Venue Description

Explore the history of Wakefield at work and play. Discover surprising stories from the Merrie City. Discover Wakefield’s prehistoric beginnings and lost Tudor past. Explore changes in local politics, industries and communities.

Accessibility

**Information for wheelchair users and mobility impaired visitors: Wakefield Museum is on the lower ground floor of the Wakefield One building. The main entrance to the building on Cliff Lane is fully level access. You can also access the building from Burton Street. From here you enter on the upper ground floor. You can go down in a lift or use the stairs to reach the lower ground floor Wakefield Museum entrance. Both the Cliff Lane and Burton Street building entrances have automatic sliding doors. The door to enter Wakefield Museum inside has an accessible entry button on a handrail on the right-hand side. It is wide enough to allow access for wheelchairs. This door opens outwards. There are three exhibition areas within Wakefield Museum. They are level access and fully wheelchair accessible throughout. The floor is made of marmoleum (similar to lino). When a special exhibition is running, the double doors to that gallery will be propped open. Please note that the door between the Front Room and the special exhibition gallery is currently closed. This is to protect the artworks on display in the Cynthia Kenny exhibition from light over-exposure. There are low lighting levels in the Cynthia Kenny exhibition gallery. There is an additional lighting strip in the display case. This is at waist height, or around face height if you are in a wheelchair or short-statured. Front Room gallery seating: There is a padded bench in the Front Room, and a pair of armchairs next to the 1940s wireless radio interactive. Welcome Space seating: Plastic chairs with arm rests are available in the Welcome Space. Cynthia Kenny exhibition seating: There are portable stools at the entrance to the Cynthia Kenny special exhibition gallery. These can be used anywhere in the museum. There is a seating block in the centre of the Cynthia Kenny exhibition designed to look like blocks of grass, brick and concrete. These are at slightly different heights. You can sit on these. ** Information for blind and partially sighted visitors: There are three exhibition areas within Wakefield Museum. They are level access and fully wheelchair accessible throughout. The floor is made of marmoleum (similar to lino). This is a matte and non-reflective surface. Most of our Visitor Experience Assistants have attended Visual Impairment Training and Sighted Guided Training. All of our staff will be happy to help you get the most from your visit. Some of our exhibition spaces have low light levels to protect the delicate objects on display. There are magnifying glasses available in our Pick and Mix station in the Welcome Space. You can take objects from the Pick and Mix station with you around the galleries. There are tactile elements around the galleries. In the Welcome Space, there is a Stone Age hand axe and polished axe head below the display case that you can touch. There is also a quern stone interactive that you can touch. In the main gallery, the wooden Victorian Wakefield Prison door is on open display. You can touch this. In the Cynthia Kenny exhibition gallery there is an interactive ‘build your own cityscape’ feature. This includes building blocks and an open frame to create your own scene. There are also sketching tools and clipboards. Mirrors: There are mirrors next to the dressing up areas in the main gallery and the Front Room. These are fixed to the corresponding walls or units. ** Information for d/Deaf and hard of hearing visitors: The film in the Before Wakefield gallery also has subtitles (no sound plays from this video). The Charles Waterton films are subtitled in English. There are audio elements in parts of the exhibition spaces. In the main gallery, these are touch-activated and play out loud. There is one audio element in the main gallery which is triggered by someone moving into the space by the Wakefield Prison door and plays audio of children singing ‘Here we go round the Mulberry Bush’. In the Front Room, there is a 1940s wireless radio interactive which plays audio from Second World War oral history interviews when the tactile buttons are pressed. The Cynthia Kenny exhibition includes a soundscape inspired by the paintings on display. It lasts for around 15 minutes. The soundscape plays on the hour and half past the hour. After it finishes there is around 15 minutes before it starts again. The soundscape never gets overly loud but the volume does differ throughout. At one point a couple of minutes in there is construction drilling and high-pitched noises. There is occasionally the sound of people speaking and general hubbub (but you can’t make out any of the words). There is also traffic noise, buzzing, birds tweeting, cathedral bells ringing and music. The sounds often overlap each other. There is also a large audio-visual screen in the Cynthia Kenny exhibition. This will play a video featuring people talking about Cynthia when the raised button is pressed. The button is on the bottom left of the outer frame of the screen. The audio plays through headphones, which are attached to the screen. For the first 20 seconds of the video there is ambient music overlaying footage of Cynthia’s paintings. The speaking starts with Mabel’s (Cynthia’s friend) interview. It lasts around 6 minutes. A faint bit of the audio bleeds into the main gallery from the headphones when it is playing. There is another smaller digital screen in the far corner of the Cynthia Kenny exhibition. This plays a slideshow with no audio. It is not touch-screen and plays automatically. ** Cynthia Kenny exhibition: audio description There is an audio description guide to accompany the Cynthia Kenny exhibition. The guide is accessed using one of the two RNIB PenFriend devices, headphones and booklet packs at the entrance to the exhibition. The guide features creative audio description of some of the paintings. You can access each clip by tapping your PenFriend on the orange stickers on the raised RNIB PenFriend small square panels. These panels are at the bottom right below the related artwork or information panel. ** Cynthia Kenny exhibition: braille There is a braille transcription booklet of the Cynthia Kenny exhibition. This is kept on a hook on the open door to the exhibition space. The hook is about waist-height (or face-height if you are in a wheelchair or short-statured). It is kept with three other booklets (audio description transcription, Urdu and Polish transcriptions). It has braille on the front cover to help you identify it. ** Information for neurodivergent visitors: There are lots of tactile tools and resources available to support your visit in the Pick and Mix station. This is in the Welcome Space when you first enter the Museum. There are tactile elements around the galleries. In the Welcome Space, there is a Stone Age hand axe and polished axe head below the display case that you can touch. There is also a quern stone interactive that you can touch. In the main gallery, the wooden Victorian Wakefield Prison door is on open display. You can touch this. In the Cynthia Kenny exhibition gallery there is an interactive ‘build your own cityscape’ feature. This includes building blocks and an open frame to create your own scene. There are also sketching tools and clipboards. ** Information for Learning Disabled visitors: We have an Easy Read guide for the main galleries. You can find this in the Pick and Mix station in the Welcome Space. You can take this with you around the galleries. There are Makaton signs next to some of our star objects. These can help you to communicate about what is on display. There are lots of tactile tools and resources available to support your visit in the Pick and Mix station. This is in the Welcome Space when you first enter the Museum. In the Cynthia Kenny exhibition gallery there are discussion prompts in orange paint palette symbols on the walls. There are also Makaton symbols. These can help you to think and communicate about the paintings in a multisensory way. ** Audio elements There are audio elements in parts of the exhibition spaces. In the main gallery, most of these are connected to headphones. There is one audio element in the main gallery which is triggered by someone moving into the space by the Wakefield Prison door, it plays audio of children singing ‘Here we go round the Mulberry Bush’. In the Front Room, there is a 1940s wireless radio interactive which plays audio from Second World War oral history interviews when the tactile buttons are pressed. ** Fire alarm testing The fire alarms in the Wakefield One building are tested every Thursday around 11am. They will sound from one to three times. There will be a tannoy announcement shortly before the alarms are tested. ** Quieter times to visit and relaxed openings Generally, the site is quieter during weekdays (Monday to Friday). It can be louder at weekends and on school holidays. We do also regularly have school visits attending during the week, which can be excitable and noisy. Every Thursday in term time, 10.30am to 11.30am, is our Museum Minis toddler sessions. These can be busier and noisier than normal. You can contact us in advance to find out when might be the best time for you to visit. We also have weekly Relaxed Opening sessions every Thursday, 4pm to 6:30pm. ** Maps: You can download floor plans, sensory maps and visual stories from our website: www.wakefield.gov.uk/museums-and-castles/wakefield-museum/access-at-wakefield-museum ** Wakefield Museum Learning Zone Some of our bookable activities and workshops are in the Museum Learning Zone. This room is at the back of Wakefield Library. Wakefield Library is on the floor above Wakefield Museum within the Wakefield One building. You can reach the room using lifts or the stairs. To reach the Learning Zone, turn right at the Library staff desk and go towards the Children’s section. The Learning Zone is in the top left corner. It has windows along the wall and a door. The doorway is wide enough to fit most wheelchairs and pushchairs, and can be widened if needed.

