What are the opening hours?

Monday 10am - 4:30pm Tuesday 10am - 4:30pm Wednesday 10am - 4:30pm Thursday 10am - 4:30pm Friday 10am - 4:30pm Saturday 10:30am - 4:30pm

Pontefract Museum

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Pontefract Museum

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$Pontefract Museum$ Step inside our beautiful Art Nouveau building to discover the history of Pontefract and its people Free Admission

Charting the history of Pontefract and the people that have lived, worked and played here. See the world’s first secret ballot box, a golden lion and the sweet history of liquorice!

16/10/2026

With only 70 days until Christmas, we're making our list and checking it twice for Liquorice Santa! 🎅

Join us Saturday 5 December to meet our special sweet Santa in his liquorice grotto and receive a Christmas gift 🎁

We'll have lots of fun festive crafts around the museum to bring you Christmas cheer and an all new twinkling trail...

📅 Saturday 5 December, 10:30am to 3:30pm
🎫 Free, no booking required*

Experience Wakefield Wakefield Libraries Wakefield Mumbler Yorkshire Tots to Teens

*You may have to wait to see Santa at busy times. We have a ticket system to manage this and you can enjoy crafts whilst you wait!

07/10/2026

October half term will soon be here and we're cooking up some fantastic fun for Wednesday 28 Oct!

Come along to the museum and Sketch it! with us

🎨 Get arty and make a personalised sketchbook for drawing your designs and ideas!

🖌 You can also join our staff for an urban sketching tour in the town centre or museum* at 11am or 2pm

📅 Wednesday 28 October, 10:30am to 3pm
Free, no booking required

*weather dependent!

Find out more about what we have on across our sites in our handy half term guide: https://wmandc.co/holidays

Experience Wakefield Wakefield Libraries Yorkshire Tots to Teens

30/09/2026

Don't miss out on the last few tickets for our brilliant talk on Friday!

Wendy from Wakefield Libraries will be exploring fascinating photos of Pontefract from the last 100 years

Discover pictures of places long gone. See how familiar landmarks have changed over time.

Rediscover memories of Pontefract and take the time to explore our fantastic Picturing Pontefract exhibition before it closes the following day!

📸Talk: Pontefract in old photographs
📅 Friday 2 October, 2pm to 3pm
🎫 Free, booking required at: https://www.ticketsource.com/wakefield-museums-castles/t-ldxzvqx

Photograph copyright of Wakefield Libraries.

$It’s the final week to see our Picturing Pontefract exhibition! Don’t miss your last chance to admire historic views, lo...$

28/09/2026

It’s the final week to see our Picturing Pontefract exhibition!

Don’t miss your last chance to admire historic views, lost monuments and beautiful buildings.

Discover how artists have depicted Pontefract and its iconic landmarks over time.

The exhibition closes Saturday 3rd October.

$It’s the final few weeks of our popular Picturing Pontefract exhibition! The exhibition closes on Saturday 3rd October. ...$

12/09/2026

It’s the final few weeks of our popular Picturing Pontefract exhibition! The exhibition closes on Saturday 3rd October.

Picturing Pontefract explores our town through the eyes of artists, craftspeople and map makers.

Here’s what our lovely visitors have been saying about it:

“The Picturing Pontefract exhibition is really well thought out and put together.”
“Well worth a visit”
“Very interesting”
“Beautiful”
“I loved seeing the paintings.”

Pop in to the museum to enjoy it for yourself! We’d love to know what you think – you can leave us a comment in the exhibition visitor book.

$Heritage Open Days kicks off tomorrow and there are still opportunities to join with the fun over at Pontefract Castle!W...$

10/09/2026

Heritage Open Days kicks off tomorrow and there are still opportunities to join with the fun over at Pontefract Castle!

Whether you fancy a tour of the deep, dark dungeon or a super storytelling session celebrating Pontefract tales, there's a free activity to appeal to everyone!

