Pontefract Castle at Pontefract was among such properties under threat which roused Bolingbroke to return to England to claim his rights to the Duchy of Lancaster and the properties of his father. Act 2, scene 1, of Shakespeare's play "Richard II" relates Bolingbroke’s homecoming in the words of Northumberland in the speech of the eight tall ships:- When he landed at Ravenspur on the Humber he made straight way for his castle at Pontefract. The King, being in Ireland at the time, was in no position to oppose Bolingbroke who deposed Richard and took the crown for himself as Henry IV. Richard
Pontefract Museum Pontefract Museum Pontefract Museum is a local museum in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. The collections cover archaeology, archives, decorative and applied art, fine art, photographs and social history. The museum is located in an Art Nouveau building in the middle of the town which was originally a Carnegie library. The library was opened in 1904 and designed by George Pennington. In the 1970s a new library was built and the Carnegie building was converted into a museum. It retains a tiled entrance hall and original 1904 furnishings. Exhibits include information on Pontefract Castle and Pontefract Cakes (liquorice sweets). Exhibits include