Calderdale Industrial Museum

About the museum

The Calderdale Industrial Museum in Halifax grew out of collections gathered from 1950 by John Magson, who worked for the local museums service. In early 1982 it was decided to create an industrial museum, and a conversion project of the former warehouse on Square Road, run under the Manpower Services Commission, lasted from October 1982 until the museum opened in August 1985. The building, once known as Albion Works and later Central Works, is believed to date from about 1889.

In August 2016 the running of the museum was handed to the Calderdale Industrial Museum Association, a volunteer charity formed after a public meeting in 2011. The museum reopened in September 2017 and gained Arts Council accreditation in 2019. About 70 volunteers help to refurbish exhibits and open the museum on Saturdays.

The collection covers a cross-section of the industries of Calderdale. It includes early textile machinery, rebuilt steam engines, a 30-foot hafting lathe from Murgatroyds Mill, the oil engine Sadie and an 18th-century waterwheel from a tannery. The ground floor traces power from water wheels to steam, electricity and internal combustion, the first floor shows products such as Mackintosh's toffees and Crossley's carpets, and the top floor, on worsted cloth, is being renovated in stages.

Highlights

• Sadie, an oil engine powering locally made machine tools
• Power gallery from water wheels to steam and internal combustion
• Carpet and moquette collection with two carpet looms and a working moquette loom
• Recreated nineteenth-century coal mine in the basement
• Café and shop beside the Piece Hall

Permanent exhibitions

• Power Gallery – Ground-floor gallery tracing the history of power from water wheels through steam and electricity to internal combustion engines.
• Products of Calderdale – First-floor displays of goods made in Calderdale, with carpet and moquette samples, two carpet looms and a working moquette loom.

Founded

1985

Operated by

Calderdale Industrial Museum Association (CIMA)

Admission & discounts

The café and shop can be visited without paying museum admission.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

There is side access via a ramp and stairs, and inside, stairs and a lift serve all floors. The museum is wheelchair accessible and has accessible toilets. Disabled parking is available by prior request. Only guide dogs and assistance dogs are allowed in the museum and café.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop

The café serves light lunches, snacks, hot drinks and cake. The shop sells locally made items.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent

Room hire is offered; details are on the museum's Room Hire and Guided Tours page.

Plan your visit