Galleries and Museums in Yorkshire

York Museums and Galleries

The UK's National Railway Museum, the world's largest railway museum, is based in York. A mecca for railway enthusiasts and a superb family attraction, the National Railway Museum doesn't just trace the history of Britain's railways from the early 19th century through to the present; it also digs deep into the international history of rail. Alongside historic British steam locomotives in the museum's Great Hall such as the Mallard and an exact replica of Stephenson's Rocket you'll also find a Chinese Locomotive built in Britain and a Japanese Bullet train.

One of the most popular family York museums is the Jorvik Viking Centre. The centre's roots date back to an amazing archaeological find in York - The Coppergate Dig. Excavations here under an old sweet factory between 1979 and 1981 unearthed numerous Viking artefacts and the remains of 10th century Viking buildings preserved within particularly spongy earth. A huge 40,000 Viking objects were found including cloth, a Viking toilet, leather and wood. The huge Jorvik exhibit travels back through time and literally re-creates a Viking village with Blacksmith's home, river front area, Coppergate Street as it would have been and kids will love imaginative fun areas like 'Artefacts Alive' - a dimly lit gallery with four Viking ghosts. Artefacts Alive takes a close look via exhibits and interactive screens at the day to day lives of Viking residents in York. Pick up a joint ticket for Jorvik and Dig and you can have a go at being an archaeologist.

As you'd expect from one of the UK's top cultural hotspots, York galleries are impressive. York Art Gallery near York Tourist Information Centre on Exhibition Square contains art collections ranging from 14th century Italian panels to the Dutch Masters of the 17th century. For contemporary modern art Hockney, Lowry and others are well represented. The gallery houses many special collections, including the William Etty (1787-1849) collection. Etty, a York born younger contemporary of Turner and Constable specialised in nudes. His portrait of Eliza Felix, a French actress, draws particular attention. The gallery attracts big names such as Tracy Emin and outstanding temporary exhibitions borrowed from sources such as the National Portrait Gallery. Thanks to Yorkshire Librarian and ceramic collector Bill Ismay York Art Gallery holds one of the biggest collection of 20th century ceramics!

Down by York Castle Museum sits York's ArtSpace, a venue with both studio space and cutting edge contemporary art gallery. York and Yorkshire contemporary artists are featured heavily here, and some hard hitting themes are explored in exhibitions considering issues like the changing identity of class. Local acclaimed artist Richard Barnes receives due attention. Another York venue firmly on the York contemporary art map is the striking medieval St Mary's church which opened as a contemporary visual art venue recently in 2004. The 47 metre high St Mary's spire towers over York, and its medieval setting contrasts well with the annually commissioned contemporary art installation by acclaimed artists.

Sheffield Museums and Art Galleries

Sheffield museums and Sheffield galleries pull on both its industrial heritage with a new and vibrant leaning towards the arts. Kelham Island Museum explores Sheffield's industrial history, particularly its steel heritage, via working machinery, exhibitions, activity areas and events, situated within some of Sheffield's oldest industrial buildings on a man-made island. Sheffield is rich in industrial history and for an introduction into steel making and metal work Abbeydale is the place to start. This site has been used for iron making for over 500 years. Here you'll find forges, water wheels, crucible furnaces and more.

Just a mile outside Sheffield city centre sits the newly revamped Weston Park Museum, which looks set in its new format to be an award winning museum. Weston Park is the definitive museum on the history of Sheffield and South Yorkshire with now new themed galleries including Arctic World and About Art.

Sheffield's choice of art galleries is impressive, with the longstanding Graves Art Gallery in the heart of the city centre alongside the new Millennium Galleries with their contemporary edge plus the treasured Ruskin Collection on display in the Rustkin Gallery within the Millennium Galleries.

