Wakefield Museums and Castles

A group of secondary school children walking along a path past part of the remains of Pontefract Castle

Self-led school visits

Our museums and castles are the perfect venues for self-led school exploration.

You might be looking for a place where your class can delve into our local history. Perhaps you're after somewhere your pupils can get creative sketching old buildings and objects. Maybe you're interested in extending the time your class stays on site after a museum or castle workshop. Or, you might just fancy an end of year picnic in the grounds of one of our fabulous castles!

You are welcome to bring your pupils to our sites for a free self-led visit. But please be aware that you must book all self-led visits to our sites in advance.

Why book a self-led visit?

Our sites are busy places with a range of activities taking place the year. These include workshops and community events, to site maintenance and building works. Booking self-led school visits with us in advance allows us to check that we have the capacity to host you on a given day. It also ensures that we can accommodate your class safely and comfortably.

Booking also allows us to send you information in advance to help prepare for your visit. We can see whether our indoor learning space is available should you wish to use it. We can also provide you with free self-led resources to support your visit.

Self-led bookings are taken on a first-come, first-served basis. If you arrive without booking, you may be turned away at the discretion of our staff.

Indoor spaces

Our learning rooms at Pontefract Castle and Wakefield Museum are available for self-led classes to book as indoor learning spaces free of charge.

These rooms are only available on a first-come, first-served basis. They should be requested at the time of booking.

The use of these rooms cannot be guaranteed without booking in advance.

Lunch spaces

Please be aware that there are no dedicated indoor lunch spaces at our venues.

You may be able to book one of our learning spaces to eat packed lunches, depending on availability.

Please enquire at the time of booking.

Access and visiting information

Find full visiting information and access guides for our venues on their webpages:

Self-led visit enquiry form

Please read our enquiry forms privacy notice. It explains how the data you submit in this form will be used.

We ask for this information so that we can contact you about your enquiry. All data is stored securely and we will not use it for any other purposes or share it with anybody else.
Your details
Your visit
Which site would you like to request a self-led visit at? *

Please note: Sandal Castle is an open-air ruin. There is no cover from the weather. There are no dedicated toilets on site. The Castle Café is run by an external team. They may allow your students to use their toilets when open. Please contact them in advance on 07958 030485 to enquire.

Will you need to use the indoor learning space at Pontefract Castle for lunch and / or self-led learning? *
Will you need to use the indoor learning space at Wakefield Museum for lunch and / or self-led learning? * Please note: there is a £10 additional fee for using a lunch space at Wakefield Museum
Would you like to be sent some self-led resources to support your visit? *
Do you have specific dates you would like to enquire about? * If not, you can indicate your preferred term / month for a visit in the 'any additional notes' section.
Please tell us when you would expect to arrive at your chosen site. The earliest possible arrival time is 9:30am (10am for Pontefract Museum).
Please tell us when you would expect to depart from your chosen site
Please use this space to provide any further information you feel is relevant to your self-led visit request. If you have not selected date preferences above, please indicate your preferred terms / months here.

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