Pontefract was referred to as "Pomfret". William Shakespeare's play "Richard III" mentions the castle:<br> Pomfret is referred to in Shakespeare's Richard II also My lord, the mind of Bolingbroke is changed:You must to Pomfret, not unto the Tower.And, madam, there is order ta'en for you;With all swift speed you must away to France Pontefract suffered throughout the English Civil War. In 1648–49 the castle was laid under siege by Oliver Cromwell, who said it was "... one of the strongest inland garrisons in the kingdom." Three sieges by the Parliamentarians left the town "impoverished and depopulated". In March 1649, after the
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