Wakefield Museums and Castles

We have two disabled parking bays on Castle Chain, at the front of the castle. Please use WF8 1QH in your sat nav to reach these.

These spaces will give you easy, level access to the castle entrance.

You can move around the main castle site on the level access paths. These paths are made out of self-binding gravel and stone. 

The main castle bailey area is level access and grassed.

The keep mound is very steep and only accessible by steps. There is a handrail alongside these steps.

Assistance dogs are welcome everywhere on site (apart from in the dungeon). In general, well-behaved dogs on leads are welcome in the castle grounds and the café. Pontefract Castle is popular with local dog walkers so they may be several other dogs visiting at the same time.

We have dog waste bags available at the Gift Shop. There are lots of bins around the site.

You can take a rest on the benches around the main castle site.

We can provide additional chairs in the Visitor Centre if you need to sit down during your visit.

Download a floor plan of the Visitor Centre with alt text

Download a sensory map of the Visitor Centre with alt text

There are 3 level access entrances to the Visitor Centre and toilets. The first two entrances are double doors which are kept open. The third entrance has automatic doors.

There are videos with audio in our Visitor Centre. These will tell you more information about the castle. The video screen is touchscreen.

There are large text versions of the object captions in the Visitor Centre.

Parts of the exhibition spaces in the Visitor Centre have low lighting levels. This is to protect the objects that are on display.

You can explore the past in a multi-sensory way with our interactive wall in the Visitor Centre. There are smell boxes, an interactive to feel the weight of a lead shot, and large replica siege coins to make a rubbing of.

The Café, Activity Zone and Gift Shop are all inside the Visitor Centre building. There is level access throughout.

Our friendly café staff will be happy to tell you about the food and drinks options available.

Most castle staff have attended Visual Impairment Training and Sighted Guided Training. All of our staff will be happy to help you get the most from your visit.

There are videos in the Visitor Centre that play audio out loud when a button is pressed. They will tell you about the history of Pontefract Castle.

We test our fire alarms every Wednesday at around 3:30pm. There will be up to 3 different alarm soundings.

You can book onto our Castle Explorer Tours most Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm. These are accessible for wheelchair users and keep on the level access paths. You can join our friendly guide to learn more about the castle and its history.

Unfortunately our Dungeon Tours are not accessible for blind and partially sighted visitors. The dungeon is only reachable by 44 steep steps and has an uneven historic floor. You can go on a virtual Dungeon Tour with voiceover on our YouTube.

There is also an information panel in the main Castle grounds with a replica of some of the graffiti in the dungeon. You can touch this.