York Castle Museum

York Castle Museum occupies two former prison buildings within the Castle precinct in York. The Debtors' Prison was built as the county gaol between 1701 and 1705, later altered and extended between 1824 and 1835, and is Grade I listed. The adjoining Female Prison was constructed in 1780-83 to a design by Thomas Wilkinson and John Prince, echoing the facade of the Court House opposite; it is also Grade I listed. York Corporation bought the Female Prison in 1934, and it opened as part of the Castle Museum in 1938. The museum buildings stand within the wider Castle area, close to Clifford's Tower.