Since the 1920s, Wakefield Council Museum Service has acquired over 120,000 historic objects and works of art on behalf of Wakefield District's residents and visitors.
Identifications and offers of donation
Our Collections Team are happy to identify items or consider new donations for our museum collections. This service is available on our Meet the Curator afternoons at
Wakefield Museum (Meet the Curator),
Pontefract Museum (Meet the Curator) and
Castleford Museum (Meet the Curator), or by e-mailing
museums@wakefield.gov.uk to make an appointment with one of our curators.
Our Museum Service is guided by an
Acquisition and Disposal Policy and the museum service will make a decision whether to accept your donation based on our existing collections, our collecting priorities, current legislation and Council policy.
A more specialist identification for archaeological finds can be provided at Pontefract Museum and Wakefield Museum by the
Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS). Dates of these sessions will be advertised here when available.
Valuations
Wakefield Council Museum Service cannot provide valuations for items brought in by the public. For valuations, please contact an auction house or antiques dealer.
Collections Online
At any one time we are only able to display a small percentage of the objects at our three museums and two castles across Wakefield District. The online catalogues below are a way for you to see those objects that may not be on display. We hope you enjoy searching the collections.
Reminiscence boxes
We now have five museum reminiscence boxes available for loan through the library service.The boxes contain a collection of multi-sensory objects, including photographs, smells and sounds. Most of the items are authentic, some are modern reproductions, but all of them can be handled.
More information