100 Years of Collecting - Wakefield Museums and Castles

Two women and two young boys, all very smartly dressed, viewing a photography exhibition. Lots of framed photographs are hung together very closely, completely covering the walls. We do things a bit differently today!

100 Years of Collecting

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

We celebrated our centenary throughout 2023 and into 2024. We created new displays and digital content.

Find out more

Two women and two young boys, all very smartly dressed, viewing a photography exhibition. Lots of framed photographs are hung together very closely, completely covering the walls. We do things a bit differently today!

100 years and counting

We added the first ever object to our collection on 10 July 1923. From then, we've gone on to collect over 112,000 objects - and counting!

Screenshot of the 100 years of collecting online exhibition

100 Years of Collecting - online exhibition

Explore 100 objects reflecting our 100 years of collecting. They reflect the fascinating character of the Wakefield district.

Holmfield House situated in Thornes Park, a pretty but relatively small building surrounded by plants and shrubs

The first Wakefield Museum

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