As well as a six-acre site and over 20 heritage buildings to explore, we have a varied and creative programme of events and activities throughout the year, so do revisit this page as we are adding new events and activities all the time.
Making a Meal of it
OPEN NOW until 29 November 2026 (open Saturday to Thursday, closed on Fridays)
From the humblest cottage bakers, to the farmers and growers, how our ancestors fed themselves is a story of hard graft. Join us on a tantalising journey through the resilience, innovation and culinary creativity of the people of the past. Behind every bite and morsel, there is a story.
Discover… the story of the Sonley bakers from Kirkbymoorside, baking recipes of Museum founder Hannah Crosland, old beer brewers and bottlers of Ryedale, pig, poultry and beekeeping of the past and ways to cook and eat your Yorkshire Pudding – plus more!
This exhibition is included with admission to the Museum.
Hob trail
Saturday 4 July – Sunday 13 September
Hobs have taken over the Museum! Hobs can be helpful and do your chores, but if you leave them unthanked they get up to all sorts of mischief…
Come along and see if you can spot them all. You’ll need to keep your eyes peeled and look up high and down low – they’re everywhere!
Simon Crawford - Shining Lights of the North
Saturday 12 September – Sunday 1 November (open Saturday to Thursday, 10am – 5pm, 4pm in October and November. Closed on Fridays)
The Shining Lights of the North Way is a walking route that connects the Cistercian abbeys of Rievaulx, Byland and Fountains, following in the footsteps of the monks who once travelled between these significant religious sites. Over the last 12 months, Knaresborough-based artist, Simon Crawford, made his own ‘artistic pilgrimage’, sketching and painting each of the abbeys through the seasons. Inspired not only by the abbeys themselves, Simon revisited the same scenes captured by artists such as JMW Turner, John Sell Cotman and Thomas Girtin.
“This exhibition is an exploration of the landscape in front of me, and my own feelings about a place, whilst being very aware of the ghosts of the artists who came before me.” Simon Crawford, 2026
Free to visit (not within the paid area of the Museum).
Private view, Friday 11 September, 6.00pm – 7.30pm – all welcome
Bee Skep Making Workshop
Saturday 19 September – 10.30am – 4.00pm – SOLD OUT
Join Museum volunteer and skep-maker, Jim Wood and learn how to make a bee skep in this one day workshop. You’ll find how to soak and bind long straw and learn how to create a skep’s continuous coil (known as lipwork), using cane lapping to keep the coil together.
Skeps have been used for hundreds of years for keeping colonies of honey bees, but diminished in popularity with the growth of moveable frame hives. Skep making is now considered an endangered heritage craft in the U.K.
All materials and tools will be provided, and you will be able to take away your skep at the end.
Arrival from 10.00am, with tea/coffee (included). Workshop begins at 10.30am. There will be a lunch break of approximately 45 minutes. The workshop will end at 4.00pm.
Lunch is not included. Please bring a packed lunch. Please wear appropriate clothing.
£75.00pp – book using the link below. Course limited to six participants.
NOW SOLD OUT – please email us to [email protected] if you would like to be put on the waiting list.
Autumn
Saturday 26 September – Sunday 1 November
The change of seasons from the end of summer and harvest and the beginning of winter was marked by the Celtic festival Samhain, which evolved into Hallowe’en.
Join us as we mark the start of autumn with seasonal displays around the museum and explore the folklore and traditions surrounding Hallowe’en
- discover ‘apotropaic’ or protective markings that were used to protect the home against evil
- learn about the importance of orchards and apples
- explore the traditions of trick or treat
A Haunting at the Museum
Saturday 17 October – Sunday 1 November
The Museum’s haunted! Are you brave enough to go ghost hunting?
Hallowe’en is the time of year when the veil between the world and dead is at its thinnest. Ghosts have appeared all around the museum in all shapes and sizes. Can you count them all?
