Captain Cook's Schoolroom

The Captain Cook Schoolroom Museum stands in Great Ayton, a village in North Yorkshire. The building began as a school in 1704 on land provided by Michael Postgate. It was enlarged in 1785, and Captain James Cook attended lessons here in the mid-18th century. Later it became the parish council office before being turned into a museum late in the 20th century. The museum focuses on Cook’s life and includes a restored classroom from his schooldays. The building itself is grade II listed and made of local sandstone. The museum occupies a pair of sandstone houses joined by the old schoolroom on the left. Both have swept pantile roofs and two storeys, with plain doorways and horizontally-sliding sash windows. A shop window and bronze plaque mark the front of the former cottage, while the rear has external stone steps leading to another inscribed plaque. The houses share four window bays and a simple doorway surround. Inside, the reconstructed schoolroom shows desks and furnishings from Cook’s time. Visitors find displays about Cook’s early years and his voyages. The schoolroom is furnished to look as it did when Cook was a pupil. Outside, the quiet village street and surrounding countryside give a sense of the place where he grew up. The building’s stonework and simple design reflect the period when it first opened.