Beck Isle Museum
Visitor Attraction in Pickering, North Yorkshire
Beck Isle Museum
Telephone: 01751 473653
Bridge Street, Pickering, North Yorkshire YO18 8DU
The Beck Isle Museum is housed in a handsome Regency residence near the centre of Pickering, adjacent to the Pickering Beck. Here William Marshall planned England's first Agricultural Institute in the early 1800's. It is therefore fitting that today this house should contain a collection of bygones relating largely to the rural crafts and living style of Ryedale. The collection is not restricted to a particular period of interest, it aims to reflect the local life and customs and to trace many of the developments in social and domestic life during the last 200 years. Formality has been avoided as far as possible and the accessibility of most objects displayed is a particular attraction. A selection of photographs from the extensive Sidney Smith collection held in the museum are displayed around the building - particularly the photography and model rooms. Sidney Smith was born in Pickering and his work appreciated world wide. He is thought of as a successor to Frank Meadow Sutcliffe of Whitby.