Cliffe Castle Museum facts for kids

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Cliffe Castle Museum
Cliffe Castle Museum, Keighley
Established	c. 1892 as Keighley Museum at Eastwood House, Keighley. Reopened in 1959 at the former Cliffe Hall as Cliffe Castle Museum.
Location	Spring Gardens Lane, Keighley, West Yorkshire, England BD20 6LH
Type	Heritage centre, Historic house museum.
Visitors	65,000 (2010)
Public transit access	Keighley railway station; bus information from Bradford Interchange

Cliffe Castle Museum is a fantastic place to explore in Keighley, West Yorkshire, England. It's a local history museum that opened in 1959. The museum is inside a huge, beautiful building called Cliffe Castle. This building was once a grand Victorian home.

The museum shares the story of the local area. It also shows off the amazing house itself. Cliffe Castle was originally called Cliffe Hall, built in 1828. Before moving here, the museum was known as Keighley Museum. That museum first opened in Eastwood House around 1892. The best part? It's completely free to visit!

History of Cliffe Castle Museum

Countess Manvers inherited Cliffe Castle Estate in 1943

The first museum in Keighley, called Keighley Museum, started around 1893. This was when its first home, Eastwood House, was bought for the public.

Later, in 1950, a kind local person named Sir Bracewell Smith bought Cliffe Castle. He wanted it to become a museum and art gallery for everyone in Keighley. So, in 1959, the museum officially reopened as Cliffe Castle Museum and Art Gallery.

The Building's Story

Cliffe Hall was built between 1828 and 1833. A famous architect named George Webster designed it. He was known for his Gothic Revival style.

In 1848, the Butterfield family bought Cliffe Hall. They were very important in the textile industry. Henry Isaac Butterfield made big changes to the building from 1875 to 1880. He added tall towers, a large ballroom, and glass conservatories. In 1878, he renamed it Cliffe Castle. He decorated the building with griffins, which were part of his family's crest.

By 1887, the Cliffe Castle Estate was huge, covering about 300 acres. Sir Frederick William Louis Butterfield, Henry Isaac's son, became Mayor of Keighley in 1916. He even hosted King George V and Queen Mary at the castle in 1918!

Sir Frederick's daughter, Marie-Louise, inherited the estate in 1943. She moved some of the castle's treasures to her home at Thoresby Hall.

In 1949, Keighley Corporation bought the building and its grounds. Sir Bracewell Smith helped with this purchase. In 1955, he paid to turn the house into a public museum.

When it was changed into a museum, some parts of the castle were updated. A back tower was removed, and the front one was made shorter. Some of the fancy roof decorations were also taken down. The glass conservatories were demolished. In the 1950s, the service rooms were replaced by an octagonal art gallery.

Even though some of the outside look changed, parts of the amazing Gothic-style interior were kept. Years later, in 1989, many items that had been moved from Cliffe Castle were brought back. This happened with the help of a public appeal.

Cliffe Hall, later Cliffe Castle, around 1880
Victorian Gothic Revival gateway arch
Victorian cast iron lamp post base
Cliffe Castle Museum, side view
Victorian cast iron lamp post
Weather-sculpted moorland stones at the entrance
More weather-sculpted moorland stones

Exploring the Galleries and Rooms

Entrance Vestibule

The entrance hall and staircase show off the Victorian love for Gothic Revival style. The wooden roof over the staircase looks like it's from the 1400s. The staircase window looks like it's from the 1300s.

The beautiful stained-glass window was made by Powells of Leeds. The top part shows a copy of Raphael's famous "Madonna and Child" painting. This window once had ten figures in old Tudor costumes. Most of these were later replaced with clear glass or small round designs.

Victorian Gothic Revival entrance hall
Huge pendulum clock from the 1878 Paris world fair
First floor view of the stained-glass window
Stained glass window with Butterfield family portraits
Another view of the stained glass window
Victorian Gothic Revival hammer beam roof
Main Staircase

Great Drawing Room

In the entrance hall and other main rooms, you can see large portraits. These include paintings of Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie.

Victorian painted plaster ceiling (close-up)
Victorian painted plaster ceiling
Cliffe Castle Great Drawing Room

Working Landscapes Gallery

This gallery shows old local crafts and jobs. You can watch a video about how clogs (wooden shoes) were made. This craft continued into the 1900s.

Victorian farming tools
Victorian carved sandstone lintel
Carved sandstone lintel with a boar's head
Victorian hand-loom
Victorian pipe-worker's workbench

Airedale Gallery

This display explains how the River Aire was formed. It also shows fossils of some of the earliest animals that lived there.

