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Museums and castles

Wakefield has a great range of free cultural places for you to visit. Learn more about the museums and castles in the Wakefield District.

  • Pontefract Castle

    The Key to the North! Built around 1086 by Ilbert de Lacy, Pontefract Castle has many stories to tell.
    Pontefract castle on a sunny day with blue skies

  • Pontefract Museum

    Visit Pontefract Museum and learn all about the town’s eventful history! Discover Pontefract's royal links, from the Domesday Book to the Civil Wars.
    A family group trying on dressing up outfits in front of the oil painting of Pontefract Castle at Pontefract Museum

  • Wakefield Museum

    Discover the fascinating history of our city at work and play at Wakefield Museum! Follow its growth to the capital of Yorkshire’s West Riding.
    Three young adult visitors laughing at a joke in the Victorian Kitchen at Wakefield Museum.

  • Castleford Museum

    Explore 15,000 years of local history at Castleford Museum! See amazing objects left behind by prehistoric tribes and Roman soldiers.
    A young visitor with their grown-up pointing at an object in a case containing mining equipment in Castleford Museum.

  • Sandal Castle

    The scene of the Battle of Wakefield in 1460! Sandal Castle was a favourite of Richard III.
    A man and a woman along with a toddler walking on a pavement in sandal castle

  • Wakefield Museums and Castles Collections

    We have over 110,000 fascinating objects in our collections! Explore them online and find out how to get in touch with our Collections Team.
    John, curator, explaining the story behind an orange football being held by a young adult visitor in the welcome space at Wakefield Museum.

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