Knaresborough Castle and Courtyard Museum

A couple of people had mentioned Knaresborough to me, and after a morning at Fountains Abbey had decided it would do the job for visit 2 of the day.

Finding the parking I wanted was harder than I anticipated. In the end I found a space in Chapel Street parking, only to find that inside the actual castle, there was plenty of parking available with more space! It’s all old school pay and display with cash or card. No app options.

It’s free to just wander around the castle area, and there were plenty of people doing that, and looking at the views over the town. If you want to see the Knaresborough Viaduct, it’s a good viewpoint. And flukily I overheard someone saying the train was due in 6 minutes, so I hung around to get a photo. Not quite the same as seeing a steam train go over, but still made for a nice shot.

Courthouse Museum

Tickets for both the castle and courthouse are bought at the Courthouse Museum. For adults it was a bargain £4.40, but both places are quite small, so you’ll not spend ages there.

The Courthouse museum included various items as well as the displays about the use of the Courthouse as well as what Knaresborough was famous for. From linen making to the town’s history with the English Civil War. I hadn’t realised that Knaresborough Castle was part of the Duchy of Lancaster – as a Lancaster Uni graduate where we had our own sports version weekend of War of the Roses, this was a total surprise given past history between the 2 counties.

There was the original courthouse desk area set out, along with plenty of reading information. Apart from the room which had children specific activities and what looked like dressing up stuff, I’d say there wasn’t much for children there. Probably better for adults and older children.

Knaresborough Castle 

There’s not much of the castle left. The keep is what you can go into, the rest is the castle walls and remaining ruins around. 

After showing your ticket, you’re given a few pages of information about the different areas you’ll see. There are steps, although only one flight to go up and a few steps down to the dungeon area, so not too bad, but no good for wheelchairs.

I liked the idea of having the little guide to read (but my eye sight didn’t as the light was obviously dim inside.

It was interesting to read wander, seeing the buttery room, the garderobe, and the dungeons which was first used for food storage as it was nice and cool. Before it became a local prison and the dungeons.

The 2 places didn’t take more than an hour including the viewpoint time. So chance to wander around Knaresborough town centre.

Walking around the backstreets on a Sunday, there wasn’t much open at all. Just a few cafes, and a few shops on the main streets. But there was quite a buzz and the car parks were all busy too.

De lucci cafe

I chose the De Lucci Cafe for lunch. It was beautifully decorated with amazing chandelier lights. And there was plenty of staff so no long waits, as well as options to sit in or outside.

My cheese and tomato panini was super hot, and came with a nice coleslaw and salad. I opted for a milkshake and tap water to cool myself down.

It was quite a nice cafe to relax in, before heading back to the car.

Knaresborough’s nice for a little wander, but visiting during the week might find more shops open than Sundays if you fancy some independent shop visits.

For other days out in Yorkshire, check out my posts here.