Fairfax House :
Fri 29 Jul – Sat 31 Dec :
10.00am – 5.00pm :
Adults: £6; Concession: £5 and Children under 16: Free
Fairfax House’s major summer exhibition will look at the social scene in English towns and cities including London, delving into the tempting array of decadent activities and pleasurable pursuits catering for all tastes and predilections, sometimes challenging the notions of what ‘polite’ entertainment encompassed in the eighteenth century.
The Weird & the Wonderful also specifically uncovers the richness of Georgian York’s offerings as the social capital of the North and the place to see and be seen. With Burlington’s exquisite new Assembly Rooms, the excitement of the races, as well as the city’s renowned Theatre Royal, the city enjoyed a social and cultural renaissance.
The explosion of luxury retail experiences combined to make York the destination of choice for those in pursuit of refined amusement. As well as exploring its lively winter season with rounds of dinners, balls, assemblies and parties, the exhibition delves into the city’s debauched diversions, including ‘polite’ society’s taste for notorious trials, visiting prisons and public hangings, the wanton pleasures available in the city’s brothels, as well as raucous activities such as cockfighting, bear baiting and street boxing.
In exploring the full gamut of York’s lively social and cultural life The Weird & the Wonderful reveals a fascinating world of the city’s exuberant, and often times murky, past.
Entry to exhibition is included in the admission price to Fairfax House.
For more information t 01904 655543 | e info@fairfaxhouse.co.uk | w www.fairfaxhouse.co.uk | fwww.facebook.com/FairfaxHouseYork | t twitter.com/fairfax_house
Ivan Day, recognisable from James Martin’s Home Comforts, will not only guide us through the evolution of the frozen dessert and its fascinating social history, but demonstrate how ices were made hundreds of years before the invention of freezers.
n this edition of Fairfax House’s Talk & Tasting, food historian Annie Gray discusses the Georgians consumption of salads and herbs, bringing samples and recipes for you to try.
In this special guest lecture for Fairfax House, Dr John C Taylor OBE, one of the world’s most renowned inventors and foremost horologists, will explore the keeping of time, taking a specific look within Fairfax House, suggesting what clocks the Fairfax family might have owned or acquired.
In this talk, Dr. Ceri Houlbrook will explore the theory that shoes were employed as protective devices, concealed within homes to protect the inhabitants from evil forces.
As part of Museums at Night, and Illuminating York Festival, Fairfax House is opening its doors after dark for a highly unusual and illuminating candlelit performance by the mansion’s ‘original Georgian inhabitants’.
Time: 7.00pm – 9.00pm
As part of York’s Late Night Thursdays, Fairfax House will be staying open late from 5.00pm until 8.00pm on Thursday 3rd December for a special Christmas Evening Extravaganza.