Plans have been approved to convert a former girls school in Knaresborough into a museum.
Based at the old National Girls School in Castle Yard, the town museum looks set to open next year.
Harrogate Borough Council backed proposals by Knaresborough Museum Association to convert the former school into the facility.
It will see the dance hall changed to a museum as well as alterations to the interior, a new entrance, disabled toilets and a new ramp.
In a post on its Facebook page, the museum said:
“We have been awarded planning permission and listed building consent for change of use from dance hall to a new museum and to create a new entrance, steps and handrails, disabled access toilets, new ramp and internal modifications.
“Now we really can start planning ahead.”
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Plans for the museum have been in the works since 2020 and it is earmarked to officially open in February 2023.
Funded by public donations and grants, it will include eight exhibition zones covering periods of history from the Jurassic age to the world wars.
Knaresborough to host history festival for jubilee weekendKnaresborough is to host a community history festival over the jubilee weekend to give people a taste of what can be expected at the town’s new museum
The festival will take place at Knaresborough House next week from 10am to 4:30pm each day from Thursday to Saturday.
Knaresborough Museum Association has organised the event ahead of the launch of the town’s museum in February next year.
The museum will be in the old Castle Girl’s School, near Knaresborough Castle.
The history festival will display artefacts from the museum’s eight exhibition zones, including a model railway of the town centre, fossils dating back 350 million years and a Victorian scrapbook showing Knaresborough’s celebrations of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887.
Chairperson of the association, Kathy Allday, said:
“This is a vital stepping stone to the museum’s opening, and I’m so delighted we have reached this stage.
“We’ve uncovered some hidden history while unearthing the treasured artefacts, which will help us build the museum’s displays and show off this town’s fascinating past.”
A medieval tradition will be revived for the three-day festival, whereby a scribe will create a unique manuscript from any confessions and pledges visitors put forward. The festival will also include:
- A four-metre long model railway showing Knaresborough town centre, including its viaduct and railway station
- Two one-metre wide paintings by local artist and fossil specialist James McKay
- Demonstrations of heritage crafts, including medieval manuscript writing, leather working and rag rugging
- Fossils dating back 350 million years and prehistoric artefacts found in people’s gardens
- An architectural design model showing the entire museum in 3D
- A special Jubilee display including a Victorian bound scrapbook showing all the festivities in Knaresborough in 1887 to mark Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee
- A Victorian school-themed children’s play area, including Victorian desks and chalk boards, materials, historic dressing up clothes and opportunities to create your own family crest and Victorian potion bottle.
- Separate displays across the three days from local community groups including Renaissance Knaresborough, the rotary club, the Royal British Legion, The Historical Society, First Responders, the Civic Society, and the Claro Group, who’ve produced historic books about Knaresborough.
There will also be free guided walks around Knaresborough’s historic centre at 11am and 2pm on each day of the event. These are bookable in advance via the KMA website or by emailing volunteers@knaresboroughtownmuseum.org
The museum has been funded by donations from local businesses and individuals, with more than £47,000 being raised so far.
Once open, it will use its flexible exhibition space to run workshops and events for schools and community groups.
Knaresborough Museum to open doors for first time in June
Knaresborough Town Museum will open its doors for the first time this summer to give visitors a sneak peek at the museum.
Knaresborough Museum Association will hold a community history festival on June 2-4 as part of the town’s the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations.
The museum, based at the former Castle Girls’ School near Knaresborough Castle, has been in the works since late 2020 but with the building lease set to be signed on April 1, the group can begin to plan events.
Some of the museum’s volunteers. Left to right: Sam Roberts, Clare Joia, Kathy Allday and Suzanne Coulson
The museum won’t be fully ready for the festival but it will have had a fresh lick of paint and will host stalls from numerous local groups, including the Royal British Legion Knaresborough branch and the Knaresborough Historical Society.
There will also be activities for children, including a mock-Victorian classroom for craft activity. The group hopes to have people teach heritage crafts, such as cotton spinning.
The museum itself is set to officially open in February 2023. A planning application has been submitted to Harrogate Borough Council but chair of the association, Kathy Allday, said due to a delay in contractors works won’t be able to start until autumn.
She said:
“It’s a shame we’ve had to push back the opening date but after the festival we can hit the ground running and get works underway.
“We’ll be unveiling artefacts at the festival and a 3D model of how the museum will look. We will also be trialling our history trail which walks around the town, the hopes is we can do these regularly once the museum is open.”
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The museum is being funded by public donations and grants, it will include eight exhibition zones covering periods of history from the Jurassic age to the World Wars.
The association is currently looking for business sponsors to come on board to support the museum as it opens, to get in touch click here.
Knaresborough Museum goes for more funding to open next yearThe Knaresborough Museum is taking shape as the team creating it has applied for an extra £60,000 in grant funding.
The Knaresborough Museum Association (KMA) already raised £43,000 earlier this year to get plans underway but it is now going for more funding to make them a reality.
It plans to open the first Knaresborough Town Museum in the former Castle Girls’ School in Castle Yard.
The plans for the building include a reception and shop, permanent and temporary display areas, an education space, toilets and wheelchair access.
The KMA had previously hoped to have the museum open for the end of the year but covid has delayed negotiations with Harrogate Borough Council.
The KMA said it is anticipating signing the lease for the building “soon” and opening in 2022.
