Join us on our popular tours of the Pontefract Castle dungeon – free for Heritage Open Days!
Take a tour of the Pontefract Castle dungeon
Soak in the atmosphere of this eerie underground space. Discover the many uses of the dungeon. See where English Civil War prisoners left to languish scratched their names into the rock.
Join Beccy from Story Trails for an interactive storytelling session. Discover stories about everyday people from Pontefract’s past doing extraordinary things!
Ever wondered what happens in a Masonic Lodge? You are cordially invited to discover the history of the Pontefract Lodge through a guided tour and learn about the symbolism and traditions of ancient Freemasonry.
Learn About Pontefract’s Liquorice Past
This talk was first delivered for Liquorice Shoots and the Liquorice Festival, and is being reprised for Heritage Open Days in Pontefract Library.
The giant pin-hole camera will be operational in the former summer house/aviary, giving the chance to see live images of the gardens, projected through the pin-hole. A brief outline will be given of liquorice growing in the Valley Gardens.
A walking tour giving the history of liquorice growing in Friarwood Valley Gardens by Dr Colin White.
Pontefract has been synonymous with liquorice, a flowering plant of the bean family, for centuries.
The event will take place on Harropwell Lane, Pontefract, and will look at a project which aimed to help boys who were reluctant to go to school, and another project working with people on probation.
David Hardcastle, is a retired West Yorkshire Police constable of 20 years and is a volunteer at a local police museum. He will be giving an interactive presentation on the history of the police service over the last 120+ years. The presentation will feature historical artefacts that will be available to handle during the talk for proper immersion in the history of policing, artefacts ranging from 1880, covering the Victorian period, both World Wars and into the 21st Century. A big assortment of various police uniforms, helmets, hats and even a working radio from the 1980s for the audience to try!
2027 Heritage Open Days
