Following a major restoration, Ripon Workhouse Museum has reopened with an expanded museum trail, interactive spaces and immersive school workshops exploring the lives of the poor in Victorian times.
The reopening marks the culmination of extensive conservation and restoration work undertaken as part of the Inspiration for a Fairer Future project, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Other supporters include The Wolfson Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation and North Yorkshire County Council.
The new and expanded museum trail tells the stories of past residents of the workhouse. Through hands-on activities, interactive displays and immersive storytelling, school groups will discover what life was like inside one of Britain’s most complete surviving Victorian workhouses. Schools can also choose from a range of workshops to enhance an educational visit.
A key focus of the redevelopment was the complete and sensitive restoration work of the Residents’ Block, the largest building on the site and the place where paupers ate, slept and worked. Used for a variety of things over the years since, including as a care home and council offices, the building had fallen into disrepair when Ripon Museums acquired it in 2017.
“…a powerful, immersive experience where visitors can step into the shoes of real people who lived through extraordinary hardship.”
Alexa Vernon, director of Ripon Museums Trust
Revamped rooms include the Old Men’s Day Room, Kitchen and Dining Hall, and the original workhouse cellar has been opened up for the first time.
Dr Laura Allan, curator at Ripon Museums Trust, said: “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 has the massive original meat block table where the workhouse pigs would be butchered, trough and sink. It’s like glimpsing behind the curtain, seeing how it truly was.”
‘Could you survive the workhouse?’
The museum has been designed to be a thought-provoking and engaging experience. Visitors are asked: ‘Could you survive the workhouse?’ as they move through the museum and take part in activities such spending time in a noisy vagrants’ cell, sweeping the yard, picking oakum from old ropes, and other jobs that would have been carried out by paupers and children every day.
Whilst touring the museum, pupils can search for hidden mice in the kitchen, use traditional weighing scales to portion out meagre meals, and spin an interactive wheel in the Guardians’ Room to see what their life in the workhouse might have involved. There are also workhouse uniforms to try on for photos.
Alexa Vernon, director of Ripon Museums Trust, said: “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. Their stories challenge us to think about fairness, dignity and opportunity, both in Victorian Britain and today.
“This project is about much more than restoring a historic building. It is about preserving important heritage, creating opportunities for communities and young people to engage with history, and inspiring visitors to reflect on how we can build a fairer future.
“We want people to leave feeling not only informed, but also more compassionate, thoughtful and connected to the stories of those who came before us.”
The museum now features new spaces for creativity and community participation, including the Discover Space, where visitors can explore connections between past and present through exhibitions, conversations and creative activities.
School visits to Ripon Museums
The Workhouse Museum is part of Ripon Museums Trust’s trio of museums, all located within walking distance of each other and open daily from mid-February to late November.
School groups can continue their journey through the systems of poverty, crime and punishment in Victorian Yorkshire at the Prison & Police Museum and Courthouse Museum. In the Courthouse, pupils can stand in the real courtroom while the Prison & Police Museum allows them to step inside original prison cells.
There are a range of workshops available to schools across the three museums, suitable for all Key Stages. At the Workhouse, pupils can experience a Victorian lesson in the schoolroom, do workhouse chores, try rag-rugging and plant seeds in the kitchen garden.
Key Stage 2 and upwards can learn about Victorian justice with a Crime and Punishment Day by touring both the Courthouse and Prison & Police Museums and taking part in a mock trial.
Linking to history, English and PSHE, the immersive sessions use role-play and hands-on activities to bring the curriculum to life.
Find more information about school visits here: riponmuseums.co.uk/explore/learning.
