If you have descended from the Great Chamber via the external staircase you will be in the courtyard where you can see most of the house. The lower, two storey range built in about 1430 contains the Great Hall. The higher, 3-storey range – the one you have just left – houses the storerooms with the private chambers above. If you were an important enough person, you could go directly to the private rooms of the Alderman via the outside staircase.

Alderman Snawsell finally retired in 1492 on the grounds that he was “greatly diseased and vexed by many diverse sicknesses”. He probably died in 1494 or 1495 at the age of at least 80. About a century after his death, Barley Hall began its descent into obscurity. Its exterior was hidden by a brick skin and its very existence was all but forgotten. When York Archaeological Trust acquired it in 1987, the Great Hall range had recently been in use as a plumber’s showroom. Today, work continues on bringing the hall back to life through visits, events and costumed interpretation for school visits.