Ever since it opened at the turn of the 18th century, York Castle Gaol provided a morbid fascination for the public who travelled from far and wide to catch a glimpse of some of the country's hardened felons.

Among its most infamous inmates was the highwayman Dick Turpin, who was held in one of the prison's cells before he was taken to Knavesmire – ]now York Racecourse – and hanged in 1739.

But now a life behind bars from three centuries ago is being brought to life for visitors of York's Castle Museum, which is housed in the building.

A £200,000 renovation is being undertaken to unlock the secrets of the infamous cells and take the museum's visitors back to the time when the building was used to accommodate Yorkshire's felons and debtors.

The museum's director of business development, Mike Woodward, said: "From the infamous highwayman Richard Turpin, to a young tearaway arrested with a boiled egg in his pocket, York Castle Gaol was once full of people with incredible and often moving stories to tell.

"Many of the authentic cells still remain here at the Castle and for the first time we will be using these to take an in-depth look at this building's fascinating history."

The prison cells will open on July 17 following the £200,000 revamp, which is being funded by York Council and Yorkshire Renaissance, and visitors will get a sense of what imprisonment would have been like in the 18th and 19th centuries.

As well as having to live alongside fellow criminals, inmates faced a daily battle to survive in York Castle Gaol as its cramped confines were rife with diseases such as smallpox and typhus.

The poorest prisoners often fell victim to malnutrition as they lived on a diet of bread and water.

A major research project was launched in September last year to unearth stories from the building and has been overseen by a freelance historian and museum curator, Dr Katherine Prior.

Dr Prior, whose career spans 25 years, has been delving into archives from York as well as Wakefield and Beverley to piece together details of some of the prisoners.

She said: "This has been such a fascinating project to be involved with, and it is one of the most interesting jobs that I have worked on. I do feel privileged to be able to have the chance to look back into what is a fascinating piece of history."

The site of York Castle Gaol has been used to hold criminals since the Norman era, although the current building was opened in 1705 after it was built at a cost of £8,000 to replace an outdated prison.

The Baroque-style building was one of the first to be built nationally, and was used to house criminals awaiting trial at the neighbouring Assizes, which is now York Crown Court.

While actual prison sentences were not handed out as punishments, Dr Prior's research has found that inmates spent up to seven years waiting to be transported to America after they were convicted.

The building became a tourist attraction from the outset, as the public could catch glimpses of the criminals through a fence while the inmates were in the exercise yard.

The £200,000 renovation will return the cells to their original dark and eerie confines, with the sound of keys, chains and prisoners echoing around.