Abbey House Museum is threatened with closure due to council budget cuts. Sonia Koren is a journalism student at Leeds Beckett University, who comes from Toronto. She visited the museum for the first time yesterday – here are her thoughts.
Leeds is a city defined by its people, its history and its hidden gems. Abbey House Museum is one of those gems, and it’s up to us to make sure it remains part of the city’s future.
Across the picturesque ruins of Kirkstall Abbey, the cherished museum connects us to history and gives the ground we walk on a more profound sense of meaning. The recent proposal to close this landmark as part of Leeds City Council’s urgent bid to save £104 million from its budget is, quite frankly, a heartbreaking prospect.
Since July 1927, the Abbey House Museum has been a portal to the past and an essential educational resource for the community. It offers an immersive experience in its recreated Victorian streets that has allowed generations of residents to explore history in a way textbooks simply cannot match.
Its recreated Victorian streets, filled with original shopfronts and cobblestone pathways, prove that Leeds is a place where stories live and breathe. Visitors of all ages get a complete sense of life in the late 19th century.
The council’s financial situation is undeniably dire with increasing costs and reduced government funding. But in cutting places like the Abbey House Museum, we risk losing a sense of culture and community that money cannot replace.Â
School trips to the museum allow children to play pretend in a way that connects with their everyday lives. They are welcomed to try on Victorian outfits, engage with historical objects, and walk the same cobbled streets that people walked over 100 years ago.
The upstairs area includes a children’s play place exhibition that allows young minds to digest history in an exciting, hands-on way.
This is not a space only for children. The museum is currently showcasing The Power of Persuasion: A Peek Into the History of Advertising, which invites visitors to explore the evolution of advertising and branding in Leeds.
This thought-provoking exhibit delves into important topics such as empire, colonialism, and racism, while also offering a nostalgic look at health and beauty advertisements, sweet shops, fashion, home design, and much more.
It combines both historical insight and visual appeal in an opportunity to reflect on marketing of the past.
While local councillors have suggested that the building could be transferred to a community group, the loss of such an important educational resource would be a blow to the cultural landscape of Leeds, limiting the educational opportunities available to the city’s younger residents.
If we let it go, we may never get another chance to bring it back.
There is still time to share our concerns. The council’s online budget consultation will soon be open, and I urge everyone to participate. Speak up for Abbey House Museum as a cornerstone of Kirkstall’s identity and a vital resource for inspiring the next generation.
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