Tolson Museum facts for kids
| Tolson Museum | |
Tolson Museum in Ravensknowle Park
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| Location | Huddersfield |
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The Tolson Memorial Museum, often called Tolson Museum, is located inside Ravensknowle Hall. This is a grand Victorian mansion in Ravensknowle Park, found on Wakefield Road in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. A man named Legh Tolson gave the museum to the town. He wanted it to be a special place to remember his two nephews who died in the First World War. The museum was first a natural history museum. Today, Kirklees Council runs it. It has many different exhibits about the local area's history and industries.
History of the Museum
Ravensknowle Hall was built in the late 1850s. It was made for a rich local textile boss named John Beaumont. A London architect, Richard Tress, designed the house. He made it in a "palatial Italian style," which means it looked like a grand Italian palace. The building cost about £20,000, which was a lot of money back then!
John Beaumont died in 1889. He left the house to his daughter. She then sold it to a relative, Legh Tolson. In 1919, Legh Tolson gave Ravensknowle Hall to Huddersfield Corporation. He wanted it to be a museum. This was to honor his two nephews, Robert Huntriss Tolson and James Martin Tolson. Both brothers were soldiers who died in the First World War. Robert died in 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. James died in 1918, near the end of the war.
The museum officially opened on May 27, 1922. It started as a natural history museum. It had a huge collection of rocks and fossils. Thomas William Woodhead, a local plant expert, became its first director. Seth Lister Mosley was the first curator, who looks after the museum's collections. His son, Charles Mosley, later took over as curator in 1925.
From the 1980s, the Tolson Museum changed its focus. It began to show more about the industrial history of the Huddersfield area. This included how textiles were made and how road vehicles were built.
What You Can See: Exhibits
The museum has many interesting things to see. You can find exhibits on local archaeology, which is about ancient things found in the area. There are also displays about weaving machines and textiles, which are types of fabric. The natural history section has a large collection of stuffed birds.
One fun exhibit is a recreated Victorian schoolroom. Here, children can imagine what school was like a long time ago. At the back of the building, there is a special section for transport. It shows how roads were built and has old vehicles. These include horse-drawn carriages and early motor cars.
You can even see Britain's rarest car there! It's a three-wheeled LSD car. It was made in Huddersfield between 1919 and 1924. Another local car, called the Valveless, is also on display. This car was made by David Brown Ltd. and was brought back from South Africa.
Outside in Ravensknowle Park, you can see parts of a hypocaust. This was an ancient Roman heating system. These pieces, including stone columns and a tiled floor, came from Slack Roman Fort. They were moved and rebuilt here.
See also
- Listed buildings in Almondbury
