Hands on History Museum

The Hands on History Museum, originally built in 1583 as the Hull Merchant Adventurers' Hall, is a building of group value. It underwent restoration in the late 19th century, and again in 1975 and 1987, and was converted into a museum in 1987. The building is constructed of brick with moulded brick dressings, and has a renewed plain tile roof with a single 19th-century gable, ridge stacks, three rear wall stacks, and a square gable stack. A moulded first-floor band and lintel band are present, along with a low parapet and coped gables.

The building is two storeys plus attics, with a main block featuring four windows. It has four four-light cross mullioned windows on both the ground and first floors, with moulded brick surrounds, mullions, transoms, and leaded glazing. Four stone plaques are set between the ground-floor windows, two with ogee heads, displaying merchants' marks and the date 1583. A central plaque on the first floor bears the city arms. Above the main block are three late 19th-century raking dormers, with a three-light mullioned window to the left and a four-light window to the right. An external staircase, now roofed, is located to the right with moulded brick coping to the balustrade wall. A three-light mullioned window is positioned above the staircase, and a slightly projecting porch with a string course, coping, segment-headed door, and label mould is below it. A slit window is present on each floor to the right, followed by another segment-headed door with a label mould.

The rear elevation features a central buttress and first-floor band. A four-light cross casement with moulded brick mullions and surround is to the left, followed by two small single-light windows, then a similar three-light cross casement. A transomed window and a cross casement are then present, both with moulded brick mullions and surrounds. Three late 19th-century raking dormers are situated above, to the right. Below, four four-light cross casements are arranged, with the lower lights of the three to the left being blocked.

The interior includes a folk museum display on the first floor. The ground floor has an early 19th-century cross-beam ceiling supported by six late 17th-century fluted wooden Doric piers, which were relocated around 1883. A blocked Tudor arched doorway and window are found at the south-east end, at basement level. At the west end, a late 17th-century moulded doorcase with a dentillated double cornice is visible.

The building functioned as the Merchant Adventurers' Hall until 1766 and subsequently housed the Hull Grammar School until 1878. It later served as the Holy Trinity Choir School. Notable pupils included Andrew Marvell and William Wilberforce.