Tolson Museum

Tolson Museum Huddersfield's history book! The museum holds several collections including the history of Huddersfield and its Roman connections. Free admission.
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Open:
Mondays at the Museum 11am to 3pm - Free activities
Tuesday to Thursday 11am to 5pm
Weekends 12noon to 5pm
Bank Holidays 11am to 5pm

Closed: Friday (except Bank Holidays)

Kirklees School Holidays: Tuesday to Thursday from 11am

Tolson Museum is the living history book of Huddersfield. In 1922 it was gifted to the Huddersfield Corporation as a War Memorial in memory of Legh Tolson's nephews, Robert and James who both died in the First World War.

Friends of Tolson and Ravensknowle: Mikron Theatre, Wensleydale Whey📅 Saturday 12 September, 13:00-15:00No ticket requir...
03/09/2026

Friends of Tolson and Ravensknowle: Mikron Theatre, Wensleydale Whey

📅 Saturday 12 September, 13:00-15:00
No ticket required, pay what you feel collection will be taken after the show
⭐Suitable for all ages. Outdoor Show, Bring a Picnic, Bring a Chair & Blanket

Mikron will transport you to the Yorkshire Dales, in a hilarious quest to revive a lost recipe!

The stakes are high: the Monks from the Abbey are desperately seeking a living soul to resurrect their traditional Wensleydale cheese. This charming tale promises a gouda time as it immerses you in a world of ghosts, grievances, and glorious cheese.

We’ll delve into the rich history of cheese, from its humble beginnings to its place on the most sophisticated platters, featuring a cast of characters who are whey out there.

Expect a cheesy plot, a sprinkle of drama, and plenty of fromage-tastic musical numbers. Join us for a slice of the action – it’s going to be a legen-dairy Mikron show.

Heritage Open Days: Alternative Tour of Tolson - Exploring Women’s Lives Through Museum Object🔍📍Tolson Memorial Museum, ...
31/08/2026

Heritage Open Days: Alternative Tour of Tolson - Exploring Women’s Lives Through Museum Object🔍

📍Tolson Memorial Museum, Huddersfield, HD5 8DJ
Sunday 20th September 2026 2:00PM - 3:00PM

Join us for a FREE unique guided tour of Tolson Museum that explores what objects can reveal about women’s lives. This interactive session encourages visitors to question, reflect, and see displays in new ways. Rather than offering definitive answers, the tour invites discussion and curiosity, and may even inspire you to think about your own family history.

Accessibility information: The first floor of the museum is only accessible via stairs.

Kirklees Heritage Open Days

Secure your place: https://ticketsource.pulse.ly/dbsomhfczc

A closer look at our refreshed Curators Corner exhibition at Tolson Museum! This months theme is Summer☀️Object: Swimmin...
28/08/2026

A closer look at our refreshed Curators Corner exhibition at Tolson Museum! This months theme is Summer☀️

Object: Swimming trunks

These knitted woollen swimming trunks with a white belt were worn by Henry Walton Barber around 1930. Through clothing like this we can see how fashion changed rapidly, even in swimwear, during the 1900s.

Rather than the one-piece swimsuit popular in the 1920’s which combined a shirt and shorts into one complete item of clothing, the 1930s introduced the idea of two-piece swimming suits. No longer just providing modestly, these swimming trunks that could be paired with a tank top, provided a little more comfort. This change allowed men to be bare-chested if they wished at the pool or beach, to show off their muscles and stay cooler in the sun and was possible with the relaxation of modesty laws. By the end of the 1930s trunks in the two-piece swimsuit became the norm.

However, wool is heavy and uncomfortable when wet because they retain a lot of water. In the 1940s, the second world war required vast amounts of materials like wool and silk which restricted clothing but also brought advancements, particularly the introduction of synthetic materials like nylon, which paved the way for nylon-based swimwear, which was more durable, dried quicker, more lightweight and comfortable and allowed more varied design choices.

A closer look at our refreshed Curators Corner exhibition at Tolson Museum! This months theme is Summer☀️Object: Women’s...
27/08/2026

A closer look at our refreshed Curators Corner exhibition at Tolson Museum! This months theme is Summer☀️

Object: Women’s Rubber bathing Shoes

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, outdoor sports and seaside holidays became increasingly popular. After the First World War (1914-1918), wild swimming was heavily promoted through public health initiatives as a way to escape the hustle and bustle of urban life and reconnect with nature. As a result, Britain’s rivers, lakes, and sea sides became packed with eager bathers and the demand for swimming gear grew.

Attitudes towards public decency relaxed and public swimming evolved from a heavily segregated sport into a mixed-gender activity. A shift away from the strict swimwear regulations of the past, meant that heavy wool bathing dresses and restrictive modesty garments were replaced with form fitting sleeveless one-piece suits. This new generation of swimmers sought gear that prioritised true mobility and athleticism in the water.

