Leeds Centre Accommodation

Leeds Fire Engine dating from 1891, Leeds Industrial Museum Armley Mills

A Leeds Homeworker or Sweater returning finished garments to a Leeds Clothing Factory, Photography at the Leeds Industrial Museum

Leeds Heritage Waterfront Trail Along the Leeds Liverpool Canal nr Armley Mills

The reconstructed Victorian Bar at Abbey House Museum Leeds

Kids drawings in the Victorian dressing up room at Abbey House Museum Leeds - lots of things to do for kids here!

'Off the Peg' clothing boomed in Leeds in the second half of the 19thC. Leeds Montague Burton Factory, Leeds Industrial Museum Armley

Leeds Industrial Museum Armley Leeds Liverpool Canal Thwaite Mills Abbey House

Leeds was a world centre for textiles and clothing during the latter part of the 18th through the 19th centuries, and the city pays due homage to this heritage in a choice of acclaimed industrial museums. Centrepiece is The Leeds Industrial Museum set within the mammoth Armley Mills, once the largest woollen mill in Britain.

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 Industrial Museum Armley Mills, The Leeds Liverpool Canal & the Aire & Calder Navigation

The stretch of the Leeds Liverpool Canal from the Aire & Calder at Leeds all the way to Gargrave was one of the first sections of this 127 mile long canal to open in 1777. The huge Armley Mill site, once the largest woollen mill in the world and now aptly home to the Leeds Industrial Museum, sits alongside both the Leeds Liverpool Canal and the River Aire. The mill building you see today, commonly known as Gott's Mill, dates from 1805, but there have been mills on this site since at least 1559. Through the first half of the 19th century under Gott's management, Armley Woollen Mills were not just one of the largest employers in Leeds but also one of the largest in Britain! It's a significant fact, and a visit here really is a brush with Britain's industrial heritage.

Within Armley, textiles exhibitions cover the 18th and 19th centuries, with working textile machinery demonstrations and explorations into heavy engineering, tanning, carding and the printing trades all on-site. Armley saw the change from waterwheel to steam power and this change is given due attention within the museum. Exhibits also dig deep into the history of the Leeds Clothing Industry with displays of machinery, sewing rooms and photography of some of England's largest and most famous clothing 'off the peg' factories including Montague Burtons. Women workers were prevalent then and now in the textiles industry and the history of sweating - working from home was particular work by women often in dire conditions. Find out more at the Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills and read the stories of Leeds Women Textile workers like Gertie Roche who worked for Montague Burtons via the History to Herstory weblink right.

An absorbing other angle to the Leeds Industrial Museum is the gallery which traces the history of cinema projections, and Leeds proves the focus with the first moving pictures taken in Leeds alongside 1920s silent movies screened in the on-site mini-cinema.

Events and themed activities, particularly orientated for children, run throughout the year including Victorian Dressing-up days, family fun acternoons and Little Boggins days. A gift shop and picnic areas are on-site. Leeds Industrial Museum, Armley Mills, Canal Road, Armley, Leeds LS12 2QF. Tel. 0113 263 7861. (situated west of Leeds city centre at Armley alongside the Leeds Liverpool Canal).

Abbey House Museum, Thwaite Mills Watermill & Kirkstall Abbey

Push further north west (3 miles from Leeds city centre) following the route of the Leeds Liverpool Canal and the Aire & Calder Navigation and you arrive at Kirkstall Lock and nearby Kirstall Cistercian Abbey. Founded in 1152, Kirkstall's Abbey ruins are spectacular, standing as one of the most complete Cistercian abbeys in the country (despite nearly facing demolition in the 19th century!). The White Monks, so called because of their distinctive white robes, handed the abbey over to Henry VIII in 1539. Checkout the Kirkstall Abbey webguide right for a detailed history.

Near the abbey and well worth a visit in conjunction with a trip to the Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley is the Abbey House Museum. Here the day to day lives of Leeds locals are delved into via the superb social history collection held here. Toys, costumes, photographs and recreated Victorian workshops, a chemist and blacksmiths are all on-site alongside a shop and cafe. Exhibits are interactive giving kids the opportunity to handle old toys and games and get involved. The museum is a particularly popular school trip. Checkout the weblink right for Abbey House for special events listings.

Those keenly interested in Womens Suffrage can browse the Leonora Cohen (1873-1978) collection at Abbey House. Leonora Cohen was born in Leeds and became a member of the Leeds branch of the Women's Social and Political Union. A vegetarian when it wasn't fashionable and president of the Leeds Trades Council as well as Leeds district organizer for the National Union of General and Municipal Workers, you may need to request viewing of the Cohen archive which is often in-store, Abbey House Museum, Abbey Walk, Kirkstall, Leeds, LS5 3EH. West Yorkshire. Tel. 0113 230 5492. (webguide right for details).

On the southern outskirts of Leeds (2 miles south of the centre) find out more about the city's industrial history at Thwaite Mills Watermill. Here you can see demonstrations of the fully restored and working water-powered mill - one of the few rare surviving working watermills in the country. Visits are tour-led and need to be pre-booked. Contact Thwaite Mills Watermill Thwaite Lane, Stourton, Leeds LS10 1RP. Tel. 0113 276 2887. For more information checkout Leeds City Council's Thwaite Mills webguide right. The mill overlooks the Aire and Calder Navigation from which it derived its water - power souce in the past.

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