Museum/ Exhibition/ GalleryJorvik Viking Centre

[beckie, 24.04.2007] What is it?

In the late 1970s well preserved remains of Jorvik, the Viking name for York, were uncovered. Over the top of the land where the excavations took place a centre was built to allow visitors to see Viking life for themselves. Due to soil conditions many artefacts have been preserved since Viking times and are on show at Jorvik Viking Centre today.

On entering the building you are faced with the pay desk a lift and stairs, and to be honest it all looks fairly disappointing and bland. This is because most of Jorvik is underground. You are given the opportunity to buy a guidebook, costing £4, and children are given some information and colouring sheets.

You walk downstairs and past a 'soil wall' showing the layers that have built up on top of the Viking settlement.

You then enter a holding area where a guide tells you a little of the Viking history. My children were impressed when he told them about Viking poo being found, and what they used to wipe their bottoms (moss, in case you are interested).

In this area we were told that we would be travelling back in time to the Viking age, this made my youngest (age 4) a bit worried, because he is partial to modern day life, and the guide had to reassure him it was only a game. The toilets are situated here.

You then make your way through to a room where you will be transported back in time. You are asked to remain seated and warned that the time machine will shake a little. However anyone of a nervous disposition (4 year olds included) may stand at the back of the room. You are shown a series of pictures from the 1980s, 70s, 30s and so on, back through time to finally arrive in the Viking age. Each time the pictures change there is a slight judder of the floor to give the time travelling feeling.

Time cars

Then it is on to the time cars, which will take you around the Viking Centre. These time cars hold 6 people, 3 in front and 3 in back, and have speakers on the back of them allowing you to select a language for the commentary as you go around. The choices were English, French, German and a children's commentary. This part of the experience is quite dark and again my youngest was a little nervous. The staff were fabulous here and offered to go and find him a torch. The time cars gently take you around recreated Viking houses and the children's commentary was super, it was well pitched for children between 5 and 10, and yet was informative enough for adults to get an overview of the experience too. The time cars allow you to see everything at a suitable pace, and allow you to rest after the long queue!

The time cars take you past a variety of recreated street scenes and houses. These range from a blacksmiths home, to a market place, past a butchers, and even past someone going to the toilet. The commentary stops in places to allow you to experience the noises that would have been heard, and there are even smells to accompany the journey. Some of these smells are quite nice (the roasting boar and the market smells) but some are distinctly unpleasant. The Viking toilet made us all hold our noses.

There are model people in each of the areas, and they are wearing typical Viking dress. The models have been recreated using scans from skeletons found in the area, and this knowledge helps to make the experience even more real.

The replica buildings have been made with knowledge from the actual excavation of the site. The shops and houses have been laid out in the way that they would have been in AD975. There are lots of intricate details and carefully placed replica artefacts, again helping to bring the whole experience to life.

The final part of the time car tour takes you over a reconstructed archaeological dig. This shows how skeletons would have been uncovered, and takes you past some of the actual timber from a building to show how well preserved it was.

The Museum

After leaving the time cars it is into the museum. This is where we spent most of our time. The first thing you come across is a dressing up box, where children and adults alike were trying on helmets, and wielding swords. Then there is a display with Viking chain mail and weapons. A guide was on hand to explain how battles would have been fought in Viking times.

Around the corner is an area where children can do brass rubbings (crayons and paper are provided). There are many displays and lots of Viking artefacts that were dug up from this area are on show. You are also able to write your name in runes, and you can pay for a 'Viking' to strike a coin for you.

My children liked the "Artefacts Alive" part of the museum best. Here they could sift through rubble and sort it into fossils, brick work etc, pretending to be real archaeologists. There were also displays here about how they reconstructed the facial expressions of the Vikings and my 7 year old was fascinated by this.

Because the museum follows directly on from the time cars there are not huge crowds of people, so you get a proper chance to look and to ask questions of the Viking guides.

The Gift Shop

Before exiting the Centre you are taken through the gift shop. For once I was impressed, as there were lots of pocket money items costing less than £1. These were grouped together allowing you to say "you can choose anything from this section". These ranged from pencil sharpeners to little replica Vikings. The shop also had a good range of more expnsive items, including Viking lego and playmobil for children, and factual books for adults.

The Queue

The Viking Centre nearly always has a queue outside. If you have been sensible enough to pre book a ticket you are able to by pass the queue and walk straight on in. Everyone else has to queue outside. Some of the queuing area is undercover and some is in the open. It was raining when we went and Centre staff bought umbrellas out for the queuing publics use. The staff are dressed up as Vikings and will talk about the history and the centre as you wait. We had to queue for nearly 40 minutes.

Where is it?

The Jorvik Centre is in Coppergate in the centre of York, in the Coney shopping centre. It is opposite Marks and Spencer and a rather handily placed Starbucks. It is well signposted from car parks and many sites in the city centre. There is no car parking at the centre, so you need to use a city car park and walk to the centre.

How much time should I allow?

The information suggests that you should allow one hour. However we managed to spend nearly two hours there. I expect that the length of time will vary on your interest level and how busy it is.

Opening Times

In Summer the centre is open from 10am until 5pm. From November until April the centre is open from 10am until 4pm. The centre is open 7 days a week.

Guidebook

£4.00 for a colour guidebook. The guidebook has further information about the way the centre was created and the artefacts that were found during the dig.

Price

Current Prices for 2007 entry are:
Adult £7.95
Child £5.50
Family of 4 £21.95
Family of 5 £26.50
Senior Citizens £6.60
(Children are classed as age 5-15 and under 5 year olds are free)

Pre-Booking

You are able to call a Reservation line and pre-book tickets, enabling you to queue jump. It costs roughly an extra £1 per person to pre book tickets; however it is probably worth doing if you have limited time or small children. I saw some smug people who had pre booked tickets; they simply walked to the front doors and were allowed straight in.

The Staff

On the front desk the staff were extremely helpful. I saw them trying to work out the best deal for the family in front of me, and they gave both my children colouring sheets despite the fact that I only had to pay for one. They were also very helpful inside, reassuring children about the experience and answering any questions.

The staff dressed as Vikings in the museum were extremely knowledgeable and happy to answer questions.

Extra Info

Website: www.jorvik-viking-centre. co.uk
Reservation Department Number: 01904 543403

Would I recommend it?

Yes! It is pricey but is worth it. My children thoroughly enjoyed the experience and want to go back again, which is always a good sign. I also enjoyed it. There were lots of things to see and do. The time cars captivated my children, and allowed them to get into the spirit of the Viking age, which meant that they were eager to find out more when they entered the museum.

This would appeal to anyone interested in the Viking age and is a family friendly attraction.