Leeds Industrial Museum to receive huge £653,000 grant to recover from years of flooding damage

Leeds Industrial Museum is set to receive a huge £653,000 grant to help recovery from significant flooding - and reopen public areas not used since 2015 water damage.
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Leeds Museums and Galleries have been awarded the grant from Arts Council England as part of the Museum Estate and Development funding.

The funding is set to aid recovery from a series of horrific floods on the site, with the worst in 2015 leading to public gallery space being closed.

Leeds Industrial Museum flooding in 2015Leeds Industrial Museum flooding in 2015
Leeds Industrial Museum flooding in 2015
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The devastating December flooding forced the museum, which was once the world’s largest woollen mill, to close for almost three months while staff and council officers all pitched in for a massive clean-up operation.

Speaking at the time, keeper Sarah Barton said: "It was heartbreaking to see the site flooded and to have to close, so it’s obviously been a tough couple of months for everyone who knows and loves the museum.

“But we’ve also been genuinely touched and humbled by the support we’ve had and it’s really helped motivate us to get back up and running, so we’d like to once again say thank you to everyone who has pitched in.”

This funding will address backlog maintenance issues for the Drying House and Engine Shed structures and landmark chimney stack at the museum.

Leeds Industrial Museum pictured in 2021Leeds Industrial Museum pictured in 2021
Leeds Industrial Museum pictured in 2021
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It will focus on immediate and essential works to improve the site’s core infrastructure, improve collections care conditions, improve accessibility, and will reopen public gallery space, which have been closed since the 2015 floods.

The funding will also enable the Engine Shed roof to be replaced and raised and will utilise the newly constructive flood alleviation wall at the site.

Leeds Council received confirmation of the money on March 17 and fast-tracked the approval process due to a March 25 deadline.

The first recorded mention of Armley Mills was in the middle of the 16th Century, when local clothier Richard Booth leased ‘Armley Millnes’ from Henry Saville.

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By 1788, when it was purchased by Colonel Thomas Lloyd, a prosperous Leeds cloth merchant, it had grown into the largest woollen mill in the world.

It continued to operate commercially until the 1970s, when it finally closed as a business. The site was bought by Leeds City Council, reopening in 1982 as Leeds Industrial Museum.

The project is due to start in the first week of April, with the grant expiring in May of 2023.

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