Accessibility and Discovery at Leeds City Museum

Last year, I decided to visit Leeds City Museum. After living in the city for over three years, I thought I should probably take the time to check out the museum, considering it is located right in the heart of the city.

Visiting museums can sometimes be more complicated for me because I am blind. I have to consider whether I’ll be able to interact with the exhibits or whether they will all be behind glass, where my hands cannot reach them. There’s also the question of navigating the space. I enjoy visiting museums alone. However, I often find that there’s minimal information about the space online, as there’s an assumption that everyone can look at a map and access the information visually. I emailed the museum in advance to find out more about their accessibility options and they offered me a guide if I would like one. A guided tour is always a nice thing, so I accepted their offer.

Leeds City Museum has a really interesting collection. As you might imagine, there are plenty of artifacts relating to life in Yorkshire and the people who live here. However, there’s also a wonderful gallery filled with Greek, Roman and Egyptian pieces. It is possible to touch some of the mosaics and other large carvings, which were particularly enjoyable to interact with. I loved the sensation of running my fingertips across them, trying to pick out details. It is incredible to think that I could stand before such ancient pieces of art, exploring them today.

The guide was very helpful and willing to share information. She gave me the most wonderful descriptions, telling me how detailed the various carvings were and explaining their history. The combination of being able to touch, along with the wonderful descriptions, really brought them to life. Notifying the museum in advance was definitely a good choice because they ensured that I was also able to access objects that aren’t usually on display for the public to touch. This included holding stone tools and feeling an animal skull. As you can tell from this post, the collection includes a very wide range of objects!

I would definitely recommend a visit to Leeds City Museum, whether you are blind or sighted. I easily spent several hours there and could honestly have extended my stay. I have no doubt that I will return to explore their collection again.

Things to know:

• Free to enter: donations are welcome.
• Open Tuesday-Friday: 10 am – 5 pm, and Saturday-Sunday: 11 am-5 pm.
• Accessible toilets: available on every floor.
• Visit their dedicated access page for more information.

Remember to contact them in advance of your visit if you want a guide; it’s definitely worth it! Also, they did not ask me to write this post. I was curious about the museum and really enjoyed my visit, so I wanted to share it with others. I hope you will have a wonderful time as I did, and I’d love to hear about your visit.