Clifton Park and Museum is a city park and municipal museum located in Clifton Park, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. Clifton Park Museum is located in Clifton House and is one of several publicly owned museums and visitor attractions administered by the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham. The house is the headquarters of Heritage Services, which also includes the York and Lancaster Regimental Museum and Archives and Local Studies. It is a Grade II* listed building. Clifton Park is a visitor attraction with facilities including a skate park, rockery, memorial park and children's play areas. It is also Grade II listed with Historic England. History Clifton House was designed by John Carr of York for Joshua Walker, an industrialist involved in the manufacture of iron and steel, and completed in 1784. The grounds of the house now comprising the park originally had walled gardens, pleasure grounds, and a fishpond, however they have mostly been lost due to later park changes. The house and park were purchased by the Municipal Borough of Rotherham in 1891 and the museum was first opened to the public later that year with the majority of its exhibits loaned by local people. It was administered by the Borough Librarian with a succession of honorary curators until the 1970s. In 1974 the soot blackened stonework was cleaned and the museum building was extended when a roof was placed over the original open courtyard. Clifton Park Museum In 2003 the museum closed for a major refurbishment of the building and displays, partly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. During this time it was twice shortlisted for the Gulbenkian Prize for Museum of the Year in 2003 and 2004, for its innovative outreach programmes, despite the building being closed to the public. The refurbishment cost £3 million in total and included major repairs to the roof, heating systems, stonework, windows and electrical systems. In addition to new displays, improved public facilities included a study room, a cafeteria and a gift shop. A lift was also installed to make the building fully accessible to disabled visitors. The interior was redecorated using the exact colour scheme as used when the building was a Georgian country house in the 18th century. Clifton Park Museum re-opened to the public on 29 January 2005. York and Lancaster Regimental Museum The York and Lancaster Regimental Museum is a separate museum located inside Clifton Park Museum and covers