The Hospitium

Yet another of the locations we visited as part of York Unlocked last weekend. This collage was a team effort. Katharine took the top left photo and I took the others.

The Hospitium was built as part of St Mary’s Abbey in the medieval period. The name Hospitium (related to hospitality) suggests that the building was used for housing guests. These would have been people such as merchants who were not allowed to stay in the main abbey with the monks.

Since the dissolution of the abbey the Hospitium has gone through numerous stages of reuse, disrepair and renovation. In 1828, the newly founded Yorkshire Philosophical Society made significant repairs and housed their collections at the Hospitium before and after the building of the Yorkshire Museum.

Today, following another restoration, it has become a popular and award winning wedding venue.

The first shot (top left) shows the ground floor laid out for a wedding ceremony. The lower shot shows the upstairs room laid out for a wedding reception, while the top right shot shows the interesting historical curiosity of a Norman window arch mounted on the ground floor wall. It predates the creation of the Hospitium by quite a long time, but I have found no information about its origin or how it came to be located here.

Ian

[Oli Lindenskov]

Lovely collage and story😊

[Peter Dulis]

nice

[carol white]

A lovely collage and interesting info

[Margaret Brown]

Nice collage and interesting info

[Wendy]

Another beautiful place. All three would get a fav if I could.

[Joan Robillard]

Nice

[Kathy A]

I like the setting in the top left photo

[leggzy]

How beautiful to have a wedding here! The setting looks amazing, and I love the Norman window arch.

[Boxplayer]

Lovely images, we were there for a wedding in August

[Dorothy]

It’s wonderful that it has found new life!

[Fisher Family]

@mubbur @pdulis @carolmw @craftymeg @photohoot @joansmor @kjarn @leggzy @boxplayer @illinilass

Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.

I had a quick trip into the city centre this lunchtime, and walked past this venue, just as a bride was entering the building for her wedding. The building itself is a lovely setting for a wedding, and the gardens around make a great location for wedding photos as well.

Ian