Events

Learn a new skill from expert demonstrators as we celebrate traditional arts and crafts. A changing timetable over 3 days includes:

Archery, Green wood working, Blacksmithing, Quilting, Lace-making, Calligraphy, Rag rugging, Morris dancing, Feltmaking, Drawing, Wood engraving, Spinning,...

A retrial of the infamous murder trial at York castle in 1759 of Eugene Aram. This time 21st century lawyers may arrive at a different verdict. Get in the mood by joining us in period costume if you care to. Please book in advance.

Part of our Crime and Justice Season

Tickets £4

Join Chris Mitchinson for a fascinating talk recalling some tricky cases and ethical quandaries in his work as a lawyer.
Please book in advance.

Tickets £4

Part of our Crime and Justice Season

The history of prison life and food explored in a fascinating illustrated talk by historian and author Peter Higginbotham,
Refreshments to follow. Porridge anybody?! Please book in advance.

Tickets £4

Meet the workhouse gardeners to learn about Victorian veg and fruit with FREE children’s activities. 10 am – 12 noon.£2 or FREE if you make a purchase!

Crime and Justice Season – Talks and events reflecting the nature of our Yorkshire law and museums.

Hosting events for the city’s first story festival. Activities for schools, adults and families in venues all over town...

Living History Tuesdays at Ripon’s award winning museums. Normal admissions apply but FREE children’s activities.

Family Fridays at Ripon’s award winning museums. Normal admissions apply but FREE children’s activities.

Heritage Open Day – at the Workhouse Garden and Courthouse Museum.

Ripon Museum Trust  volunteers will be re-enacting the savage punishment of a Victorian convict on Thursday 28th July to mark the launch of its new exhibition at the Courthouse Museum on Minster Road.

They will process from the Courthouse on Minster road to the Market Square and back...

Piers Dudgeon, author and biographer, explores Barbara Taylor Bradford's life and work, beginning with her fascinating connection with Ripon and with our Workhouse....

Tickets £5. Please book in advance or for more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email...

Jill Clayton, Ripon Museum Trust volunteer, shares her research into the treatment of 'fallen women' from the 19th - mid 20th centuries.

Tickets £4. Please book in advance or for more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email on info@riponmuseums.co.uk

Dr Karen Ounsley lives locally and is interested in the social history side of music. Come along and discover the musical life of Victorian Ripon. See what musical activities were open to the people and how musical experirences were determined by class and gender.

Tickets £4. Please book in...

Thursday 27th October

Magic Lantern Show 2:00pm -3:00pm (£2 entrance fee)

Suitable for all

A Victorian Magic Lantern Show - Prepare to be amazed and delighted!

Magic Lantern Show & Tour of the Workhouse by Night 6:00pm - 8:00pm (£2 entrance fee)

Suitable for all.

See the...

During October half-term all 3 museums will  have extended opening times from 10am to 4pm Saturday 22nd to Saturday 29th (Sunday 30th open 1pm to 4pm). 

 Sticky-Tape Sculpture Trail at the Workhouse!

Students in Ripon have been inspired by the Workhouse Museum and created some spooky...

Come along and learn the ancient craft of blacksmithing from Mr Dave Purvis.

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email on info@riponmuseums.co.uk

FREE Entry to the Prison & Police Museum for anybody in uniform.

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email on info@riponmuseums.co.uk

Join the inmates for a Christmas celebration provided by the Mayor, based on records from 1892. Enjoy Victorian Christmas activities and entertainments; visit the shop for novel, reasonably priced stocking filler.

£3.00 per Adult, accompanied children FREE

For more information contact...

Every Thursday from 17th November to 15th December at the Workhouse Museum.

Join a guided tour of the Workhouse as it prepares for the Mayor's Christmas Festivities c. 1892 and meet some of its more colourful inmates!

£3 per person

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by...

Come to the Workhouse Museum & Garden and meet the Muddy Archeologist to discover the strange things our ancestors left behind!

Suitable for families.

Free event (Included in normal admission price)

Meet the shadowy inmates of the Workhouse and make your own shadow puppets!

Free event (included in normal admission price)

Suitable for families

Family Event at the Workhouse

Meet characters from famous Dickens novels as part of the authors 200th birthday celebrations.

Take part in our Dickens challenge and idenitfy and spot the characters given the clues provided!!!

Can you find Miss Havisham or Bill Sykes? How many will you...

Get your own craft project finished or learn a new skill!  

Join Workhouse volunteers for a cuppa every other Monday.

Bring your own craft project or help the museum to make items for use or sale in the museum.

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or...