💬 Dungeon Tours | 6+ | Saturday 12 and 19 September*
🏰 Talk: Pontefract Castle - this is your life! | 18+ | Thursday 17 September
📖 Pontefract tales storytelling | 6+ | Saturday 19 September

All free, booking required at: www.ticketsource.com/wakefield-museums-castles

*Pre-bookable tickets available online for Dungeon Tours are limited. Limited walk-up spaces will also be available for all tours on the day.

$A rare opportunity to view George Fox's original manuscripts from the 1800s this Saturday at Pontefract Library!George F...$

09/09/2026

A rare opportunity to view George Fox's original manuscripts from the 1800s this Saturday at Pontefract Library!

George Fox (1802-1871) was a printer and stationer in Market Place. His real passion was local history. He wrote about the history of Pontefract, its people and buildings. He also wrote about the three sieges of Pontefract Castle. He filled four handwritten books with notes and his own intricate drawings.

These manuscripts are held by Pontefract Library and have recently been digitised. The digital versions are also now available to browse in the Picturing Pontefract exhibition here at Pontefract Museum!

$Inspired by our Picturing Pontefract exhibition, we're delighted to be joined by Wendy from Wakefield Libraries next mon...$

07/09/2026

Inspired by our Picturing Pontefract exhibition, we're delighted to be joined by Wendy from Wakefield Libraries next month!

📸 Talk: Pontefract in old photographs
Explore fascinating photos of Pontefract from the last 100 years.

Discover pictures of places long gone. See how familiar landmarks have changed over time.

What memories of Pontefract will you rediscover?

📅 Friday 2 October, 2pm to 3pm
🎫 Free, adults 18+, booking required: https://museumsandcastles.wakefield.gov.uk/whats-on/pontefract-in-old-photos/

Photograph copyright of Wakefield Libraries.

$Could you help us create great exhibitions? Join our exhibition evaluation focus group! Pontefract Museum’s latest speci...$

04/09/2026

Could you help us create great exhibitions? Join our exhibition evaluation focus group!

Pontefract Museum’s latest special exhibition, Picturing Pontefract, explores the town through the eyes of artists, craftspeople and map makers. There are lots of different views to discover: past and present, lifelike and imagined. They reveal how the town and its famous landmarks have been depicted over time and celebrate the colour and character of Pontefract.

We’d love to know what you think about the exhibition. The focus group will be a chance to share your feedback and suggestions. What did you discover? Which part did you most enjoy? What didn’t work? And what should we do differently in future?

The focus group will be on Wednesday 30th September. Participants will meet at Pontefract Museum at 5:30pm for an exclusive private viewing of the exhibition. You will have chance to explore the gallery yourself before taking part in a facilitated group discussion about how you found the experience. The session will finish by 7:30pm.

Your feedback will help shape our future exhibition programming and development.

To thank you for your time and input, you'll receive £15 of Love2Shop vouchers.

If you love art and local landscapes, historic buildings and Pontefract’s heritage, we’d love to hear from you!

If you’d like to take part, please email [email protected] by Wednesday 23rd September with the subject: Picturing Pontefract Focus Group.

Please note - places are limited but we hope to run further focus groups in the future.

03/09/2026

Visiting us before Sunday 13 September? There's still time to join in with the Lotta and Lola Museum Trail!

Follow the spotter trail around the museum to help Lotta and Lola collect kind and useful-ish words that help us all get along.

Complete the trail to collect a free sticker and be in with a chance to win:
• A Double National Art Pass + Kids, courtesy of Art Fund
• A signed book bundle from author Lauren Child

🔗 More info: https://kidsinmuseums.org.uk/what-we-do/museum-trails/the-lotta-lola-museum-trail/

The is run by Kids in Museums in partnership with Simon Kids UK

Address

5 Salter Row
Pontefract
WF81BA

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 4:30pm
Tuesday	10am - 4:30pm
Wednesday	10am - 4:30pm
Thursday	10am - 4:30pm
Friday	10am - 4:30pm
Saturday	10:30am - 4:30pm

Telephone

01977 722740

Website

https://museumsandcastles.wakefield.gov.uk/visit/pontefract-museum/

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