Leeds Museums & Galleries facts for kids

Leeds Museums & Galleries

Type	Local Authority Museum Service
Headquarters	Leeds
Location	Leeds, England
Origins	Created by Leeds City Council to manage the city's museums and galleries
Area served	Yorkshire
Services	Operating Leeds' city-owned museums and galleries
Director	David Hopes
Employees	146
Volunteers	<200

Leeds Museums & Galleries is a group of museums and art galleries in Leeds, England. It is run by the Leeds City Council and is the biggest museum service managed by a local council in England and Wales. They look after eight different places where you can explore history, art, and science.

Explore Leeds' Amazing Museums and Galleries

Leeds Museums & Galleries manages eight fantastic places for you to visit. Each one offers a unique way to learn and have fun!

• Abbey House Museum
• Kirkstall Abbey
  

  The beautiful ruins of Kirkstall Abbey
• Leeds Art Gallery
  

  Inside the Leeds Art Gallery
• Leeds City Museum
  

  The entrance to Leeds City Museum
• Leeds Discovery Centre
  

  A peek inside the Leeds Discovery Centre
• Leeds Industrial Museum
  

  The Potts clock at Leeds Industrial Museum
• Lotherton Hall
  

  Lotherton Hall, a historic country house
• Temple Newsam

Who Visits Leeds Museums?

Lots of people visit these museums and galleries! In 2018–2019, over 1.7 million visitors came to the sites. These visitors helped the local economy by spending about £34 million.

The museums also focus on learning. They created the 'Leeds Curriculum', which helps schools teach about local history and culture. This program even won an award for 'Educational Initiative of the Year'!

A Journey Through Time: History of Leeds Museums

Leeds Museums & Galleries started a long time ago.

Early Beginnings: The First Museum

The very first museum opened in 1821. It was part of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society. Later, in 1921, the city of Leeds bought this collection. It then became the city's official museum, known as Leeds City Museum.

New Additions and Challenges

In 1928, Abbey House Museum was bought to show social history. Kirkstall Abbey also became part of the museum service around this time. Sadly, in 1941, the museum was bombed during a war, and some collections were lost.

More museums opened later. The Leeds Industrial Museum welcomed visitors in 1982. In 2007, the Leeds Discovery Centre opened. This special place lets people see museum collections "behind the scenes."

Art and Combining Services

Meanwhile, Leeds Art Gallery had opened in 1888. In 1921, Leeds City Council bought Temple Newsam House. This historic house became another place to show art. Later, in 1969, Lotherton Hall was given to the people of Leeds, adding another art venue.

Finally, in 1996, all these different art and history services joined together. This created the single organisation we know today as Leeds Museums & Galleries.

Amazing Collections at Leeds Museums

Leeds Museums & Galleries has about 1.3 million objects! These collections cover many different topics:

• Natural Science: Over 800,000 items like stuffed animals (taxidermy), plant collections (herbaria), shells, rocks, insects, and more.
• Archaeology & Numismatics: Objects from ancient times and around the world, including many old coins.
• Dress and Textiles: Clothes and fabrics, especially those related to Leeds' history in tailoring.
• Fine Art: Beautiful paintings and sculptures. They have a great collection of 18th and 19th-century English watercolours.
• Industrial History: Tools, machines, and products from Leeds' industrial past.
• Social History: Items showing everyday life, like toys, musical instruments, and things from shops.
• World Cultures: Over 12,000 items from different cultures worldwide. These show Leeds' connections to other parts of the globe.
• Decorative Art: Collections of furniture, ceramics, wallpapers, and metalwork.

Four of these collections are so important that Arts Council England has given them "Designated" status. This means they are recognised as having national or international importance. People from all over the world study these collections. For example, they study Nesyamun, an ancient Egyptian priest on display at Leeds City Museum.

Research and Learning

Staff and volunteers at Leeds Museums & Galleries do a lot of research. They study the objects and sites to learn more about them. For example, they have published books about the First World War and natural science collections.

The service also works with universities on research projects. These projects help us understand history, art, and science even better.

How Leeds Museums Are Funded

Leeds Museums & Galleries is mainly funded by Leeds City Council. It also gets extra money from organisations like Arts Council England. This extra funding helps them develop new projects and continue their important work.

See also

• Henry Denny
• Violet Crowther
• Emily Wardman
• Evelyn Silber
• Leeds Tiger
• John Grimshaw Wilkinson