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Local History & Heritage

Harrogate district is full of history, from how life has changed in the Yorkshire Dales to the intriguing past of Knaresborough Castle to the development of Harrogate town as England's premier spa town.  Why not visit the museums and galleries of the district to find out more?  You can also find out more by looking at the History and Heritage attractions.

For information about local heritage, see our heritage & design pages.

Harrogate People and Places  is a website looking at the people, buildings and events that have helped to develop Harrogate as we know it today. 

The site consists mainly of a collection of extracts from the Harrogate newspapers and many other sources.

Ripon Local Studies Centre can be found in central Ripon and is there to help you find out more about local history, family history and the archaeology of Ripon.

Research and Archaeological Services

• Online archive catalogue with over 4000 summary descriptions of items
• Archives
• Record Office Holdings
• Access to Records
• Archaeology services
• Information on the Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Ancient Monuments Records)

Interested in local archaeology?

Want to find out more about what's happening in community archaeology in North Yorkshire?

Want to know more about what has been found in the Harrogate area? 

What do you do if you find an object? 

Want to get involved?

The County Council has overall responsibility for work in this area so your first point of contact should be North Yorkshire's Heritage Section.

Their contact details are:

Heritage Section
Planning and Countryside Unit
North Yorkshire County Council
County Hall
Northallerton
DL7 8AH

Telephone 01609 780780

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If you find an object that you think may be archaeological,  by chance or whilst metal detecting, you can now report it under the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

The Regional Finds Liaison Officer is Simon Holmes. 

Local archaeological work

There are various local archaeological groups.  The Claro Community Archaeological Group is a voluntary organisation based at Knaresborough Castle. 

The group aims to record the historic elements of our landscape.  Some of these may survive for many centuries to come, some may be altered or eliminated by future changes, but their record will act as a record of what has survived into our time.

The group are currently working with a community archaeologist to record the historic landscape of Thruscross Green, a hamlet in the Upper Washburn Valley, North Yorkshire.  This project is funded through a grant from the Countryside Agency and the Local Heritage Initiative.  Previously they have worked in different areas of the Harrogate district, such as Fewston.

This work involves detailed background research, such as studying maps in archives or from the Ordnance Survey.  Also looked at are aerial photographs and published documentary sources to find out about any archaeological material that has been found in the past. 

This is followed by field survey, where each local field is visited and a relevant record compiled.  This record includes information such as land use, and historic boundaries.

Finally, all the research is combined into a final report, and may be used for future research.

Interested in joining?

Members of Claro are involved in a wide variety of tasks, such as:

• Observation of landscape
• Map reading
• Interpreting aerial photographs
• Recording data
• Computer work

New members are always welcome, and you do not need previous experience. 

At present, the group meets weekly on Thursdays between 9am and 4pm.

More information is available from:

Dave Hunt
5 Princess Mount
Knaresborough
HG5 0AP

Telephone 01423 864570

Email Claro Community Archaeology Group

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Information for professional archaeologists

The museum service reserves the right to refuse to store material:

• where arrangements have not been made in advance
• where they are unable to accommodate the archive due to its eventual size
• or where the archive has not been provided to acceptable professional standards.