About Ripon Museums

Workhouse Museum

The Workhouse Museum is housed within the old Ripon Workhouse, carefully maintained to keep the memory and the detail alive today. Visitors can explore the building and the gardens, catching a glimpse of insight into what life was like for someone in the workhouse. The kitchen garden grows the fruit and vegetables that were typically grown and eaten in the workhouse, while the museum itself is housed within what was once the 'Male Vagrants' section of the workhouse, with many original fixtures and artefacts to look at.

Prison and Police Museum

In this museum, the history of policing is displayed through collections of uniforms, artefacts and anecdotes, which give an insight into how the profession has progressed and developed throughout history. The experience of visiting the museum is immersive, with staff dressed in period dress and incarcerated 'prisoners' populating the cells. Guests can experience life in a Victorian prison cell, watch some audiovisual displays and look at the old police uniforms that are on display.

Courthouse Museum

The Courthouse Museum was a working courthouse until 1998, and visitors now can explore the old Jury Room, the Justices' Retiring Room and the Court Room. Here, visitors can learn about the justice system and how it has developed through the ages, and where the traditions come from. The Court Room is adorned in the style of what it would have looked like in the 19th century, embracing the rich history of the criminal justice system.