Abbey House Museum
Abbey House Museum
Abbey Walk
Abbey Rd
Kirkstall
Leeds
West Yorkshire
LS5 3EH
England
Website
Telephone
0113 230 5492
Based in the heart of the Kirkstall community, Abbey House was once the gatehouse for Kirkstall Abbey. Displays in the museum enable you to steep yourself in the romantic history of the abbey. The museum also explores life in Victorian Leeds. With enchanting streets which reconstruct life in the late 19th century, and social history collections, you can immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of the time. Abbey House also has a new interactive childhood gallery, Abbot Tea Rooms, and a wide range of activities for schools, small groups and families.
Venue Type:
Museum, Historic house or home
Additional info
The Abbey House Museum hosts The Wednesday Club for adults. This is a social group which often presents talks and tours. The group meet monthly on a Wednesday at the museum at 10:30am. £5 per person which includes a set lunch in the Abbot Tea Rooms.
For children the Monkey Club regularly meets on Wednesdays from 10:15am-12noon. This offers a drop in morning to take part in craft activities and play games. The Messy Monkeys regularly meet on Fridays for fun with paints and art materials. Both are available for the under 5s and their carers.
Please see our event details for regular activities for families, children and adults. You can also find details of our half term activites, exhibitions and education workshops for schools.
The museum is also available for children's birthday parties, and wedding photography. Please call for prices and availability.
Open to the public is our Gatehouse Cafe (no museum admission necessary) serving drinks, hot and cold meals and snacks.
The museum holds large and important social history collections. This includes an archive relating to the Suffragette campaigns of Mrs Leonora Cohen (b.1873) who was one of the first women in Leeds to start campaigning for votes for women.
Leeds Museums have been collecting toys, dolls and games since at least the 1920s and now hold one of the major collections in the country. Abbey House Museum displays many acquistions from this collection along with Armley Mills Industrial Museum.
Abbey House Museum also houses a collection of period costume.
Collection details
Archaeology, Archives, Costume and Textiles, Social History, Toys and Hobbies
How do I Look?
- 24 January — 31 December 2015 *on now
Join us to peep in the mirror and see how people throughout history have enhanced their looks and presented themselves to others. Enter a world of wigs and war paint, marvellous moustaches and mascara, nail polish and nose rings, earrings and eyeliner, beards and brill-crème, combs and curlers, tattoos and tooth powder.
Arty Smarties
- 1 January — 31 December 2015 *on now
Description to follow.
Suitable for
- Family friendly
Study Day - Leonora Cohen, a Leeds Suffragette
- 5 February 2015 11am-3pm
With Nicola Pullan, Assistant Curator of Social History. Come and spend the day at Abbey House Museum exploring our Leonora Cohen collection and looking at the role of women in the early twentieth century. The collection was donated by Cohen, a Leeds based Suffragette who went to prison for the cause. The focus of the morning will be an illustrated talk looking at the campaigns and events taking place in Leeds and other local areas with a chance to think about some of the issues involved. In the afternoon there will be the opportunity to look up close at a range of ephemera donated to the museum by Leonora Cohen herself.
Suitable for
- Not suitable for children
Wonderful Wigs & Marvellous Moustaches
- 17 February 2015 10am-4pm
A fun day of family crafts and activities inspired by our new exhibition 'How do I look?'. Today we will be making all sorts of weird and wonderful wigs and moustaches.
Suitable for
- Family friendly
Silly Science- gel, goo and the science of looking good
- 18 February 2015 10am-4pm
A day of silly science activities for all ages based around the science of looking good. Expect dissolving hair gels and shaving cream rainclouds. No scientific knowledge necessary just curiosity.
Suitable for
- Family friendly
Detective Day with Dastardly Disguises
- 19 February 2015 10am-4pm
Make yourself a cunning disguise then head off for a murder mystery trail around our Victorian Streets. Can you solve the clues and crack the case?
