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Explore Abbey House Museum in Kirkstall
National World - LocalTV
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08/03/2024
Ahead of English Tourism Week, we step back in time at the Abbey House Museum opposite Kirkstall Abbey.
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00:00
My name is Pat and I'm the Assistant Community Curator here at Abbey House Museum in sunny
00:08
Kirkstall. The oldest part of Abbey House Museum is the gatehouse which was originally
00:13
a gatehouse to Kirkstall Abbey which is just across the road from us where we're standing
00:17
here at the 865 and that was a 12th century gatehouse where people could access the Abbey.
00:24
But obviously after the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII which came to
00:29
us in around 1539 it wasn't in use as a gatehouse anymore and so for centuries it was used as
00:35
a private residence by the great and good of Leeds. In 1925 it was decided the last
00:43
of the Butler family no longer wished to live here and they offered it to Leeds Corporation,
00:49
Leeds City Council and it was acquired and turned into a museum in 1927.
00:54
Coming into the museum at first it's a bit like a TARDIS, you don't expect there to be
00:59
so much on offer to see. It's a great way to kind of show people our history because
01:06
it is a live kind of immersive experience, particularly with the Abbey as well it's such
01:11
a big tourist hot spot, somewhere that people would travel to come and see and Abbey House
01:16
is like a nice surprise as well. There are three recreated Victorian streets
01:21
which are made to resemble the kind of streets that were in Leeds in the 1880s. So the business
01:26
names are all businesses that were around at the time in Leeds and appear in trade directories
01:33
and so on. All the objects in the shops and the houses are genuine collections objects
01:38
but you won't see any labels because it's meant to be immersive.
01:40
It's really nice when visitors come in and they say 'oh I remember this' or 'I remember
01:46
taking my children here years ago and seeing this'. I think because the museum focuses
01:52
a lot on local history that's really a powerful thing because then when people come in it
01:57
is their local heritage which is really nice. As well as the streets, upstairs we have a
02:02
childhood gallery which is great for people either reminiscing about their own childhood
02:08
or sort of learning a bit about the past as well as temporary exhibitions and displays
02:12
as well. My favourite part of the job is working with
02:15
schools. It's a very wholesome environment to be in, very very sweet. We put on school
02:23
workshops most days of the week and craft activities during the half term as well for
02:29
children and families to come along and get involved in.
02:32
Here's a place where we can essentially educate people from around the world about what life
02:37
was like in Victorian Leeds and it's really important I think that we still have that
02:42
connection, that we still keep the social history and the stories of the ordinary people
02:47
of Leeds alive really. It's fascinating to see so many people walk in and say 'my gosh
02:53
I never expected to see all this in the inside, in fact we've even got a sign outside saying
02:57
'you never believe what's inside'.
03:00
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