Leeds Museums and Art Galleries

As Yorkshire's largest city, there is a good choice of museums in Leeds. Leeds attractions include the definitive museum on arms and armour at the Royal Armouries and Leeds Industrial Museum set within Armley Mills, once the largest woollen mill in Britain. The Thackray Medical Museum is another top Leeds museum with an acclaimed medical collection and superb interactive displays bringing to life the history of Leeds' public health and the gruesome streets of Victorian Leeds for children. More Leeds museums exploring particularly Leeds' industrial heritage include the restored and fully working Twaite Mills Watermill and the superb social history galleries at Abbey House Museum.

Leeds serves as Yorkshire's art scene hub with Leeds Art Gallery laying claim to what's widely considered the finest collection of 19th and 20th century British art outside of London, whilst the neighbouring Henry Moore Institute's galleries are a hub for sculpture. Smaller emerging contemporary art studios and art retail outlets are further boosting the Leeds arts scene on both the national and international arts stage.

Hull Museums and Galleries

Museums in Hull are largely collected together in the Museum Quarter where you can visit the Hull and East Riding Museum, Streetlife Museum of Transport, Wilberforce House Museum and the Arctic Corsair - Hull's last side fishing vessel (sidewinder) dating from 1960, the Arctic Corsair is moored up on the riverbank near the Transport Museum with guided tours available. For Hull's history of whaling, fishing, ships, boats and other maritime facts and exhibitions visit Hull Maritime Museum on Queen Victoria Square.

Kids will love Hull's Hands on History Museum on South Church Side housed in the old grammar school dating from 1347. William Wilberforce, the slavery abolitionist, attended this school, which was also the site for Hull merchants' guilds meetings on the first floor of the Tudor building. Today the museum offers a ground floor dedicated to Victorian Britain, with plenty of hands-on exhibits. The Second Floor plays host to 'The Story of Hull and its People' exhibit focusing on the social history of the city alongside an ancient Egypt display. Move to Hull's Marina to tour the Spurn Lightship which once served as navigational aid for ships entering the River Humber.

For art try Ferens art gallery Hull - first opened in 1927. This award winning Yorkshire art gallery is one of the regions best. The impressive collection includes a fine selection of old European masters, particularly Dutch works by the likes of Jacob van Ruisdael (1628-82) renowned for his landscapes. Frans Halls' Portrait of a Young Woman is the gallery's particular highlight within Galleries 1 and 2 housing the old masters. Victorian and Edwardian art on display in Galleries 5 and 6 includes gems by artists such as Newlyn School notable Walter Langley and find pieces by Hull's most acclaimed marine artist John Ward (1798-1849) in Gallery 10. For showcases on contemporary 20th century art move to gallery 7. This splendid permanent collection is further enhanced by consistent changing temporary displays, workshops and events.

Bradford Museums and Galleries

Museums in Bradford are an eclectic mix of reflections of the past industrial history of the area and modern, cutting edge media and photography museums.

The National Media Museum Bradford is a national centre for film, photography, TV and the web. There are numerous galleries to visit including TV Galleries, a giant IMAX screen, two cinemas and constantly changing exhibitions and events pulling on this acclaimed museum's huge visual archive. The cinemas offer a diverse range of world cinema and the huge five storey IMAX cinema offers an opportunity to view 3D and 2D films. The annual Bradford International Film Festival is a particular highlight of the museum's calendar and the extensive collection of photographic technology held here ranks as one of the best in the world.

Moorside Mills, site of the Bradford Industrial Museum just outside the city centre, digs deep into the history of textiles via working textile machinery, exhibits and displays of motor vehicles. Moorside was a huge working worsted spinning mill in its Victorian heyday, and on-site a Mill Owner's House and mill workers' terrace houses are on show. Moorside Mills dates later than the impressive Salts Mill in nearby Shipley (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) - Moorside was built 1875 and continued to develop, with constantly changing ownership through into the 20th century. A team of working horses have their home in the stables on-site, and in good weather you can take a horse drawn ride. Workshops and events for children run through the year and exhibitions include the fascinating 'You Are Here' gallery which looks at generations of settlers in Bradford, their links to the textile industry and their influences on the city.