Volunteer Program

Animal Caretaker
Join our team of Animal Care volunteers! Our oxen, horses, sheep, and geese are often the highlight of the experience for visitors, and our volunteers provide essential help in keeping our animals happy and healthy. Pennsbury Manor is a retirement home for animals, and we pride ourselves on giving them a stress-free life. Our animals are trained to be friendly towards visitors and caretakers. We are looking to fill shifts, which may include feeding and grooming the animals, as well as cleaning out the stable area. Please call us at (215) 946-0400 to find out how our schedule can accommodate you. Previous experience is not required; training will be provided. Volunteers must be comfortable around large animals. You will not have to wear a costume!

Tour Guide

Volunteer Tour Guides help us lead our regularly-scheduled public tours, which are offered Tues.-Sat. three times/day. On Sundays we offer four tours. Tours take approximately 1 and half hours. You are responsible for taking groups of all ages through the Manor House and Kitchen House. Tour Guides must be flexible and able to adapt depending on group’s size, age, and interests. We will prepare you and will not ask you to lead a tour until you are ready. You will not have to wear a costume for regular public tours. 

School Program Guide
We offer several different school programs on weekdays in the Spring/Fall, and our School Program Guides help us guide children of varying grade levels through each area. This could mean taking classes on a tour of the buildings or being responsible for an area/activity the children visit. School Program Guides must be skilled at handling large groups of children and using hands-on activities to create a fun experience. You will be asked to wear a costume for this role.

Trades & Crafts Demonstrator
During our Sundays at Pennsbury programs, weekday school programs, and Special Events, volunteers offer demonstrations of 17th-century trades and crafts. Our three largest programs are Blacksmithing, Joynery (a form of wood-working), and Open-Hearth Cooking. We also demonstrate wool-carding and spinning, laundry, soap-making, chair-caning, beer-brewing, cider-pressing, and medicinal remedies depending on volunteer interest and talent. You will be asked to wear a costume for this role.

Living History Theatre
Our troupe of “role-players” research events, people, and cultures in the 17th-century to develop programs for visitors and special events. Programs are usually scheduled on the second Sunday of the month from March through October. Living History Theatre Volunteers must be available for a weekday evening meeting to rehearse for program days. 

William Penn Sewing & Mending Society
We are looking for volunteers with basic or advanced sewing skills to help us create the period clothing worn by all our Tour Guides and Demonstrators. The group meets one Saturday per month to cut out patterns and work on projects. You will be asked to take clothes home to work on in-between meetings. No previous historical knowledge is required – we will teach you any new techniques required. Clothing uses a combination of machine and hand sewing.

Gardener
With over 43 acres we need plenty of volunteers to help us care for Pennsbury’s gardens. Volunteers come Tuesdays and Thursdays to help with planting, weeding, harvesting, etc. Although volunteers are responsible for arranging volunteer time in the gardens, the gardener will occasionally request help with special projects. Like the animal caretakers, this is primarily behind-the-scenes work. However, garden volunteers are given the opportunity to be a Stationed Guide in the Kitchen Garden during special events. 

HOW DO I GET INVOLVED?

If you are interested in becoming a Volunteer, please email us at info@pennsburymanor.org or call (215) 946-0400.