Old House of Keys

PricingFree with English Heritage membershipEH memberFree entryNon-member£11

EH members go freeInfo

Free entry for English Heritage members

This place is cared for by Manx National Heritage, the Isle of Man's heritage charity. English Heritage members get free admission to all its heritage attractions from the first year of membership. Show your current membership card at admissions.

Free admission applies to the member only, plus children aged 4 and under; other adults and older children pay.
Admission charges may apply for some special events.
Several sites are seasonal, open from Easter to the end of October.

More information

Entry

Non-member prices

Adult (booked sitting)£11.00

Student (over 18 with card)£5.50

Pricing details

Price of a public sitting without the optional 1.50 donation (the shop shows 12.50 including it); the MNH page itself prints no price. Children up to 18 free; children aged 16 and under must be accompanied. Free for English Heritage members showing a valid card (the named member only, plus children aged 4 and under; accompanying adults pay). Multi-site saving: MNH's 7 day (35.00) and 14 day (40.00) adult Holiday Passes, the GO Explore Heritage pass (81.00, five days of transport and sites) and the Island residents' Annual Pass (45.00) cover every MNH site; special events may charge extra.

Over 18 with a current student card, from the sittings booking page; without the optional 1.50 donation. Free for English Heritage members showing a valid card (the named member only, plus children aged 4 and under; accompanying adults pay).

ParkingFree parkingFree for all visitors

No charge for anyone.

Parking details

Free parking. Castletown is a parking disc zone: on-street spaces and the town car parks are free for the time shown on the signs (2 hours in some areas, up to 24 hours in others) with a parking disc displayed; Blue Badge holders get double the allotted time but may not park on double yellow lines on the Isle of Man. Discs come from any Isle of Man Post Office (there is one in the town centre), the airport and the Welcome Centre at the Douglas Sea Terminal. Manx National Heritage's access guides (read 17 October 2026) describe two free-of-charge car parks near Castle Rushen and the Market Square and say the Old House of Keys and the Old Grammar School each sit next to a free-of-charge car park, between Parliament Square and the harbour; the guides do not name the car parks and none has dedicated disabled bays. Castletown Commissioners' 2019 off-street parking consultation lists the Chapel Lane (Grammar School), George Paddock and Malew Street car parks; no current tariff is published.

Driving pin: the MNH page pin (54.073403, -4.652131), which reverse-geocodes to Parliament Square, IM9 1LA; the Google listing is 2 m away. The access guide says the building is next to a free car park with a drop-off point in front; a Castletown Commissioners notice of 12 October 2026 bans parking temporarily on part of Parliament Square outside Derby House from 13 October 2026.

Buses 1, 2, 2A, 8, 11 and 11A stop in the Market Square (about 25 minutes from Douglas); the Isle of Man Steam Railway has a Castletown stop. Coaches use the Farrant's Way coach park behind the Market Square, 5 to 10 minutes' walk from the sites.

About

The Old House of Keys, Shenn Thie yn Chiare as Feed, is the Georgian building on Parliament Square in Castletown where the House of Keys, the Island's parliament, sat from 1821 until it moved to Douglas in 1874. The first purpose-built debating chamber on the Island, it heard debates on freedom of the press, votes for women and whether motor racing should be allowed on open roads. Manx National Heritage cares for it and has restored the chamber to its 1866 interior. A visit is a participatory sitting: the costumed Secretary of the House welcomes you, the Speaker explains each Bill, you take a seat at the long table, work out your political allies and rivals and cast a vote, then learn how the Victorian members voted. Reviewers describe a well-organised, informative experience with an excellent Secretary. Tips from visitors: sittings are pre-booked only and callers are turned away outside them, so book ahead or join the Castletown Heritage Tour; there are no toilets on site.

Check today’s timesSee all times

Old House of KeysPublic sitting 13:45booking essential
Castletown Heritage TourWednesdays and Saturdays, see notes

Opening times may change at short notice.

2026 season Friday 27 March to Sunday 1 November 2026. Not open for walk-up visits: entry is by a pre-booked public sitting (Wednesdays and Saturdays at 1.45pm, arrive by 1.30pm, about 45 minutes, booking essential online) or on the Castletown Heritage Tour, plus selected days in the season. Closed over the winter until the 2027 season.

Castletown Heritage Tour: a guided tour of the Old Grammar School, Old House of Keys and Nautical Museum on Wednesdays and Saturdays through the season, meeting at the Old Grammar School at 12pm or 2pm (the Nautical Museum and Old House of Keys pages also say 'from 10am'); the page's online ticket link returned 'Page not found' on 17 October 2026, so book at the Castle Rushen shop or 1 Market Square. No joint Castletown ticket is published.

Tickets for every MNH site, and bus and heritage railway passes, are sold at the Castle Rushen shop and at 1 Market Square, MNH's visitor hub on the Market Square (open daily 9.30 to 4.30, admission free).

Access: single door 100 cm wide with a 5 cm step and a larger stone step, no handrail; staff place temporary wooden ramps for wheelchair users, and chairs in the chamber can be moved. The sitting is a 45 to 60 minute seated debate using film and sound with a costumed interpreter; questions available in writing; induction loop; films not subtitled; not generally recommended for very young children; cloakroom. No public toilets: nearest accessible toilets at the Civic Centre (radar key) and Castle Rushen. Drones are not permitted.

Photo: the Old House of Keys on Parliament Square, Castletown, with its curved porch and flagpole. Otter, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Isle_of_Man_-_Castletown_-_Parliament_Square_-_Old_House_of_Keys_20240222.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.