By Dr John Baily, for many years Ripon Cathedral Architect and Professor of Architecture at Manchester University

FREE to members of Ripon Museums or Ripon Historical Society - or £2 per head payable on the door

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or...

Talks on a variety of historical subjects are held each month on Wednesday evenings in conjunction with Ripon Historical Society

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email on info@riponmuseums.co.uk

No charge, but donations to Ripon Museum Trust

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email on info@riponmuseums.co.uk

by Harrogate solicitor Roger Noon.

There will be a selection of contemporary records to study.

Free to members of Ripon Museums or Ripon Historical Society, or £2 per head payable at the door

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email on...

Author Raymond Curry

Free to members of Ripon Muesums or Ripon Historical Society, or £2 per head payable at the door

for more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email on info@riponmuseums.co.uk

Help the staff and inmates of our Victorian Workhouse Museum with the daily tasks.

FREE activities.

Normal admissions apply.

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email on info@riponmuseums.co.uk

Unfortunately, this event has had to be postponed - please telephone for more details

Join the Workhouse Players as they take on famous Dickens Characters and read from the novels as part of the Author's 200th Birthday celebrations!

Book in advance.

Tickets £4

For more information...

Writer David Winpenny explores the stories behind the little known pyramids of Yorkshire and beyond!

Free to members of Ripon Muesums or Ripon Historical Society, or £2 per head payable at the door.

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email on...

Celebrating traditional arts and skills at the Workhouse Museum & Garden with live demonstrations and FREE activities.

Normal admissions apply.

For more information contact Ripon Museum Office by 'phone on 01765 690799 or by email on info@riponmuseums.co.uk

Or downlaod our event...

Steven Moorhouse shares his resarch into the mediaeval landscape of Hutton Convers.

FREE to members of Ripon Museums or Ripon Historical Society - or £2 per head payable on the door

For more information contact Ripon Museum Office by 'phone on 01765 690799 or by email on...

at Norton Conyers House near Ripon 

Admission charge for gardens includes a cup of tea. Children FREE. Additional refreshments available.

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email on info@riponmuseums.co.uk

At the Workhouse.

Explorer toys and traditional toys, stories and children's refreshments in the Workhouse Museum.

FREE activities. Normal admissions apply.

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email on info@riponmuseums.co.uk

Help the staff and inmates of our Victorian Workhouse Museum with the daily tasks. FREE activities. Normal admissions apply.

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email on info@riponmuseums.co.uk

Great FREE family activities with a challenge!

Make, explore or investigate our Museums with CSI, Sherlock Holmes or the Garden Wildlife Team.

Normal admissions apply.

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email on info@riponmuseums.co.uk

Drop in to help the Workhouse gardeners.

Help with the harvesting of this year's crop of fruit and veg!

Suitable for all ages. Included in Workhouse admission or £2 for adults, children FREE(£2 deductable from veg purchases).

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on...

FREE entry to the garden with trails and tours.

Available for Adults and Children.

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email on info@riponmuseums.co.uk

Visit our smallest rooms for FREE at the Workhouse.

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email on info@riponmuseums.co.uk

Leeds historian and family history expert, Jackie Dapelle

Free to members of Ripon Museums or Ripon Historical Society or £2 per head payable on the door

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email on info@riponmuseums.co.uk

Eric Houlder tracks two Victorian travellers on a journey through Brittany.

Free to members of Ripon Museums or Ripon Historical Society or £2 per head payable on the door

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email on info@riponmuseums.co.uk

Katherine Baxter, Curator of the Abbey at Kirkstall.

Free to members of Ripon Museums or Ripon Historical Society or £2 per head payable on the door

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email on info@riponmuseums.co.uk

Explore the Workhouse by candlelight and enjoy a magic lantern show.

Crafty kids can make shadow puppets and put on their own show. FREE Children's activities!

Phone for timetable. 

Normal admissions apply.

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or...

Victorian Christmas Season at the Workhouse

Visit our stocking filler gift shop and craft display for present ideas, or join a guided tour at 11am or 2pm. to see the Workhouse decorations. Tours £3.

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email on ...

Christmas Day in the Workhouse

Join the Guardians, Staff and Inmates to enjoy the Mayor's Christmas festivities based on real events of 1892.

Children FREE, Adults £3.

FREE activities.

For more information contact Ripon Museum office by phone on 01765 690799 or by email on ...

A FREE family event  which brings current local services and organisations together with the institutions represented by our three museums:

• tasty recipes v workhouse gruel
• home security and fire prevention advice
• get fit and have fun with Fit4Life and 4Youth
• FREE creche (book...