Appointments at The Guild Room
A potted history
The Guild Room can be found a short walk from our shop on the Shambles located within our building at 31 St Saviourgate. St Saviourgate itself was described in the early eighteenth century as “one of the neatest and best built streets in the city,” No.31 is a fine Georgian townhouse built in 1735. In 1781 the house was purchased by Admiral Hugh Robinson who returned to England after the loss of his ship in the Battle of Cape Henry in the American War of Independence. He lived in the house with his wife Mary and their 13 children.
When Admiral Robinsons family left in 1834 the house was divided in two (No. 29 and 31). The present doorway into No. 31 was added at this time. For the remainder of the century it was home to a number of occupants including a pair of elderly spinsters, a chaplain to the Asylum on Bootham and a professor of music. From 1901 until 1956 31 St Saviourgate housed the Haughtons School, where poor children from the parish of St Crux were taught to read and write.
The house is now occupied by The York Ghost Merchants; Our main workshop is sited in the old school rooms to the rear of the building. There are seven full time Ghostmakers working here, each Ghost is still made in the traditional small batch method of 14 ( a Ghostmakers dozen ) with each Ghost produced different to the next.
Our post room for packing and dispatch is adjacent to the workshop where ghosts are sent out in their traveling boxes to homes around the world. Upstairs are our offices and the Music Room. Downstairs in the front panelled room, formerly the dining room and more recently the headmasters study, is where you will find The Guild Room. Within are curiosities to amuse and delight along with over five hundred Ghosts, including some slightly more rare & unusual creations. We look forward to welcoming you as our guests soon.
Booking information
The Guild Room offers a unique York Ghost Merchants shopping experience in a tranquil setting. Available strictly by appointment or invitation only, we stress that we are unable to accommodate any customers who have not booked through the calendar.
Appointments are released in two-month blocks at a time and can be booked through the calendar below. There will be limited availability on a first come first served basis. We only currently offer Wednesday appointments at the Guild Room. A Guild Room image on our Instagram stories gives notice that the booking calendar has been updated.
In 2025 we will be operating the following system :
Bookings secure a 45-minute appointment for two people. You may be joined by up to 3 other parties meaning there may be up to 8 people in the same appointment.
Each appointment booking is for a maximum of two people; the person making the booking and a guest who must be named on the booking form.
If a new booking is made and it is less than 60 days since your last appointment (or you were a named guest on another booking), we will automatically cancel the new booking without warning.
If a new booking is made and it seems you already have another appointment arranged less than 60 days in the future, (or you are a named guest on another booking), we will cancel the later of the 2 visits.
Please do not make multiple bookings to secure appointments as the extra ( later dated ) appointments will be deleted.
Appointments cannot be rescheduled and are not transferrable.
An appointment is valid for the person who made the booking the booked guests only, your booking confirmation and ID is required on entry.
Children are permitted in the Guild Room although we do have some conditions:
Children aged 12 – 17 are permitted but must be named as the guest of the adult who made a booking.
Children under the age of 11 do not need their own booking so can attend in addition to the lead booker and their guest.
Children under 11 will not be permitted to purchase any Rare & Unusual Ghosts if they are accompanied by two adults; In this situation the allocation must be shared by the adults named on the booking. However if a child attends as the guest of just one adult, then they will be able to have their own allocation of Rare & Unusual Ghosts. Please fill in the booking form questions about children attending if they are extra guests.
For further information and full terms and conditions please consult our Guild Room specific FAQs here:
https://www.yorkghostmerchants.com/guild-room-faqs