Renaissance Knaresborough

25/10/2026

Help keep Knaresborough’s history alive 🎨

Have you enjoyed discovering our Painted Windows Trail?

Created by Renaissance Knaresborough, this free arts trail brings the town’s fascinating history to life through the art of Trompe L’Oeil, with characters, stories and events from Knaresborough’s past appearing in windows throughout the town centre.

It’s a lovely way to explore Knaresborough, discover a little more about its history and, hopefully, encourage visitors to venture further into our beautiful town and support our wonderful independent shops and businesses.

But keeping the trail looking vibrant and available for everyone to enjoy does come at a cost. Each year, Renaissance Knaresborough needs to raise funds to cover insurance and the ongoing upkeep of the trail.

That’s where the Local Lotto can help! 💛

By taking part, you’re helping Renaissance Knaresborough keep this unique trail going, while supporting the wider work we do to celebrate, promote and bring our town to life.

We’re hoping to reach 50 Local Lotto participants – could you help us get there?

Every participant makes a difference, and together we can help keep Knaresborough’s stories alive for residents and visitors alike.

Thank you for supporting Renaissance Knaresborough!

(Link in comments below)

13/10/2026

🌟20 years of making Knaresborough even better - and we’d love your ideas!

For 20 years, Renaissance Knaresborough has supported local volunteers to turn ideas into projects that make a real difference to our wonderful town.
At our recent event, we celebrated some of those achievements with a film showcasing the incredible things local volunteers have helped make happen over the years; from play parks and the Horseshoe Fields bridge, to Viaduct Terrace, a Wind in the Willows theatre production, the Save the Castle campaign and helping Knaresborough Heritage Centre get off the ground.
You may know us best for the popular Knaresborough Town Windows Trail, bringing colourful characters and fascinating stories from our town’s heritage to life. But there’s so much more to Renaissance Knaresborough!

And there’s plenty happening now too …

🐝 Buzzlines, our collaboration with Knaresborough in Bloom, is working towards creating 10 kilometres of pollinator pathways across the town - linking green spaces and habitats to support bees, butterflies and other essential pollinating insects.

One of the first transformations is already taking shape at the corner of Park Row and the High Street, where a large flowerbed has been turned into a haven for wildlife, as well as a lovely spot for people to stop, sit and take a breather 🌸🦋

But we want to hear from you …

💡 Do you have an idea that could benefit Knaresborough but you’re not sure how to get it started?
🙌 Perhaps you’d like to give a few hours a week to your community?
🛠️ Or maybe you have skills, experience or enthusiasm that you’d like to put to good use?

Whatever your idea or whatever you can offer, we’d love to hear from you.
Renaissance Knaresborough is a small volunteer-led team, and we’d really welcome new people to help us build on the past 20 years and create many more positive projects for our town.

📩 Get in touch - [email protected]

Here’s to the next 20 years of making a great town even better!

21/09/2026

This project is supported by David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire and funded by York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority

21/09/2026

Come and meet the artist behind the newest Painted Window!

We’re really excited that The Relentless Crafter will be joining us at our event, and she’ll be there painting the newest addition to Knaresborough’s much-loved Painted Windows Trail!

If you’ve spotted some of the beautiful illustrated maps around town, you’ll probably already know her work - she’s the talented illustrator behind many of them too.

Come along and see the newest window taking shape, meet the artist herself and find out more about the story behind this special restoration project.

And there’s plenty more to discover at the event, including a look back at some of Renaissance Knaresborough’s projects over the years and a glimpse at what could be next for our town.

Come along, say hello and see what’s being created!

09/12/2025

Source: YouTube

A washed-up Hollywood action hero is tricked into starring in a small English town’s chaotic Christmas pantomime, where a straight-talking dance instructor a...