York Museums Trust

York Castle Museum

The main development at York Castle Museum was the reinterpretation of the Prison. To date, York Castle Museum has largely ignored the remarkable history of its own buildings, being housed in two 18th Century prison buildings. As the County gaol it was home to the most notorious criminals in Yorkshire. We were keen to make visitors aware of this important and sometimes brutal history.

This time with the prison we decided to use a different approach, using film projected on to the cell walls to tell the story of actual people who had been held in the prison. Much original research was done to ensure that only real people and their accurate stories were depicted.

The new attraction opened in July 2009 and has been a great success. York Castle Museum attracts the most paying visitors and so is extremely important to York Museums Trust's financial stability, so we are very aware that we need to invest regularly in the exhibitions and displays. The Studios - Kitchen, Costume and Textiles and Military are spaces that give us a chance to get the visitors involved. Over the year with the help of our volunteers we have explored the history of curry, made mince pies to a Tudor recipe and looked at crumbs and how stale bread have been used in the past. St Barnabas School created their own cookery book as part of their healthy eating campaign.