The Ryedale Folk Museum is located in Hutton-le-Hole, near Kirbymoorside in North Yorkshire, and is a real gem. The museum offers an insight in to how Ryedale folk have lived and worked from the past to present.
The Ryedale Folk museum site is set in 3 acres of land and includes many reconstructed buildings such as a 16th century manor house, a crofters cottage, an iron age mud hut and even a witches hovel! It's possible to explore inside all of the buildings and get a real feel of what they were like to live and work in. Some of the buildings have been rescued from other sites and re-built at the museum such as Harome Cottage, a cruck-framed thatched cottage. This was moved from Mill Street in Harome to the museum in 1972 hence it's name.
Amoung other things at the museum there is a large minature village. This arrived in 2008 and was officially opened in November 2010 after renovation and reconstruction. It is very detailed and complete. The village was started as a garden feature by an agricultural engineer in Harrogate in the 1950s. After his death it was donated to Harlow Car Gardens in Harrogate where it remained until 2008. It then finally ended up at Ryedale Folk Museum. It is built approximately to 1/12th scale and consists of all kinds of buildings, 30 in total, including a windmill, police station, castle and even a water mill with a working water wheel.
We decided to visit the museum on Harvest Day in September 2010. This was one of the special events that the museum hosts throughout the year. The weather was excellent, which is good because most of the exhibits are outdoors, and it was a truly excellent day out. Well worth the entrance fee! Harvest Day included live demonstrations of binding and threshing, a vintage car show and iron age spinning, weaving and wood working demonstrations. The museum holds a fair few of these special events throughout the year and it's worth a visit when they have one on as it all adds to the experience.
Discover Yorkshire - Ryedale Folk Museum
Official Ryedale Folk Museum Website
Offical Ryedale Folk Museum Blog