Pontefract Castle earl becoming a martyr with his tomb at Pontefract Priory becoming a shrine. It next went to Henry, Duke of Lancaster and subsequently to John of Gaunt, third son of King Edward III. He made the castle his personal residence, spending vast amounts of money improving it. In the closing years of the 14th century, Richard II had banished John of Gaunt’s son Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford from the country and with the death of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster in 1399, much of Bolingbroke's patrimony was being given away by Richard II to his favourites. The castle
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