Museum’s Victorian street to be given £300,000 facelift

And the famous recreated Victorian street, Kirkgate, at the York Castle Museum is due to undergo a £300,000 revamp to give an even clearer insight into the bygone era.

The overhaul will see all the shops on Kirkgate based on real examples from Victorian York, such as Leak & Thorpe Drapers and Sessions Book shop.

And one of the alleyways will portray the poverty stricken areas of the city so often overlooked - complete with a stinking privy.

The York Museums Trust’s chief executive, Janet Barnes, said: “The highlight for most visitors to the Castle Museum is Kirkgate, the recreated Victorian street. We have refreshed this over the years, and we feel now is the time to extend the street, and introduce visitors to ‘real’ people who tell us more about life in the Victorian age.”

Museum curators spent months researching the Victorian era, and all the shops in the new layout operated in York between 1870 and 1901. Kirkgate will remain open while the work is carried out, and the revamped street will be launched on June 2. The work is being funded by the Museums, Libraries and Archive Fund. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation also gave a £10,000 grant.

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