Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills

Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills

Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills
4.5
10:00 - 17:00
Tuesday
10:00 - 17:00
Wednesday
10:00 - 17:00
Thursday
10:00 - 17:00
Friday
10:00 - 17:00
Saturday
10:00 - 17:00
Sunday
13:00 - 17:00
About
Housed in what was once the world's largest woollen mill, Leeds Industrial Museum houses a wealth of gems located in a beautiful riverside setting. Step back in time to learn about the industrial history of Leeds from manufacturing textiles and clothing to printing, engineering and locomotives, which the city was world famous for.
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.

Top ways to experience nearby attractions

The area
Address
Reach out directly
See what travellers are saying
  • JonRambo
    West Sussex, United Kingdom126 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Fascinating insight into our industrial history
    Really interesting museum in a historic mill. There was a demonstration of an old wool spinning machine. The chap doing the demo was friendly and gave us lots of insight into local history and process. Lots of emphasis on how tough times were for the factory workers. There was a nice set of exhibits on businesses and inventions that came from Leeds, and a mock up of an old cinema showing some great films of how folk used to holiday in times gone past. It's run by the council so don't expect it to be glitzy. We walked to and from the town centre along the canal. It's about 1 1/2 miles. There is onsite parking. Well worth a visit if you're at all interested in history or industry.
    Visited August 2023
    Written 24 August 2023
  • Maddison M
    Sydney, Australia7 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Amazing customer service
    I unfortunately had a fall outside the museum before they had opened for the day. Multiple staff members came and helped me and my partner. They gave me a place to sit to calm down with snacks, tea and even a change of clothes. The museum staff were absolutely amazing so kind and caring. Highly recommend to go, you’ll be getting an amazing customer service experience. Thank you again to the workers who helped me, I hope I made a normal workday much more interesting.
    Visited August 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 31 August 2023
  • Faburt
    Cardiff, United Kingdom110 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Discover the secrets of the Leeds Woollen industry and so much more.
    Fascinating! This is an old Yorkshire Mill packed with old machinery from old Yorkshire Mills. If you are lucky, Barrie will be on hand to regale you with stories of the trade and fire up the spinning machine. Even if he isn't, the boards mean a self-tour is worthwhile. Other areas look at the local textile industry, including the rise and fall of Burton's, local inventors and Victorian life. There's even an old flea-pit cinema and a Victorian classroom. Authentic Yorkshire for a token entry fee of £5.50.
    Visited September 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 5 September 2023
  • J B
    London, United Kingdom65 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    An educational trip to learn about the horrors of yore.
    Great half term family activity for a couple of hours which was enjoyed by all in our group from age 4 - 64! Very educational regarding the textile trade and life and perils of the olden days. Some good interactive bits that the kids enjoyed but bits were missing from some of them so needs a bit of TLC. Amazing to see the ladies turning wool into yarn! Large picnic area and TCMFs. Downside was the accessibility for the buggy despite the staff being very friendly and offering to help. Also baby changing facilities were nowhere to be found! All in all a good, educational activity for a few hours and just as I remember it from 30 years ago!
    Visited February 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 15 February 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles270 reviews
Excellent
132
Very good
93
Average
31
Poor
12
Terrible
2

William C
Doncaster, UK29 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2024 • Solo
Did a solo trip. Was very interesting for textiles. However could have done with a little more hands on bits. May be the kids could go through under the machine or something like that. Train bit was closed when we went due to flood repairs. Steam house bit lacking animation. The cinema downstairs looks amazing. Would be an amazing place to hire out for a business.

Is a lot of reading in this museum.

Had a nice coffee in with the knitting woman and they kindly charged my phone too. Didn't see any staff interaction on exhibits. It didn't feel a hands free on enough museum to be considered excellent. Kids play areas looked good in some zones.

