The deadline for a fundraising appeal to create a Knaresborough Museum has been extended after it failed to reach its target of £35,000.

Knaresborough Museum Association launched a crowdfunding appeal to raise £35,000 in January.

It plans to open the first Knaresborough Town Museum in the former Castle Girls’ School in Castle Yard.

Archeology, geology and social history will be at the heart of the new museum. Exhibitions about the Trinitarian priory, World War Two and the dinosaur era are already planned.

But donations have so far raised only about £20,000, prompting the association to renew its appeal to local people to get on board. The crowdfunding appeal has generated about £11,500 but other donations have boosted the total to £20,000.

Association chair Kathy Allday said she was "very optimistic" the target would be reached but said if it wasn't the project would still go ahead, albeit with amended plans.

The main works to the foyer would be affected, which might limit access for wheelchair users and people with mobility issue. Ms Allday assured people that, if this were the case, fundraising would continue to make the museum accessible for all as soon as possible.

Since plans for the opening began, association volunteers have been researching the town ahead of the launch of exhibitions, which has led to discoveries about the town's priory.

The family of the late author and local historian, Arnold Kellet, has donated part of his archive of artefacts and research about the town to help with the exhibitions.

Read more:

• Knaresborough Museum plans revealed for the first time.


• Local historian. Malcolm Neesam, looks back at previous attempts to reshape the town. 

The group still plans to make the project a reality by the end of the year.