Craven Museum & Gallery
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 Location of Craven Museum
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| Established | 1928 |
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| Location | Skipton, Town Hall, High Street, North Yorkshire, BD23 1AH, England |
| Coordinates | 53°57′42″N 2°00′57″W / 53.961663°N 2.015883°WCoordinates: 53°57′42″N 2°00′57″W / 53.961663°N 2.015883°W |
| Website | www.cravenmuseum.org |
Craven Museum & Gallery is a museum located in the town of Skipton, North Yorkshire, England in the Skipton Town Hall and has a collection of local artefacts which depict life in Craven from the prehistoric times to the modern day. Entry into both the museum and gallery is free.
The museum was found on 6 October 1928 by a group of enthusiasts who were members of local groups such as the Craven Naturalists and Scientific Association, Skipton Mechanics' Institute, Friends Adult School and the Workers' Educational Association, to house a number of existing collections including the finds from the Elbolton Cave excavations, the Craven Herbarium and Richard Tiddeman's reef knoll collection. It was opened by Sir Henry Alexander Miers who was president of the museums association. The museum was located in a room in Skipton library and had its own committee and trustees, with some members being local figureheads such as Mr J Dufty who was a master at the local Grammar school.
In 1934 in order to ensure the survival of the museum and allow the museum to grow, responsibility of museum was given to Skipton Urban District Council. The museum continued to gather more objects for its collection and increase in size and this was the status quo for over 30 years. On 21 April 1969 the Friends of the Craven Museum was established with Dr. Arthur Raistrick as its chair. Within a matter of months its membership had reached a hundred members. The friends were on the constant lookout for anything that could be added to the museum’s collection.
Volunteers played a vital part in the museum especially when it came to transporting heavier objects to the museum such as a Derbyshire ore crusher which was moved over the moors to a van which took it to the museum where it was restored and unveiled to the public in 1970. Volunteers did other tasks such as labelling exhibits, carrying out research on the collection and cleaning displays. The friends also funded excavations the most notable being a tilery kiln in nearby Rylstone. On 11 December 1973 the museum was officially moved across the road to its current location in Skipton Town Hall.
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