Anger at plan to revamp museum's Victorian street

Campaigners have said they are "appalled" by proposals to modernise a Victorian street at a popular museum in Leeds.

The plans, announced last week, showed concept art designed to make the Abbey House Museum in Kirkstall more hands-on and immersive.

Angela Bamfort, who has been visiting the museum since she was a child, said the images - which appear to show an atrium, fairy lights and backless sofas - were more like something she would expect to see in a shopping mall.

Leeds City Council, which runs the attraction, said that the artist's impressions "do not represent finished proposals" and are "a starting point for conversations" about the museum's future.

The museum was initially put forward for closure during the city council's budget proposals in 2024 - but was saved after a "passionate" response to a public consultation.

One of those who fought to save it was Dianne Riding, who died in 2025.

Her daughter Laura Winterlich said: "When my mum died, she was secure in the knowledge that she knew the museum had been saved."

When she saw the plans to modernise the museum, she said her "heart sank".

Riding had worked in education in Leeds for more than 40 years, and taken pupils on trips to the museum.

In particular, Winterlich said she liked showing pupils the representation of the Victorian street.

"A lot of the street scene is very representative of the working-class population of Leeds, which is often very under-represented.

"You have places like Harewood House and Temple Newsam, they are about a select few throughout history.

"But the pub, the school, the small alleyway houses, all of those things are reflective of the average person that most of us would have been."

She is supportive of the museum being modernised, but said that there are other parts of the building that could be improved instead.

"The children's gallery is somewhere that could be extremely engaging and hands-on," she said.

"That's an area that's very neglected by the museum and does need development.

"But it's the street that is the heart of that museum."

Jill Clark has a special connection to the Victorian street, as it was her father and uncle who originally built the set in the 1950s.

"He loved working there, he and my uncle," she said.

"They were very proud of what they accomplished."

After her father passed away, Clark said that she enjoyed visiting the museum and remembering the stories he had told her about building the street.

"It's just lovely to stand there and think, my dad built this."

She first saw the proposals to change the museum on a Facebook post.

"I went cold," she said.

"I couldn't believe they would contemplate doing that."

Apart from her own family connection, Clark is also a member of the Friends of Leeds Museums, and attended a consultation last year on the future of Abbey House.

"There were lots and lots of ideas about what could be done with the museum," she explained.

"Not once did anybody mention changing the streets."

Angela Bamfort, 62, is particularly fond of the Victorian areas.

"It's like stepping into another world," she said.

"Especially when you go downstairs into the streets with the little shops and the cobbled road.

"The proposal looks like something that should be next door to the Trinity Centre.

"I think it's absolutely appalling, it just shouldn't be done.

"How on earth do you modernise it and keep it a Victorian museum?

"I don't think we'll be visiting if these plans go ahead."

A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said that a public event was held last weekend where representatives from the museum and the council discussed the future vision for the site with those in attendance.

"Further consultation and engagement" will take place before any formal proposals and funding bids are submitted, they added.

The council acknowledged that the Victorian street in particular is a popular part of the museum, and said they want to "strike the right balance between enhancing the visitor experience while preserving what we know our visitors love".

"We hope that by working together we can enhance and improve the museum so it can continue to welcome visitors for many years to come."

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