Pontefract Museum facts for kids
Pontefract Museum is a cool local museum located in the town of Pontefract, which is in West Yorkshire, England. It's a place where you can discover lots of interesting things about the past.
The museum has many different types of collections. You can see old objects dug up from the ground (called archaeology), old documents (archives), beautiful art, photos, and items that show how people used to live (social history).
Discover the Museum's History
The building where Pontefract Museum is located has a fascinating past. It's an Art Nouveau style building, which means it has a special, flowing design from the early 1900s. It sits right in the middle of town.
This building wasn't always a museum. It first opened in 1904 as a Carnegie library. A Carnegie library is a public library built with money donated by a very rich businessman named Andrew Carnegie. George Pennington was the person who designed this building.
In 1975, a new library was built in Pontefract. After that, the old Carnegie building was changed into the museum we see today. You can still see some of its original features, like the beautiful tiled floor in the entrance and furniture from 1904.
What You Can See at the Museum
The museum has many exciting exhibits that tell the story of Pontefract. You can learn all about Pontefract Castle, which has a long and important history. There are also displays about Pontefract Cakes. These are special liquorice sweets that are famous in the town!
You can see real objects found at Pontefract Castle and St. John's Priory, Pontefract. The museum also has old coins from the English Civil War. You'll find old packaging from the local liquorice factories and even colourful glass.
Most of the items in the museum are connected to Pontefract. This includes the town's history with mining, which was a very important industry here for many years. It's a great place to explore and understand the local area's past.
See also
- Listed buildings in Pontefract
