Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills

Armley Mills officially closed its doors in 1969 after many centuries of production. Leeds City Council purchased the building, after it was deemed as holding historical importance for Leeds and Britain. It later re-opened in 1982 as The Leeds Industrial Museum, instantly gaining recognition and respect while receiving the esteemed industrial museum award.

The museum is home to a wide range of working exhibits from the 18th – 19th century, telling the history of textiles, clothing and the manufacturing of engines and locomotives in Leeds.

The Leeds industrial museum also has cinema projections of their historical archives. The projections also show the first moving pictures of Leeds and the silent movies of the 1920’s.

The earliest record of Armley Mills is that of a local clothier Richard Booth who bought the lease of the mill in the mid 16th century.
In the 18th century the site was developed with the building of the woollen and corn mill. By 1801 there were twenty factories in Leeds, however not all of these were manufacturing textiles. By the year 1838 the number of woollen mills had rapidly increased to106 woollen mills alone in Leeds. The mills employed over 10,000 people who worked under horrendous conditions. The poor working conditions added to the large number of people including children who were either maimed or killed in factory accidents over the years.

A combination of many factors contributed to the decline of the woollen mills. The loss of the once guaranteed market of the British Empire was grounding to halt as the Empire splintered. Furthermore the fracturing of the empire also opened up the market to increased competition from abroad, as they were able to manufacture and export goods at lower cost to Britain. Another significant problem for the mills were the man-made fabrics, which were cheaper and hardwearing thus putting the last nail in the coffin of the woollen mills.

Incall Escorts
Leeds Escorts