Collection

Extinct auks

Our two great auks, now an extinct species, are in very good condition and are a rare treasure for a regional museum.  View Collection

Giant ichthyosaur

This giant fossilised ichthyosaur skeleton is one of the largest and most complete examples of its kind.  View Collection

Iron Age Gold Torcs

Two gold bracelets which have been declared the first Iron Age gold jewellery ever found in the north of England  View Collection

Ivory Bangle Lady

This Roman woman's remains and the items found with her have helped archaeologists discover that high-status Africans were living in fourth century York.  View Collection

Roman Hair

This exceptionally rare hairpiece was discovered in York and probably belonged to a girl who was in her mid-teens when she died.   View Collection

Stained Glass

A beautiful selection of our stained glass is now on display for the first time in years, following the refurbishment of the museum in 2010.  View Collection

Tansy Beetles

Beautiful endangered beetles reintroduced to York Museum Gardens  View Collection

Tat or treasure?

A selection of objects that our ancestors would have considered common, every-day items or cheap, quirky souvenirs picked up on their travels.   View Collection

Tempest Anderson - explorer and surgeon

Tempest Anderson travelled across the world, exploring weird and wonderful landscapes, meeting the indigenous peoples of far-away communities and bringing back his amazing photographs to show people back at home in York.  View Collection

The Cawood Sword

Mystery surrounds this Viking sword which has survived virtually intact for nearly 1,000 years.   View Collection

The Gilling Sword

This sword, first spotted by a nine-year-old boy playing in a stream, is one of the finest Anglian weapons to be found in England.  View Collection

The Middlesbrough Meteorite

The Middlesbrough Meteorite hit the earth in 1881. It is about 4,500 million years old and was formed at the same time as the earth and the solar system.  View Collection

The York Helmet

The York Helmet was found by mechanical digger operator Andy Shaw in May 1982, as builders prepared to start work on a new York shopping centre.  View Collection