The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded almost £100,000 to Ripon Museum Trust to develop a major project.

The Inspiration for a Fairer Future project will enable the stories of poverty, law, crime, punishment and justice to be explored by a wider, more diverse audience.

It will also enable work to be carried out to safeguard the future of the Grade II listed Ripon Workhouse building.

The successful first round funding application provides the financial means for work to begin in spring, which will inform a larger proposal for £1.7 million, to be submitted to the heritage fund for consideration in 2023.

A fundraising campaign is being launched to secure match funding for the project.

The trust runs the Workhouse, Courthouse, and Prison and Police museums and the project will create a more cohesive story across all three sites, giving access to more historic spaces, improving orientation and creating new digital and on-site interpretation.

A new lift will be installed in the Workhouse to allow access to the upper floor and the dormitories will be opened up to provide new meeting spaces for community groups, schools and researchers.

There will be new facilities for school groups and other learners as well as new community spaces.

The initial development funding of £99,396 from the heritage fund will be used to appoint project staff and undertake community consultation to ensure the project reflects the needs of the people it seeks to engage, inspire and support.

Trust director Helen Thornton said:

“We’re delighted that we’ve received this support thanks to National Lottery players. Our long-term vision for the three museums in our care can now begin to be realised.

“This grant will significantly increase the opportunities for people to get involved here – after reflecting upon our history and themes we hope to inspire people to seek a fairer society”.

Richard Taylor, chair of trustees, said:

“We were able to purchase the workhouse complex in 2016 due to a significant grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

“Thanks to their ongoing support, we can safeguard an important listed building for the future and link up all the fascinating powerful and personal stories we have from the Workhouse, the Prison and Police Museum and the Courthouse Museum.”

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The long arm of the law is reaching out from Ripon Museum Trust, in a bid to capture the imagination of visitors over the autumn half term holiday.

The trust, which operates the Workhouse, Prison & Police and Old Courthouse museums, is offering the opportunity to explore the nature of crime and punishment in the Victorian era, through a series of themed activities both online and in person.

Whodunnit at the Workhouse? will run from Tuesday 26 to Friday 29 October from 12pm to 3pm.

Visitors can try out their investigative skills at Ripon’s Workhouse Museum

This family-friendly activity will take visitors on an interactive trail across the sites of the museums as they try to solve a murder at the workhouse.

Visitors will learn about how policing worked in the Victorian era, about plants and poisons in the Workhouse Museum Garden, before discovering forensic science at the Prison & Police Museum.

Those who solve the crime could be in with a chance of winning a small prize. Activities are included in the cost of museum entry.

On Thursday 28 October at 7pm, Ripon museums will host an online exploration of Victorian criminality with Shocking Murder! Investigating Suspicious Death in Victorian Ripon.

In 1874, two savage murders rocked the city. In both cases, the formal murder investigation began with an inquest.

In a talk given by postgraduate student Sophie Michell, she will discuss how Victorian coroners worked, and how inquests formed the basis of a murder trial. Tickets cost £5 per person. The talk will be hosted on Zoom

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Visitors can also explore the darker side of the city’s history with a Ripon Ghost Walk, where they will hear tales of ghouls and ghostly goings on. Two Halloween special ghost walks take place on Sunday 31 October, at 5pm and 7pm. Tickets cost £3 for adults and £2 for under 16s.

Further information about all of our events and activities is available at riponmuseums.co.uk, and tickets for the talk and ghost walks can be booked online. Contact the museum team by emailing info@riponmuseums.co.uk or call 01765 690799.