Suitable for
- Family friendly
Through the looking glass, snap shots, shadows, symetry and silhouettes
- 20 February 2015 10am-4pm
Take your picture dressed as a Victorian in our pop up studio, play shadow puppets, draw a silhouette in our back street or have a caricature drawn.
Suitable for
- Family friendly
Study Day -Death & Disease in Victorian Leeds
- 10 March 2015 11am-3pm
Come and explore the darker sides of Leeds through the collections at Abbey House including items not usually on display. With Patrick Bourne, Assistant Community Curator.
Suitable for
- Not suitable for children
Easter Animal Crafts
- 31 March 2015 10am-4pm
Join us for fun family crafts inspired by Easter animals including chicks, lambs and bunnies
Suitable for
- Family friendly
Bunny Fun with Easter Bunny
- 3 — 6 April 2015
Hop along for a range of fun bunny crafts. We will also be looking for Easter chicks in our Victorian shops and you might just bump into our friendly Easter Bunny.
Suitable for
- Family friendly
Funny Faces Family Crafts
- 7 April 2015 10am-4pm
Pull your funniest face and come along to a fun day of silly crafts, activities and face painting.
Suitable for
- Family friendly
Silly Science Eggsperiments
- 8 April 2015 10am-4pm
A day of science activities inspired by eggs. Can you crush an egg in your hand? How do you know if an egg is boiled? Is your egg fresh?
Suitable for
- Family friendly
Abbey House Easter Family Fun Challenge
- 9 April 2015 10am-4pm
Abbey House's family challenge with an Easter twist. Designed for the whole family to work together they will have to solve a variety of clues, activities, mystery objects and time challenges.
Suitable for
- Family friendly
Frightening Faces
- 10 April 2015 10am-4pm
Pull your scariest face and come along to a frighterningly fun day of crafts, activities and face painting.
Suitable for
- Family friendly
Wild things animal crafts
- 14 April 2015 10am-4pm
Join us for fun family crafts inspired by wild animals including lions, tigers and bears
Suitable for
- Family friendly
Silly Science- camouflage and canines, the science of animals
- 15 April 2015 10am-4pm
A day of science activities inspired by animals. Can you find our flies or camouflage a cameleon? No scientific knowledge necessary just curiosity.
Suitable for
- Family friendly
Abbey House Family Fun Challenge
- 16 April 2015 10am-4pm
Abbey House's family challenge. Designed for the whole family to work together they will have to solve a variety of clues, activities, mystery objects and time challenges.
Suitable for
- Family friendly
Cute and cuddly or slimy and slithery animal crafts
- 17 April 2015 10am-4pm
Do you like fluffy bunnies or spooky spiders? Take your pick with our range of cute or creepy crafts.
Suitable for
- Family friendly
Women and Music Study Day
- 23 April 2015 11am-3pm
Did you know the floral dance was written by a woman? Women in the past did write well known music but are often overlooked or forgotten. Join our Curator of Leeds History Kitty Ross to explore female composers and performers from our sheet music collection.
Suitable for
- Not suitable for children
Primary School Workshops
Classes will be split into 2 groups for each workshop, each group spending 45 minutes in the workshop and 45 minutes exploring the museum's galleries with their responsible adult. The following workshops are led by a member of the museum's freelance education staff and provide the opportunity to handle and explore objects from the museum's collections: Toys and Games £45 per class, Houses and Homes £45 per class, Shops and Shopping £45 per class, Going to the Seaside with craft activity £50 per class, Victorian Christmas with craft activity £50, Meet the Victorians FREE.
The Monkey Club
A drop-in morning for children aged 0-5 years and their carers. Enjoy craft activities, games and make friends together at Abbey House Museum. 10.15-12.00, normal admission applies (children are free) with no extra charge.
Dates for 2009 are as follows: 24th February, 25th March, 22nd April, 20th May, 17th June, 15th July, 12th August, 16th September, 14th October, 11th November, 9th December. No booking necessary. Call for more details.
How to obtain
The Monkey Club activities are free - just drop in.
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