by Angela Harrison
Bosses at Abbey House Museum in Kirkstall are making some exciting changes to its popular Victorian streets.
After a successful campaign earlier this year to keep the museum open, footfall has doubled in recent months.
Staff are busy making the exhibits more playful and interactive following public consultation and feedback, in a bid to safeguard the museum’s future.
This includes an overhaul of some shops in Abbey Fold and creating a ‘police station’ with a real cell that children can lock their parents into, or vice versa. There will be a police desk and chair and uniforms to try on.
The new police station is going to replace the old Clay Pipemakers workshop, which will move into the Undertakers’ space.
Visitors will be invited to play ‘shopkeeper’ in the confectionery/tobacconists shop, where you can weigh the purchase and ‘sell’ your goods. This links in with the National Curriculum for young people – the museum welcomes approximately 6,000 schoolchildren on school trips per year.
The items in the display cases will be changed for the first time since the 1990s.
The ‘Artisan Cottage’ in Abbey Fold – an original Leeds 1830s, one-up, one-down cottage which was dismantled and rebuilt brick by brick in the museum – will now be open for visitors to go inside.
These changes will be ready for visitors before the July summer holidays, with the police station being ready by the autumn.
Kate Fellows, Head of Learning and Access for Leeds Museums and Galleries, says that the Victorian Streets and the Childhood Gallery on the upper floor, are the most popular attractions within the museum.
Ms Fellows said: “We’re hoping that the changes this year will make the experience of stepping back in time to Victorian Leeds even more real.
“You can be the shopkeeper weighing sweets, sit in one of the cottages and imagine it’s your house, pose for photographs in the studio, and lock up your friends and family in the police station if you feel they have broken the rules! Come and visit us and have a play!”
In each space where changes have been made, there will be ‘selfie spots’ to make the visitors’ experience even more interactive and create some Instagram-friendly photos.
And W Mann’s photographic studio in the main Victorian street will soon be receiving additional dressing-up costumes for both adults and children. The museum is investing in new costumes using the Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation Funding granted to Leeds Museums and Galleries.
The authentic ‘soundscape’ – which replicates day and night Victorian street sounds and ambience, including a knocker-upper (someone with a big stick, whose job it is to knock on windows at sunrise) – will remain.
Councillor Hannah Bithell (Lab, Kirkstall) said the museum is keen to celebrate a diversity of history of the people of Leeds – not only the rich, middle and upper class.
Cllr Bithell said: “I am delighted as a ward member with the action that Leeds Museums and Galleries are taking to make improvements to this museum.
“It was a hard fight for our community earlier in the year to make sure we could keep it, but with these changes and those planned for the future I have faith future generations of people from Kirkstall and far further afield will be able to enjoy this museum as much as we do.”
Great care will be taken to protect the collections while the changes are being made, by a team of 14 people from a group of conservation volunteers, who will be helping with the packing, moving and deep-cleaning.
The museum service is looking at plans and funding to make the building more accessible over the next six months, including applying to the Museums Renewal Fund for Civic Museums for a slice of a £20million fund.
Councillor Salma Arif, Leeds City Council Executive Member for Adult Social Care, Active Lifestyles and Culture, added: “Abbey House Museum is a real asset for our communities which looks at the lives of the people of Leeds from the 1830s to the present day.
“I am thrilled with the work that is ongoing to develop the museum and want to thank Leeds Museums and Galleries and the Abbey House staff for making this possible alongside ward councillors for their positive involvement in driving this forward.”
- Follow WLD’s coverage of Abbey House Museum here.
- More Kirkstall news and views from WLD can be found here.
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Introducing a police cell is a brilliant idea. There was one at the city museum which my kids loved to see. Don’t forget the ball and chain and bowl of gruel
I think its great that time, effort and some money is being devoted to this valuable resource. This will really enhance the visitor experience and hopefully ensure the long term future of this fantastic place. well done to everyone involved.