Home - Wakefield Museums and Castles

Discover the extraordinary at our museums and castles

$Fireworks bursting from the keep at Pontefract Castle as the sun goes down$

What's on

Exciting events. No-cost and low-cost activities and workshops. Expert talks and tours. Find out what's on at our sites.

Castleford Museum

Explore 15,000 years of local history at Castleford Museum! Uncover our Roman roots and learn about local industry.

$The remains of the keep and curtain wall at Pontefract Castle covered in a layer of snow$

Pontefract Castle

The Key to the North! Built around 1086 by Ilbert de Lacy, Pontefract Castle has many stories to tell.

$A family doing dressing up in front of the Keirincx oil painting of Pontefract Castle in the 1640s$

Pontefract Museum

Learn all about Pontefract's eventful history! From the Civil Wars to the success of liquorice - Pontefract has seen it all.

Sandal Castle

Visit Sandal Castle, scene of the Battle of Wakefield in 1460! Sandal was a favourite castle of Richard III.

A child using a mini pair of binoculars to look around a nature reserve recreated in paper sculptures

Wakefield Museum

Explore the history of Wakefield at work and play. Discover surprising stories from the Merrie City.

$The remains of the keep and curtain wall at Pontefract Castle with a galaxy-filled sky in the background$

February half term guide

The kids might have only just gone back to school... but February half term is fast approaching! There’s so much to do at our sites this February.

From tots to teenagers, we’ve got something for all the family this February half term in Castleford, Pontefract and Wakefield.

February half term

$The rainbow Pride flag with a chevron of Trans and racial equality colours flying at Pontefract Castle$

LGBTQ+ History Month

Every February is LGBTQ+ History Month in the UK.

LGBTQ+ stories and histories are an important part of the Wakefield district.

We're flying the Pride Flag at Pontefract Castle for the month of February.

You can also browse our online collection of queer stories and histories.

LGBTQ+ stories

A person crouched over picking rhubarb stalks out of the ground inside a low roofed rhubarb shed

Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb!

Wakefield is famous for growing forced rhubarb. We're one of three points on the 'Rhubarb Triangle'.

Ahead of this February's Rhubarb Festival, find out why we're always rooting for rhubarb.

Rhubarb

Latest news and articles

A person wearing headphones overlaid with the text 'Access Grant Awarded'

9 Feb

We have been successful in our application to The Exhibitions Group for an Access to Exhibitions Grant!

Access to Exhibitions Grant for Wakefield Museum

Fennel plants in flower, long green stems with clusters of tiny yellow flowers on the end of the stems

5 Feb

Discover facts and folklore about fennel. It's our Medieval Herb Garden volunteers' plant of the week.

Medieval herb garden blog: Fennel

A member of staff showing two young children an old book in an archive

29 Jan

Explore the impact of the Our Heritage, Our Stories project in 2025 with this guest blog.

Celebrating the impact of Our Stories in 2025

Wakefield Museums and Castles