Cliffe Castle Museum
Make a Day of It
If you are visiting with children, you can borrow a Little Dragon backpack, the ‘50 Things to Do Before You’re Five’ trail for children aged 0–5, and trails for children aged 7–14. In different galleries, you can find many hands-on activities for children of different ages, including an interactive projector with fun games. After the museum visit, you can take a stroll through the park, go on the playground, or make a stop at the Cliffe Castle Pavilion Café, just above the museum’s building. If you bring your own lunch box, you are welcome to eat it in the museum’s conservatory or in the park (eating or drinking anything apart from water is not allowed in the exhibition space). In our museum’s shop you can buy a souvenir related to the collection.
The museum is part of the Breastfeeding Friendly scheme. Baby-changing facilities and a baby-changing kit are available in the accessible toilet on the ground floor.
Holiday Activities
During each school holiday, Cliffe Castle Museum offers creative and fun family activities for adults and children of all ages. Each family workshop is designed to inspire creativity, play, and family bonding, making it a special experience for visitors. Workshops are inspired by nature, local history or other aspects of Cliffe Castle’s collection. Most of the time, these drop-in activities are free of charge. On the days when we don’t offer holiday programmes at Cliffe Castle, you can still find mini backpacks at the front entrance, toys in different galleries, as well as the museum’s trail to keep your child entertained.
Find out about our upcoming family workshops below.
Events for Families at Cliffe Castle Museum
27 October 2026 11:00 am – 27 October 2026 3:00 pm
Celebrate Diwali with free family activities including animal yoga, lantern making and colourful rangoli-inspired designs.
30 October 2026 11:00 am – 30 October 2026 11:50 am
A multi-sensory experience for children and young people aged 8–17 with PMLD, featuring rocks, crystals, movement, sound, textures and collaborative sculpture.
30 October 2026 12:20 pm – 30 October 2026 2:40 pm
A multi-sensory experience for children aged 4–12, featuring sparkling crystals, sound, movement, fabrics, textures and collaborative creativity.
5 December 2026 11:00 am – 6 December 2026 3:00 pm
Christmas magic returns to Cliffe Castle! Browse festive craft stalls, find unique gifts, and meet Father Christmas in the Grand Drawing Room for a truly magical day out.
Museums for Play and Growth
On the fourth Thursday of every month from 11 am to 1 pm, Cliffe Castle Museum offers free drop-in stay-and-play sessions for children aged 0-5. These sessions are inspired by 50 Things to Do Before You’re Five activities, and you can expect museum-themed toys to spark imagination, rhyme and story time to support language development, and games to encourage socialisation among children. While children are playing, parents can rest with a cup of tea.
Come and spend quality time with your child, build positive habits of visiting museums from an early age, and grow together!
How can you find us
Spring Gardens Lane, Keighley West Yorkshire, BD20 6LH
Opening times
Monday: Closed
Tuesday – Friday: 10am – 4pm
Saturday – Sunday: 11am – 4pm
All Bank Holiday Opening Times: 11:00 – 4:00 except Bolling Hall
All sites closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day and Good Friday
There is a small amount of free parking on Spring Gardens Lane and within the museum car park. Please note this allows for 3 hours parking, with no return within 2 hours. These parking places are managed by Bradford Council Parking Services.
There are two Blue Badge parking spaces down the slope from the museum car park which are offered on a first come first served basis. The gates to these car park spaces close at 4.30pm”
By public transport
Approximately 12-25 minutes walk from the railway station, 6-15 minutes walk from the bus station. Buses (for example Bradford to Skipton) pass the lower main gates. The 903 bus service operates from Keighley Bus Station and serves Cliffe Castle on a limited basis.
Accessibility and Visitors with Neurodivergence
Visitors with mobility impairment
Galleries in Cliffe Castle Museum are spread across two floors. The main entrance has three steps.
For a step-free entrance, you can ring the bell on the conservatory door, left of the main entrance. Most of the exhibitions are on the ground floor, and the upper floor is accessible by stairs only. An illustrated guide for upper floors is available at the front desk on request.
The museum has an accessible toilet on the ground floor. The nearest Changing Places toilet is at Keighley Leisure Centre.
We have two Blue Badge parking bays just in front of the museum, near the step-free entrance. Additionally, there are two Blue Badge parking bays in the Cliffe Castle car park. All parking spaces are for up to 3 hours of parking.
Cliffe Castle has one foldable transit wheelchair, which you can borrow on request at the front desk if they are available. Pre-booking of the wheelchairs is not possible.
More detailed access information and pictures are available in our Visual Story.
Visually impaired visitors
We allow assistance dogs in the Museum. Museum is working on a large-print guide and Braille interpretations.
Visitors with hearing impairment
On request at the front desk, a portable Induction Loop System (AFILS) is available, as well as ear defenders. We allow assistance dogs in the Museum.
Visitors with neurodivergence
At the front entrance, you can find and borrow a sensory support backpack with a range of fidget toys and a visit planning board with symbol cards.
We do not have an official ‘quiet hour’, but the museum tends to be quiet on Fridays just after opening at 10 am. Feel free to get in touch if you would like to know how busy the Museum is before your journey. Ear defenders are available on request at all museums.
More access information and pictures can be found on our Visual Story. For potential sensory triggers and more details about accessibility, click here.
Donate
Your donations are really important to us and we welcome any support you can offer.
Volunteer
Would you like to volunteer at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery? Find out more on how to become a volunteer.