Schools and learning at the Royal Pump Room Museum

Education workshops

The Royal Pump Room Museum’s Education Workshops offer unique opportunities to explore the museum collection through object handling and immersive activities.

Covering a variety of activities relating to the history of Harrogate, each one supports key curriculum areas and can be adapted to suit the needs of your class.

Can’t come to us? We can come to you. All of our standard workshops are available as outreach sessions, delivered at your school or venue.

Usual prices from September 2025 are:

• £95 for on-site workshops
• £105 for outreach workshops 

Mileage costs may apply for outreach delivered for schools over 20 miles away from the Royal Pump Room Museum.

To book a workshop or enquire about our learning offer, contact us by telephone on 01423 556188 or by email at Museums.har@northyorks.gov.uk.

Please note, we recommend enquiring at least a couple of months in advance of your preferred dates, as availability is limited at short notice.

Workshops

Victorian Harrogate: Homes of the Past 

Use museum objects to explore life in a Victorian household, comparing past and present, then get hands-on with some Victorian-style washing.

Curriculum links: Identifying similarities and differences between periods and learning about significant historical events in the locality.

Victorian Harrogate: Toys of the Past

Compare toys used by two Victorian children from Harrogate, then try out some historical toys and games for yourself.

Curriculum links: Developing chronological understanding by identifying similarities and differences between periods. Learning about changes within living memory.

Discovery boxes

The Royal Pump Room Museum offers a loan box service to schools and groups to enhance learning through interaction with real and replica objects. Each box centres on a theme. Current themes include:

• Harrogate’s local history
• fossils
• prehistory
• Romans
• medieval life
• Victorians
• toys
• school
• washing
• the home front during World War 2 

Handling instructions and information about the objects are included in each box.

Loans cost £10 per week, with a minimum charge of £10 per loan.

Boxes can be borrowed for up to two weeks, although we may be able to accommodate longer loans in some circumstances.

If you would like to borrow a discovery box, or to find out more, contact the museum: 

Self-led school visits

You are welcome to bring your class to explore the Royal Pump Room Museum independently. We do ask that you bring no more than one class at once, approximately 30 pupils. We also recommend that you contact us in advance so we can ensure that your visit runs smoothly.

Please email Museums.har@northyorks.gov.uk to schedule your visit.