Right on Millennium Square, Leeds City Museum is the city’s own museum: six galleries over four floors inside the former Mechanics’ Institute, the grand stone building Cuthbert Brodrick designed in 1865-68 – “The Leeds Institute” is still carved over the door, and its old Albert Hall spent 60 years as the Leeds Civic Theatre. The museum itself is older than the building: founded by the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society in 1819 and opened to the public in 1821, it survived the 1941 bombing that wrecked its old home, spent decades in store and in a couple of library rooms, and finally reopened here on 13 September 2008.
What to see
- The Leeds Tiger – a Bengal tiger shot in India in 1860 and on display in Leeds for over 150 years. It arrived as a skin rug, which is why the famous mount sits a little oddly – and why generations of Leeds kids would not let the museum take it away.
- Nesyamun, the Leeds Mummy – a 3,000-year-old Egyptian priest in the Ancient Worlds gallery, the only mummy to survive the 1941 raids that destroyed two others, displayed alongside a reconstruction of his face.
- Life on Earth – the natural history gallery: the Armley Hippo, the giant Leeds Irish Elk, a polar bear and hands-on fossil fun for children.
- The Leeds Story – the city’s history from prehistoric times to today; the central hall even has a giant map of Leeds printed on the floor.
- Ancient Worlds – including the Roman mosaic of the she-wolf with Romulus and Remus, found at Aldborough.
The collection behind the galleries runs to more than 1.3 million objects, and the top floor hosts changing special exhibitions, so there is usually something new alongside the old favourites.
Plan your visit
- Address: Millennium Square, Leeds LS2 8BH 📍 Google Maps
- Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday 10am-5pm; Saturday and Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays (except bank holidays, 11am-5pm)
- Admission: Free – the museum runs on a “Give What You Can” basis, so donations are welcome but never required
- Official website: Leeds City Museum – Leeds Museums & Galleries
Been face to face with the Tiger? Tell us your favourite gallery in the comments below.