Ryedale Folk Museum, located in the North York Moors National Park, provides a unique glimpse into our rural past.
Our historic buildings take you on a journey through time from pre-history to the 1950s. Some of our buildings were saved from demolition and rebuilt by volunteers at the Museum. Others have been constructed to represent different periods of history. Our buildings are ‘sets’ for the thousands of objects collected by the Museum over the last half century. The objects bring to life our buildings, showing visitors how ordinary people lived and worked in the past.
You can explore our: typical Iron Age roundhouse; Medieval crofter’s cottage; thatched Elizabethan Manor House, 18th Century dwelling with rare wooden witch post; Victorian cottage, washhouse and dairy; and traditional workshops of the blacksmith, cobbler, wheelwright, tinsmith, cooper, saddler and carpenter. There’s also an array of horse-drawn vehicles and vintage farming equipment, an Edwardian daylight photographic studio and nostalgic 1950s village shop and chemist.
Ryedale Folk Museum offers a great family day out. Children can enjoy plenty of space to run around, try one of our trails, or say hello to our heritage breed chickens, pigs and sheep.
