Shaker Discovery Tours
Take a deep dive into the Shaker world! Join us on a 90-minute Shaker Discovery Tour. Led by experienced Village staff, each tour focuses on a single subject—architecture, foodways, medicinal herbs, spirituality, and textiles—that illuminates the Shaker experience and legacy. The featured topic changes weekly; see the complete schedule below.
Tours begin at 10 am. Pre-registration is required. The registration fee, which includes general admission to the Village, is $40/adults, $15/young people ages 6-17. (10% discount for HSV members) Not appropriate for children under 6.
Architecture: Shaker buildings may look simple, but they represent a commitment to innovation, efficiency, and excellence. Explore the Village’s architectural landscape on this guided walk. The tour will focus on several signature buildings, including the Brick Dwelling, the Round Stone Barn, and the Laundry and Machine Shop.
Foodways: The Shakers grew and processed their own food, a major factor in their overall good health. This tour will focus on the Shaker diet and dining practices through the centuries with a tour of the gardens and barns and a close look at the Brick Dwelling, especially its extraordinary kitchen. The tour will also visit the Sisters’ Dairy.
Medicinal Herbs: At a time before antiseptics, antibiotics, and vaccines, Shaker health care relied on medicinal herbs. The Shakers’ expertise with herbs eventually led to a big business. In the 1790s, the Shakers were among the first suppliers of medicinal herbs to the United States pharmaceutical market, an enterprise that continued until the 1930s. Learn more about the many plants the Shakers gathered and cultivated, their medical practices, and their business enterprise as you tour the medicinal herb gardens, venture onto the Farm and Forest Trail, and explore several exhibits in the 1830 Brick Dwelling.
Spirituality. Spiritual values permeated all areas of Shaker life, from worship, daily work, connections to the land and nature, relationships among the sexes, design, and more. Explore these values as you visit the 18th-century Meetinghouse and the Brick Dwelling (built in 1830), with a few brief stops along the way. The tour also includes a demonstration of Shaker music and dance (audience participation encouraged!)
Textiles: Hancock Shakers were experts at producing their own textiles: from raising Merino sheep and growing flax to processing wool and flax to building looms to spinning threads and weaving fabric. They also had clever ways to launder it all! This tour includes the gardens, the sheep, the Sisters’ Dairy and Weave Shop, the Brick Dwelling, and the Laundry and Machine Shop.