Fossil amphibians display
Educational fossil display
Model of pholiderpeton, a huge prehistoric amphibian

Archaeology Area Gallery

This gallery features interesting exhibits. You can see the Silsden Roman treasure here.

Revolving querns (grinding stones) display
Neolithic cup and ring engraving on rock

Natural History Gallery

This room was once the Butterfields' ballroom. Now, it's filled with mounted animals and birds. You can see a family of tawny owls and hear birdsong. Many examples of taxidermy (preserving animals) are on display here.

Victorian wooden barrel-vaulted ceiling.

Molecules to Minerals Gallery

This display was created in 1988. It combines collections from several museums in the Bradford area. It includes the Ellison Collection, which came from Ilkley Museum in 1928.

Some of the specimens are from the Hinchcliffe Collection. This collection has 800 specimens bought in 1984. The display teaches you how minerals are different from rocks. It covers topics like mineral color, hardness, and magnetism. You can also learn about crystal shapes and how they form. There are over a thousand specimens here, including some glowing rocks!

Minerals display: close-up
Minerals display, including colored agates
Mineral collection labeled in 1810
Extensive and brightly colored minerals display

Sir Bracewell Smith Hall

Bracewell Smith Hall

This large space was created in the 1950s. This was when the castle was changed into a museum.

In 2013, the hall was restored to its original colors. An octagonal lantern was also put back in its place. This lantern was designed specifically for the hall in the 1950s. It was designed by Sir Albert Richardson, the architect who led the building's conversion.

The colors and gold decorations were restored based on old paint samples. A painting of the hall's design by Sir Albert Richardson also helped. This painting can be seen in the hall itself.

Before its restoration, this space hosted temporary exhibitions. Now, it shows a permanent selection of items from the museum's collections.

The Egyptians Gallery

This display includes a mummy of an Egyptian girl. She lived around 250 BCE. The gallery also explains the Ancient Egyptian belief in the afterlife.

Ancient Egyptian mask from a mummy, side view
Ancient Egyptian artifacts display
Ancient Egyptian mask from a mummy, front view

Breakfast Room

This room is downstairs. It provides an easy-to-reach space for themes that are also covered upstairs.

Conservatory

This room holds a small selection of larger exhibits. It is often used for teaching or activities. One exhibit is a marble statue of the Virgin Mary and Child. This statue originally belonged to Henry Isaac Butterfield. It was returned to the Castle by St Annes Church, Keighley.

Recent additions include a wooden World War I memorial plaque. This plaque came from the Temple Street Methodist Church. It was with the Morris memorial windows now in the Stained Glass gallery.

Stained Glass Gallery

This gallery has some of the earliest stained glass made by William Morris. He was a very famous artist and designer.

Detail of Dante from a 1876 Crucifixion window
Detail from a stained glass war memorial window
Detail from a window showing Death of Sir Tristram
Detail of St John in a window by Edward Burne-Jones
Detail of a figure from a Crucifixion window

Keighley Stories Gallery

This gallery tells the story of Keighley. It includes a funny item called the "peace box" from the Keighley Hen Pecked Club. This was a large wooden rocking cradle, supposedly for "soothing" nagging wives! It had humorous rules and was shown at festivals. The club met at the Royal Hotel, which is now the Royal Oak pub.

Henpeck'd Club's peace box No.6: an adult-sized cradle
Hippopotamus skull

Bees Gallery

Working beehive with a glass viewing panel

Costume Gallery

Display of four Victorian dresses
Display of 1920s–1950s costumes
1890s velvet and satin dress
1884 evening gown

This space shows a changing selection of costumes from the museum's collections.

Mansion to Museum Gallery

This gallery is around the top of the octagonal Sir Bracewell Smith Hall. It shows how the building changed from a private Victorian home to a modern museum. The "Chinese Chandelier" once hung in Cliffe Castle. It had wooden harpies (mythical creatures). This chandelier has been restored and rehung in the Bracewell Smith Hall. It was designed in the 1950s.

Carved wooden harpies from the chandelier
18th century oval vertical sundial
18th century oval vertical sundial, side view
Carved wooden harpy from the chandelier

Local Pottery Gallery

This gallery shows off pottery made in the Keighley area. It highlights a past local skill and an important trade.

Victorian pottery made in the Keighley area
Display of UK military cap badges

Other Cool Things at the Museum

The Friends of Cliffe Castle is a group that helps the museum. They research and support many of the improvements you see today. You can find a leaflet about them at the museum.
Education Programme: The museum offers workshops and trails for school groups. These are great for learning more about history and science.

Cliffe Castle Museum