Where is Leeds city Museum located?
Leeds City Museum is in the heart of Leeds city centre, on Millennium Square.
What is the history of Leeds city Museum to the present day?
Leeds City Museum was established in 1819 by Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, with the public museum being opened in 1821. The museum was originally located on Bond Street, before it was rebuilt on Park Row in 1862. In 1941 the building and its artefacts were badly damaged by bombing, with several important objects lost in the rubble. The museum was repaired and continued to operate until 1965, when it was closed. Some of the key objects were moved to the city library, included the Leeds Tiger, the giant Irish Elk, and a carved wooden cart.
In 1999 the museum went into storage and in 2001 Leeds City Council put a bid into the National Lottery to create a new museum in the former Leeds Mechanics’ Institute. In 2004 the bid was successful and the building went through a complete redesign to house a permanent museum for the people of Leeds. Leeds City Museum reopened in 2008 with four floors of permanent and temporary exhibition galleries showcasing objects from Leeds Museums and Galleries collection of over 1.3 million items.
Today the museum offers entry on a Give What You Can donation basis, with visitors being able to choose their donation amount, or visit for free if they are not able to donate. There are plenty of interactive galleries to visit, and local families are particularly fond of the regular kids’ activities and school holiday events. The museum also has a café on site, the Herbarium Café, which serves a selection of cakes and traybakes, lunch options, and hot and cold drinks.
What is there to see and do at Leeds city Museum?
The museum has six galleries which include objects from natural science, social history (Leeds), archaeology, geology, world cultures, dress and textiles, industrial history, decorative and fine art. Highlights in the permanent collections include the Leeds Tiger, which has been on display for almost 150 years, and Nesyamun the Leeds Mummy, which is the only surviving mummy in the collection after the bombing of the former building.
The museum hosts a new temporary exhibition every six months, focussing on different ideas and collections, all of which have a connection to the city. Recent exhibition themes have been hip hop culture, overlooked individuals of Leeds, cultural attitudes around death, and Miffy’s 70th Birthday.
There are regular events and activities for families and adults to take part in; school holiday workshops, museum trails, weekly craft sessions, adult choir group, history talks, and specialist events. The museum also hosts community events for different groups which focuses on varying themes and interests, offering diverse outlooks on a range of topics.
Leeds City Museum is also a popular venue for external conferences and events, with both public and private organisations utilising the spaces on a regular basis.
Other Information
Leeds City Museum has a Changing Places facility on the third floor, offering visitors an accessible toilet and changing area.