So felt like an ok day out
Written 26 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

J B
London, UK65 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2024 • Family
Great half term family activity for a couple of hours which was enjoyed by all in our group from age 4 - 64! Very educational regarding the textile trade and life and perils of the olden days. Some good interactive bits that the kids enjoyed but bits were missing from some of them so needs a bit of TLC. Amazing to see the ladies turning wool into yarn! Large picnic area and TCMFs. Downside was the accessibility for the buggy despite the staff being very friendly and offering to help. Also baby changing facilities were nowhere to be found! All in all a good, educational activity for a few hours and just as I remember it from 30 years ago!
Written 15 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

keith m
Hyde, UK90 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2024 • Solo
I visited for the first time and was surprised how good this museum was, there are a lot of the machinery used in the Wool and cotton industry,I was surprised to see a working loom showing how they work and how noisy they were, there is a lot of pictures of people who worked in the industry telling how bad it used to be,a small part of the museum was closed off due to maintenance but it is still well worth a visit.
Written 8 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Faburt
Cardiff, UK110 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2023 • Couples
Fascinating! This is an old Yorkshire Mill packed with old machinery from old Yorkshire Mills. If you are lucky, Barrie will be on hand to regale you with stories of the trade and fire up the spinning machine. Even if he isn't, the boards mean a self-tour is worthwhile. Other areas look at the local textile industry, including the rise and fall of Burton's, local inventors and Victorian life. There's even an old flea-pit cinema and a Victorian classroom. Authentic Yorkshire for a token entry fee of £5.50.
Written 5 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Maddison M
Sydney, Australia7 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2023 • Couples
I unfortunately had a fall outside the museum before they had opened for the day. Multiple staff members came and helped me and my partner. They gave me a place to sit to calm down with snacks, tea and even a change of clothes. The museum staff were absolutely amazing so kind and caring. Highly recommend to go, you’ll be getting an amazing customer service experience. Thank you again to the workers who helped me, I hope I made a normal workday much more interesting.
Written 1 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

JonRambo
West Sussex, UK126 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2023
Really interesting museum in a historic mill. There was a demonstration of an old wool spinning machine. The chap doing the demo was friendly and gave us lots of insight into local history and process. Lots of emphasis on how tough times were for the factory workers.
There was a nice set of exhibits on businesses and inventions that came from Leeds, and a mock up of an old cinema showing some great films of how folk used to holiday in times gone past.
It's run by the council so don't expect it to be glitzy.
We walked to and from the town centre along the canal. It's about 1 1/2 miles. There is onsite parking.
Well worth a visit if you're at all interested in history or industry.
Written 24 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Navigate653122
23 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2023
The staff were amazing.
My husband had lost his wallet. They found us a telephone number for the bus company and told us to help ourselves to free tea and coffee. They even offered we could go around the museum for free. The wallet was found on the bus which was a massive relief. My husband and I paid for ourselves but the staff said that our Ukrainian guests did not need to pay. This was a very generous offer. The demonstration of the looms was amazing although it did upset my asthma. The gentleman working the loom and all of the literature in the museum about the poor people working in the loom advised how unwell the workers were and symptoms they suffered. I should have taken my reliever inhaler and worn a mask.
Written 3 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Richard E
Egremont, UK218 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2022
A great museum covering Leeds's diverse industrial history. I never knew that one of their Industrial Locomotive greats branched out into Micro Cars!!!
Written 22 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

K78steve
York, UK192 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2022 • Family
Came here some years ago and they had a superb collection of Leeds made engines including Fowler and Hunslet- not this time though as flood defence work meant that area was inaccessible and won’t reopen till 2025!

The rest of the museum needs a bit of TLC too. I now councils are cutting back but there seems to be plenty of money for other things
Written 26 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Failsafe659
Norwich, UK391 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2022
Welcoming staff at entrance to museum occupying an former Mill. Fascinating exhibits illustrating the lives of Working People in a range of industries and the machines used..
Written 12 June 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

…
Showing results 1-10 of 264
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing

LEEDS INDUSTRIAL MUSEUM AT ARMLEY MILLS: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

Frequently Asked Questions about Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills

Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills is open:
  • Sun - Sun 13:00 - 17:00
  • Tue - Sat 10:00 - 17:00