100 Years and Counting!

2023 marks the centenary of the Wakefield Museums & Castles collection. We have been collecting objects and telling stories for 100 years!

We are celebrating our centenary throughout 2023 and into 2024 with new displays, digital content and events. 

We're launching the celebrations with a new Online Exhibition showcasing 100 objects that represent our 100 years of collecting. Click here to explore! 

But first, let's go back to the the very beginning...

10 July 1923 - Our first official objects 

The first ever entry in our accession books (the early handwritten records of all objects entering the collection) was on 10 July 1923. It was for 'One Mahogany Cabinet' containing 'Mosses' and 'Lichens', as well as 'Three Madonna Pictures from Board' 'and 14 cases of Birds'. 

An eclectic selection that paved the way for the 100 years of wonderful and weird objects to come!

The first ever entry in our accession books on 10 July 1923

The mahogany cabinet in question, our first ever officially accessioned object

Wakefield's first civic museum and art gallery

The doors of Wakefield’s first civic museum and art gallery opened at Holmfield House in Thornes Park in 1923. 

The first curator, Harold Parkin, had gathered a small but impressive collection for display. It included bullets and cannon balls found at Sandal Castle, Ancient Roman coins, and a night watchman’s Waits badge. There were also donations and loans of furniture, paintings and armour.

More on the first Wakefield Museum

Holmfield House, circa 1940s.

Visitors to a photography exhibition at Holmfield House in the 1930s - we do things a bit differently today!

From then - to now

Since then, our collection has grown and grown! We’ve opened new museums and moved between different sites. 

In 1934, Wakefield Corporation opened a dedicated art gallery on Wentworth Terrace. It was open until 2009. Today, the fine art collection is managed and cared for by The Hepworth Wakefield. 

In 1956 Wakefield Museum left Holmfield House for the former Mechanics Institute on Wood Street, where the displays included popular recreated room scenes from history. 

In 2012, we moved to the city’s newest civic building, Wakefield One, where you can find us today!

The beautiful art nouveau building housing Pontefract Museum

Pontefract and Castleford

In 1974 Wakefield Council began caring for and developing the collections from Pontefract Museum and Castleford Library. 

Pontefract Museum moved to our current home in the former Carnegie Library in 1978. We’re very proud to continue to care for the beautiful art nouveau building. 

In 2013, we opened Castleford Forum Library & Museum, sharing the history of the town’s origins as Roman Lagentium, its proud industrial past and present, as well as changing displays produced with our local communities.

From 1 to over 100,000 objects

We now look after over 112,000 objects that tell the story of our district from the distant past to the present day. We programme exhibitions and displays at Castleford, Pontefract and Wakefield Museums, Pontefract Castle Visitor Centre and our Museum Hubs across the district. 

Any objects that are not currently on display are cared for at our Museum Store, ready for future exhibitions and research. 

Online Exhibition - 100 Years of Collecting

We're launching the celebrations with a new Online Exhibition showcasing 100 objects that represent our 100 years of collecting. Click here to explore!

Check back on our blog over the coming weeks and months for more about our centenary, and object highlights compiled by our team and volunteers! 

You can also follow the project on social media with the hashtag #WMC100.