Association chair Kathy Allday said:
“It is all happening on the Museum front! Knaresborough Museum Association are now working with geology, archaeology and social history museums around the country to bring artefacts back to Knaresborough.”
Plans unveiled for the Knaresborough Town Museum
Work is currently underway to bring its prehistory and geology display together. The plan is to display fossils of the now extinct animals that roamed the town 300 million years ago.
A programme of archaeological surveys have also started in the Abbey Road and Spitalcroft areas. The KMA volunteers are working with academics from Leeds, York and America.
All the surveys are to create a medieval exhibit which will display a model of the Trinitarian priory and artefacts from the 13th century.
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Other exhibits will see the reconstruction of Marigold’s Boat so visitors can sit and learn about the town rom the Victorian era to the 1960s.
Local children are also getting involved in a film to tell the story of wartime in Knaresborough and the history of the Olde Chemiste Shoppe.
Local residents have the chance to ask questions about the museum and its plans at its Pop Up Museum event for the FEVA festival. Volunteers will be based at St Mary’s Church Hall on August 14 and 15.
Knaresborough museum renews fundraising appealThe 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.
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Ms Allday said:
“I know the museum is something people want. Even if it’s just £10 it all helps.
“We extended the deadline to keep going and to raise money. We are dependent on the support of the community to donate and volunteer for this to be a success.”
The group still plans to make the project a reality by the end of the year.
Designs for new Knaresborough museum revealed
Plans have been published showing how the ground floor of Knaresborough’s new museum could look.
The Knaresborough Museum Association has been campaigning for months to establish a new museum in the town’s former Castle Girls’ School.
The association has applied for planning permission to use the building and is now fundraising to make the project a reality by the end of the year.
A crowdfunding campaign has so far raised £3,300 towards its £35,000 target,
The newly revealed plans include a reception and shop, permanent and temporary display areas, an education space, toilets and wheelchair access.
The indicative plans for the ground floor. Illustration: Caroline Miekina
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Archeology, geology and social history will be at the heart of the new museum.
The association has sent questionnaires to local people who lived in the 1930s, 40s and 50s so their stories can be recorded.
The town’s population is said to have doubled during World War Two as evacuees, military personnel and prisoners of war based at Scriven Hall camp arrived.
The museum will illustrate how Knaresborough was home to dinosaurs such as Ankylosaurus during the Carboniferous period over 300 million years ago.
It will also show how Nidd Gorge has changed from the Carboniferous period through the Permian period when the sea covered much of the region to the Ice Age when the River Nidd was re-routed and carved the gorge we see today.
The association already has exhibits and display material from its previous pop-up museums, which showcased the story of Knaresborough from prehistoric times to the present day.
These new visuals indicate key areas the association wants to develop, including new displays on the Trinitarian Priory.
To support the museum project, click here.
Knaresborough museum project launches £35,000 crowdfunderThe bid to create a Knaresborough museum will take its next step this week with the launch of a crowdfunding appeal for £35,000.
Knaresborough Museum Association, which was set up last year, hopes the museum will open by the end of the year.
It will be based on the ground floor of the former Castle Girls’ School, near Knaresborough castle.
The crowdfunding page will launch on Thursday to raise money for the site’s renovation, disability access, toilets and museum equipment, such as display cabinets.
Plans for the museum were submitted in October. The building will tell the story of the historic town and its people.
This artefact is on loan to Knaresborough Museum Association from the town’s Trinitarian Priory.
The museum is also applying for charitable status. Education and community engagement will be at the centre of its work.
Kathy Allday, chair of the association, said:
“There is still a lot of work to do but we are very excited. We have a lot of ideas for exhibitions.
“After all the depressing news in 2020, I feel Knaresborough is going to have a great year this year and what could be better than establishing a new museum that celebrates the town and its people?”
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The museum has already received a £5,000 donation from local businessman Sir Graham Hall, who said in a statement he thought the museum could make a “significant difference” to the town.
The association has plans to stage exhibitions on World War Two and the Trinitarian Priory, as well as recordings of local people talking about their town.
The group has said the museum will be more than a few artefacts: there are plans to include interactive display boards, films and sound effects.
Contributions to the crowdfunding appeal can be made here although the link is not due to go live until Thursday.
Knaresborough museum plans take a major step forwardPlans to open a dedicated museum in Knaresborough have taken a significant step forward after Harrogate Borough Council backed the plans.
The council’s cabinet have decided to let the Knaresborough Museum Association (KMA) take on the former dance school for a “fair and reasonable rent”.
Before the museum can open the KMA has said it needs to fundraise a few thousand pounds and renovate the building, which has fallen into disrepair.
However the group sees this as a major boost for their museum plans at the Castle Girls’ School building. Kathy Allday, chair of KMA, told the Stray Ferret:
“This is terrific news and it has been around 18 months in the making. This is a great location so close to the castle and the court house museum.
“Knaresborough has such a rich and fascinating history. We want to complement what the existing museum already does, not replicate it.”
Read more:
Kathy has called for anyone who wants to join the KMA or just help as a volunteer to get in touch by sending an email here.
The plans for the building on Castle Yard in Knaresborough include a hub for historical exhibitions and to become an educational space for the community.
“Our Knaresborough: Our Stories” will be the first exhibition and it is already ready to go. It tells the town’s story from the pre-historic age right through to WWII.
The group is already working on a second exibition about how life change from the 1930s to the 1950s.