Knaresborough’s heritage is deep and worth preserving for future generations - Kathy Allday

My work started with a heritage-themed Autumn Fest in 2019 when I volunteered to set up a Pop Up Museum. Two pop ups later and the Town Museum Group (TMG) was formed, with the aim of establishing a new town museum. Knaresborough Castle and the Court House Museum is local authority run and focuses mainly on law and order, its original Tudor Court Room, the Civil War, and the history of the castle and its royal connection. In contrast, the TMG wanted to showcase Knaresborough’s unique geology, archaeology and social history.

Knaresborough’s geology is fascinating with its spectacular gorge, which apart from being beautiful to look at, also holds many hidden ancient secrets. Nidd Gorge has been home to a myriad of prehistoric animals such as woolly mammoths, shelter to prehistoric hunter gatherers, and much later provided building material for the Viaduct and Castle. Handling locally sourced 350 million year old fossils is always a treat for children at our workshops.

Knaresborough and its surrounding villages are awash with prehistoric monuments; it also boasts an Iron Age camp, prehistoric roundhouses and cave dwellings. Four hoards found in the Knaresborough area, including stunning Viking jewellery and coins, and a Roman bronze vessel hoard, are in the British Museum and Yorkshire Museum respectively. In the Medieval period Knaresborough flourished as a place of pilgrimage and trade. KMA undertook an unusual archaeological survey and discovered what is believed to be the only leper washing tunnel in the country. The tunnel was found in a lane called Spittalcroft, the name hinting at a possible site of a Medieval leper hospital.

Knaresborough’s medieval archaeological heritage includes Knaresborough Manor House, originally a royal hunting lodge for King John. Other medieval buildings tell fascinating stories, while a deserted medieval village, enigmatic cave houses, a Trinitarian Priory, and a plague stone all add to the rich heritage of the town.

The bulk of KMA’s work is devoted to social history. Our Memories Project is currently recording local stories from the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Interviewees have given fascinating accounts of appalling housing conditions before extensive slum clearance, and recollections of bunking off school to catch a glimpse of Churchill and Montgomery visiting Scriven army camp to see the troops before D Day. KMA also interviewed a family who had lived in a remote game keeper’s cottage, which lacked even basic utilities. Before the cottage’s abandonment in the early 1960s, the family of ten lived largely on rabbit, horse meat, crow pie, and home grown vegetables; they drew their water from a nearby well. Without oral history such stories would never see the light of day.

Knaresborough’s former linen industry, spectacular Water Carnival, the country’s oldest apothecary, riots and imprisonment, and the Royal Forest of Knaresborough are some of the interesting stories KMA are eager to tell.

From the campaigning days of the Town Museum Group, KMA has come a long way. In 2021 TMG acquired a new name, KMA, and charitable status. In April 2024 we took on a five year lease and opened Knaresborough Heritage Centre. This boasts a visitor information desk, a heritage shop, and an attractive exhibition gallery. The Yorkshire Post ‘s excellent coverage of our opening day attracted visitors as far afield as Sheffield. Hundreds of visitors have left positive comments about our exhibition on the Geology and Archaeology of Knaresborough. This is being replaced by ‘Spinning Tales’, the story of Knaresborough’s linen industry, which opens on October 9. The Heritage Centre is located at 12 High Street, Knaresborough, and is open on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 10am – 4pm.

As well as running the Heritage Centre, KMA also provides monthly talks, weekly guided walks, and outreach work in the community. We have five trustees and over 50 volunteers. It may seem foolhardy to establish a Heritage Centre when museums are closing down and/or accumulating significant debts. Government cutbacks and the cost of living crisis are both taking their toll. This is the reality in which KMA is operating, whilst trying to preserve Knaresborough’s heritage.

Never before has the nation’s heritage sector needed the public’s support than now. Like most museums, Knaresborough Heritage Centre, is a memory bank of historic information.

For more information contact Kathy on 07866026807 or email [email protected].

Kathy Allday is chair of Knaresborough Museum Association.