Accessibility Guide

Accessibility Guide Link: https://www.wakefield.gov.uk/museums-and-castles/wakefield-museum/access-at-wakefield-museum/

Awards List

Wakefield Museum was shortlisted for Best Accessible Museum and Best Museum Youth Group in the 2024 Kids in Museums Award. Wakefield Museum is a fully accredited museum service and an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation. We are proud to support the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme. We are signed up to the Kids in Museums manifesto.

Toilets

Wakefield Museum is on the lower ground floor of the Wakefield One building. Public toilets, including accessible toilets, can be found on the floor above the Museum. They can be accessed via a lift or stairs. The accessible toilets do not need a radar key. Baby changing facilities are available in the accessible toilets. There are also toilets and accessible toilets for customers of Create Café, which is opposite Wakefield Museum in the Wakefield One building. Create Café is open 8.45am to 3pm, Monday to Friday. We also have spare nappies, wipes and sanitary products if you are caught short! Our friendly staff will be happy to help you. Wakefield Museum is a breastfeeding-friendly location. You are welcome to breastfeed your baby here.

Staff

Our staff are happy to help you with anything you might need. Our staff wear a black uniform. They are called Visitor Experience Assistants. There will always be a Visitor Experience Assistant near the Welcome Space. This is the first area you enter when arriving at Wakefield Museum. Most staff have attended Makaton Awareness training, Visual Impairment training, Sighted Guided training and Autism Awareness training. We sometimes have volunteers on site. Our volunteers wear a green uniform. You can also ask them for help or with any questions.

Assistance dog facilities

Assistance dog exercise facilities

Assistance dogs are of course welcome in the museum, but must be kept on a lead.