Member-only story
The Museology of Doctor Kirk
There used to be a guy named John Kirk. He was an Md who lived in York and apparently made quite a lot of money healing people.
Enough to fuel his hobby as a collector.
And what a collector he was! By 1918, his collection ran the gamut. Victorian hypodermic needles.horse bridles. Antique weapons. He filled his house on Houndgate to the seams.
At some point he realized that this hoarding could not work and began the quest for a permanent home for his collection. He wished it to be preserved for posterity and opened to the public.
In 1935, after several false starts, a site was found for the Kirk collection…the old women’s prison at York Castle. Kirk donated his entire collection to the City of York, but he placed a condition.
He, not anyone they hired, would determine every detail of how the collection would be displayed.
The result was the York Castle Museum.
Kirkgate
Dr. Kirk was apparently not a fan of traditional museums. He did not want his vast collection displayed in glass cases with little labels.
Instead, the heart of the museum would be Kirkgate. Taking up the entire of the prison’s exercise yard, Kirkgate was a restored Victorian street. He rescued shop fronts from businesses…