The £2.8m face lift of Ripon Workhouse Museum – one of Britain’s most complete surviving Victorian workhouses – will be unveiled today.

First opened in 1854, the workhouse was in institutional use until the founding of the NHS in the 1940s, after which it became a care home for the elderly.

The year-long project saw Ripon Museum Trust appoint Dobson Construction Ltd as the capital works contractor for its Inspiration For a Fairer Futures project, an ambitious £2.8 million redevelopment initiative made possible largely thanks to the support of The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The project opens up previously unseen rooms, improve accessibility and deliver environmentally sustainable upgrades including a new roof, window frames and enhanced insulation to reduce the Trust’s carbon footprint.

Alongside conservation and restoration of the buildings and important items in the museum’s collection, the Ripon Workhouse Museum project will deliver a new visitor journey and more. (Picture Ripon Workhouse Museum)

placeholder image — Alongside conservation and restoration of the buildings and important items in the museum’s collection, the Ripon Workhouse Museum project will deliver a new visitor journey and more. (Picture Ripon Workhouse Museum)

The completion of these essential works will ensure the building is preserved for generations to come while creating new opportunities for visitors to explore its powerful stories.

Dr Laura Allan, curator at Ripon Museums Trust, said: “The cellar is particularly exciting as it’s the only part of that building that had been untouched since it was turned into council offices.

"It has the massive original meat block table where the workhouse pigs would be butchered, trough and sink.

"It's like glimpsing behind the curtain, seeing how it truly was.”

Alongside conservation and restoration of the buildings and important items in the museum’s collection, the project will deliver a new visitor journey, exhibitions and storytelling which connect the experiences of those who lived, worked and endured the workhouse.

Digital technology and community-led co-production will ensure that stories are shared in engaging, inclusive and thought-provoking ways.

The largest building on the workhouse site, the Residents’ Block, where paupers ate, slept and worked, has had a complete and sensitive restoration as part of the project.

This building had been acquired by Ripon Museum Trust in 2017, but was in a state of disrepair after years of changing uses such as a care home and council offices.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund support has allowed Ripon Museum Trust to fix the leaking roof and rotten windows, alongside reinstating key historical features.