- The Workhouse Museum in Ripon reopened on 21 July after a £2.8m redevelopment.
- The restoration included the Residents’ Block, Kitchen and Dining Hall.
- The original workhouse cellar opened for the first time.
- The project was funded by England’s National Lottery Heritage Fund and other foundations.
- The visitor experience includes a vagrants’ cell, oakum picking and yard sweeping.
The Workhouse Museum in Ripon has reopened to the public following a £2.8m redevelopment. The new visitor experience, opening 21 July, takes visitors through the stories of Victorian paupers, vagrants and workhouse children. The project involved extensive conservation and restoration work on the Residents’ Block, where paupers ate, slept and worked.
The redevelopment includes a complete restoration of the leaking roof and rotten windows, alongside reinstating historical features. Revamped rooms include the Old Men’s Day Room, Kitchen and Dining Hall, and the original workhouse cellar has been opened for the first time. Curator Dr Laura Allan stated the cellar was particularly exciting as it had been untouched since the building was used as council offices. The workhouse cellar contains the original meat block table where pigs were butchered.
The hands-on visitor experience includes a vagrants’ cell, oakum picking and sweeping the yard. Families can dress in replica workhouse uniforms and search for hidden mice in the kitchen. The project was funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, The Wolfson Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation and North Yorkshire County Council.
Laura Allan, curator at Ripon Museums Trust, shared, “The cellar is particularly exciting as it’s the only part of that building that had been untouched since it was turned into council offices. It’s like glimpsing behind the curtain, seeing how it truly was.”
Alexa Vernon, Director of Ripon Museums Trust, shared, “We’ve transformed the workhouse into a powerful, immersive experience where visitors can step into the shoes of real people who lived through extraordinary hardship.”
Helen Featherstone, Director at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, shared, “The redevelopment has secured the future of one of Britain’s most complete surviving Victorian workhouses.”
