It’s a beautiful spot, shaded by trees and surrounded by history.
And now this little-known courtyard bang in the heart of York is going to have a new life – as a beer garden.
That’s thanks to a new partnership by a highly valued York charity and one of the city’s best-known pubs.
The secluded garden is found to the rear of the St Sampson’s Centre on Church Street.
And the partnership is between the charity which runs the centre and the team behind Valhalla, the Viking-themed pub on Patrick Pool.
A temporary bar in the garden, operated by Valhalla, will open at weekends for seven weeks from Friday, 24 July. And the hope is it will then become a permanent fixture, open daily.
It will serve a more limited ranges of the drinks now available at Valhalla. And it will be its own self-contained space, with access to toilet facilities.
People will be able to enter via the gateway from Patrick Pool. The garden will be decorated by festoon lighting, adding to the charm.
Valhalla overlooks the garden. Vincent Roberts and Matt Beddingham own the pub. Matt said that the view from their first floor window of the church and courtyard “is absolutely spectacular”.
So they contacted Graham Hutchinson, chair of the St Sampson’s Centre charity trustees, and Richard Whittaker, the centre manager, and proposed a partnership.
Valhalla will run the beer garden, and the profits will be split between the bar and the charity.
And that will be a very welcome source of income for the St Sampson’s Centre, whose purpose is to combat social isolation and loneliness, particularly but not exclusively among people over the age of 60.
“It’s exactly what St Sampson’s needs because we’ve we’ve gone through a really economic downturn since Covid. Well, before that, actually, probably 2008 from the financial crisis,” Richard said.
“It’s a real challenge to get people through the door like we used to. So partnering with Valhalla will only help us.
“It’s going to push the centre. People will learn about the heritage. It’ll be all-encompassing.”
There’s a lot of heritage here too. The St Sampson’s Centre is housed in a medieval church, and there’s history connecting it to both Roman and Viking times.
This appeals to Vincent and Matt who are both history buffs, hence creating York’s first Viking pub.
The team have met with both the police and City of York Council licensing officers, who have been “very supportive” Matt said.
They’ve been granted temporary event notices to run the outdoor bar on Friday, Saturday and Sundays for seven weeks from 24 July. The opening hours are:
- 12pm-11pm Fridays and Saturdays
- 12pm-10pm Sundays.
They’ve also applied for a permanent licence for the beer garden, and are hopeful of it being granted.
“It’s a secret garden, really,” Vincent said. “Give it a few months, as the nights start to draw in, and we’ve got the lighting – this will be fantastic.”
Richard thinks it could really help the charity help combat isolation
“If this is the only place some people come to through the week, and then they’re invited to go into the beer garden to meet a few other people that wouldn’t normally sit in a community centre, then already they’re getting to know other people in the community.
“Such a brilliant thing.”
Graham said it was only one of the exciting projects for the St Sampson’s Centre. It has recently been awarded grants which will allow them to upgrade the interior.
