Craven Museum
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Located in Skipton Town Hall, Craven Museum is a cultural hub where history comes to life. From ancient tales to local treasures, it's a fun day out for all the family.
Craven Museum is a treasure trove of artworks and objects, exploring Yorkshire's rich history. Whether you like rocks or rare books, photographs or furniture, art or taxidermy – you’ll find it here. There are many interactive elements to the museum, with something to inspire people of all ages.
Learn about local history and culture
See fascinating items, including the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays, rare items from prehistoric times, and furniture by local craftsman Robert Thompson, also known as 'the Mouseman'. Throughout the displays are the words of Craven people, bringing to life their stories and the artefacts on display. Craven Museum's gallery on the first floor shows a changing programme of exhibitions by local and national artists. On the ground floor, visitors can explore the Community Case, where displays chosen by the local community rotate every three months.
A fun day out for families
Craven Museum also offer an exciting events programme for people of all ages and abilities, including free family craft sessions during the school holidays, relaxed museum visits, object handling sessions and collection store tours. The Grade II listed Skipton Town Hall is also home to a historic concert hall where you can watch theatre, comedy, opera, and much more.
An award-winning museum
Craven Museum won the Kids in Museums Family Friendly Museum and Best Accessible Museum 2023. The museum and gallery are fully accessible.
Why you should go
Marvel at over 60,000 historic treasures
Treat yourself to an arty gift in the shop
Catch a gig at the historic concert hall
Visitor information
Address
Skipton Town Hall, High Street, Skipton, North Yorkshire, BD23 1AH
01756 706397
Opening times
Monday - Saturday, 9.30am - 4.30pm
Exclusions and safety measures
It’s our top priority that all our visitors and staff are happy and safe.
Our team will be completing regular and enhanced cleaning throughout the day and between performances.
Hand sanitising stations are available throughout the building.
Refurbishments
From 2019 -21 a complete restoration and refurbishment of Grade II Listed Skipton Town Hall took place alongside reinterpretation of Craven Museum collections and redesign of the museum.
All changes and additions were made with with accessibility in mind. The building is now fully accessible with; lifts front and rear of the building; a brand new Changing Places Toilet facility; all gender baby changing toilet facilities; dementia friendly signage; audio visual aids; automatic doors.
Visitor information
The more you see, the more we do.
The National Art Pass lets you enjoy free entry to hundreds of museums, galleries and historic places across the UK, while raising money to support them.