York Castle: Museum of a Bygone Age

THE York Castle Museum tells the original story of everyday life in the City of York, through its collections which span six hundred years of history. Visitors can wander through the streets of a Britain that has long since disappeared.

York Castle Museum was originally built as a prison and the buildings still carry the marks of this earlier history. Tourists can see what the life of those who were awaiting judgement and the fate of those who had already been judged was really like in those times.

A famous name in York is that of Dick Turpin. He was an Essex butcher turned footpad and highwayman who avoided capture near London. He escaped to York where he was recognised by his former teacher and arrested. Turpin was tried, found guilty and executed. People can decide whether he was the romantic hero of legend or merely a vicious thug and common thief when they see the jail in which he spent his last night on earth.

The World of Interiors lets visitors experience life from past times by exploring the universe of inside rooms that range from a modest moorland cottage to a grand Georgian town house of the gentry.

Tourists can confront the mysteries of life and death as they learn the meaning of the three rites of passage: Birth, Marriage and Death in the From Cradle to Grave Exhibition. They will come face-to-face with the dangers of childbirth in past times or admire the beauty of some exquisitely hand-made wedding dresses and experience the intensity of Victorian mourning.

Sightseers can pay a visit to Raindale Mill and meet the friendly miller in his 19th Century working water mill. They will discover how the mill was powered, how its machinery was kept in good condition and all the processes that were used to produce the different types of grain.

Half Moon Court gives a tantalising insight into British life during the Edwardian period. They can see the shops piled high with goods ranging from linen to hardware and can visit the garage which houses the early motor vehicles that are in for a service or drop into the typical turn of the 20th Century pub.

Outside, visitors can step into the recreated Victorian streets of Kirkgate and wander along the cobbled roads, listening to the hustle and bustle of everyday life. They are really experiencing a day out in Victorian Britain.

They can look into the window of the Apothecary’s shop and see all his cures, including the jar of leeches which were used to bleed patients. There is the sweet shop with its mouth-watering range of confectionary. Tourists can visit the fire engine, complete with the original fie appliance or take a glimpse into the workshop of the candle-maker. There is something in Kirkgate for everyone.