Town heritage centre 'first of its kind' - charity
Film of underwater stones from the failed first attempt to build Knaresborough's landmark viaduct will be on show at the centre
- Published
A new heritage centre in a North Yorkshire town is "the first of its kind, by the community for the community", the people behind its creation have said.
The centre, on Knaresborough's High Street, is the culmination of four years work by a group of volunteers in the town.
It started as a pop-up museum in 2019 and since then the community has raised more than £35,000, which has gone towards creating its permanent home.
Knaresborough Museum Association (KMA), the charity behind the project, said it would bring the town's history to life like never before.
The centre will display artefacts which show that people have been living in Knaresborough for 4,000 years, the KMA charity said
The first exhibition at the centre, which opens on Saturday and which is based in a former print shop, was expected to run for five months, the KMA said.
It would showcase the unique geology of the Nidd Gorge, as well as the archaeology of the town and surrounding area.
Visitors would be able to see footage filmed by an underwater robot, supplied by mechanical engineering experts at the University of Leeds.
The footage showed stones lying at the bottom of the River Nidd in Knaresborough which were believed to be from an earlier attempt to build the town's landmark viaduct, which collapsed just before its completion in 1848.
Fresh construction took a further three years and resulted in the structure that towers over the Nidd to this day, according to the association.
'Wealth of archaeology'
Kathy Allday, chair of the KMA, said: “The heritage centre is the first of its kind by the community for the community.
“Knaresborough has a wealth of archaeology that even local people aren’t always aware of.
"We’ll display artefacts which show people have been living in the town for an astonishing 4,000 years."
The creation of the centre was supported by grants and donations from various sources, the KMA said.
Those included Knaresborough Town Council and the George A Moore Foundation.
The museum will be open on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday.
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