Major Tourist Attractions In Leeds

Armley Mills Industrial Museum

The Armley Mills Industrial Museum was a working cloth mill until 1969 when the City Council turned it into an award-winning industrial museum. Exhibits trace the history of textiles, clothing and locomotive manufacture in Yorkshire. Particularly interesting is a section devoted to the 1920s silent movie projectors, operating water wheels and the huge spinning mules that were in use in the 18th and 19th centuries.

 
Thackray Museum
 
There is surely no more interesting day out than a visit to the Thackray Museum, which tells the story of medical advances through the ages. A recreated Victorian street, complete with sights, sounds and smells, highlights the lives, ailments and treatment of a bygone era in vivid clarity, and visitors can also step inside the human body in an interactive gallery. The museum was the vision of Paul Thackray, a former director of a medical supplies company, and since its opening in 1997 has become one of Britain's best museums.

Leeds City Art Gallery

In the heart of the city, the Leeds City Art Gallery offers a feast for art lovers, its collections covering everything from traditional prints, watercolours, paintings and sculpture as well as weird and wonderful contemporary works. The gallery is renowned for having the best collection of British art outside of London. Adjoining the Gallery is the Henry Moore Institute with the acclaimed sculpture study centre, and programme of sculpture exhibitions.

 
Royal Armouries Museum
 
This fun, living museum contains five themed galleries (covering War, Tournaments, Self-Defence, Hunting and Arms & Armour of the Orient), filled with interactive displays, dramatic interpretations, action scenarios and some exciting exhibits. This is more a cross between a theme park and a museum, bringing history alive in many unique ways, from watching gunmakers ply their craft to demonstrations of falconry and horsemanship.

Abbey House Museum
 
The entertaining Abbey House Museum is contained in the gatehouse of the picturesque ruined Kirkstall Abbey (dating from 1152). Abbey House allows visitors to walk around the streets of 1880s Leeds, while the upstairs section features galleries detailing the history of Kirkstall Abbey and the social history of the area.