As a result, Philips developed the iconic Silver Wing bathing shoe, which combined practicality and fashion. The moulded rubber is light weight, durable, and highly flexible, ensuring that the bather’s movements were unimpeded. The vibrant green rubber and white painted edges reflect the fashion of the 1930s, and the silver wings are a playful nod to the Greek God Hermes, whose winged sandals granted him incredible speed.

A closer look at our refreshed Curators Corner exhibition at Tolson Museum! This months theme is Summer☀️Object: Folding...
26/08/2026

A closer look at our refreshed Curators Corner exhibition at Tolson Museum! This months theme is Summer☀️

Object: Folding Cockade Fan

Fans have been used to keep people cool since ancient times, but the novelty fan as we recognise it today dates to the eighteenth century. Fans became so commonplace that they were used for more than just hot weather: as status symbols, communication, satire, and even advertisements. In 1797, Charles Francis Badini published a work titled “Fanology” that contained instructions on creating secret messages by moving the fan in a certain way. Usefully this work was printed on a fan itself, but each letter was made up of two signals meaning that this secret language was far from practical.

This particular fan dates from the early twentieth century and its delicate flower shape reflects changing fashions. Clothing became softer and fans more elegant. The cockade shape is distinct because it contains only two outer guards rather than lots of inner rods, and opens to form a full circle. These fans were much more portable when folded than the semi-circle screens, and could easily fit into a lady’s purse or tied to her wrist with ribbon.

During this period fans became less coded in secret meanings. Improvements in manufacturing meant that more women had access to affordable designs and fans returned to popular accessories rather than for communicating messages.

A closer look at our refreshed Curators Corner exhibition at Tolson Museum! This months theme is Summer☀️Object: Beach P...
25/08/2026

A closer look at our refreshed Curators Corner exhibition at Tolson Museum! This months theme is Summer☀️

Object: Beach Pebble

This pebble has been naturally water rolled by the sea; this creates the smooth surface on the stone. It was found by flint collector L.T. Johnson in the 1960s at Woolley Edge. Found amongst many other Mesolithic flints, we can assume it was brought to the site by the same people who were making these flint tools.

The tools found at this site include flint cores, flakes, scrapers, and blades. A flint core was what remained of the raw material used to create the other tools, shaped by striking with hammers made of stone and antlers. This process would make flint flakes, which were the base for most tools. Scrapers were used for cleaning animal skins to turn into leather, and blades were used as knives.

Pebbles with naturally occurring holes have different mythology and folklore surrounding them. Although they are commonly known as hag stones, adder stones, or witch stones in Britain, they have many other names across different cultures. The beliefs surrounding hag stones are wide and varied, but they are often a symbol of good luck, tied on keys or worn as pendants. They have been hung above beds to protect from nightmares and above stables to prevent witches stealing horses. It is said that if you peer through the hole of the hag stone, you’ll be able to see into the fairy world and spot any evil trying to hide its true form.

A closer look at our refreshed Curators Corner exhibition at Tolson Museum! This months theme is Summer☀️Object: Cruise ...
24/08/2026

A closer look at our refreshed Curators Corner exhibition at Tolson Museum! This months theme is Summer☀️

Object: Cruise Menus

On Friday 9th September 1932, Sarah Eliza Taylor and her mother caught the 5:20am train from Huddersfield to London. The next morning, they travelled by boat train for Southampton before boarding the RMS Strathaird – a two-week P&O cruise around the Mediterranean.

Taylor wrote: “It was strange to go on the ship and know that we had to live on it for a fortnight. But what a lovely ship it was and what a lovely cabin we had.”

While travelling by ship was once just a practical method of transportation, cruising in the 1930s had become a holiday destination in its own right. This period was a glamorous and exciting decade for cruise liners. Despite a worldwide Depression and a shift in trading patterns following the First World War, the decade saw a boom in shipbuilding.

The art deco prints on the cover of these menus and the array of food they offer reflect the glamour aboard vessels like this one. Passengers dressed elegantly for a simple walk around the deck, and Taylor herself noted that “there was nothing to do in the evenings except dance the whole time.”

The Strathaird would later become the first passenger cruise ship to tour Australia.

20/08/2026

Our new Curator’s Corner display at Tolson Museum is now on show, with the theme of summer! ☀️

Take a look at the collection and discover some of the objects and stories that capture the spirit of the season.

Opening hours -
Tuesday - Thursday: 11am-5pm
Saturday - Sunday: 12pm-5pm

Celebrate Heritage Open Days with a unique guided tour of Tolson Museum that explores what objects can reveal about wome...
18/08/2026

Celebrate Heritage Open Days with a unique guided tour of Tolson Museum that explores what objects can reveal about women’s lives.
Sunday 20th September, 2pm-3pm.

This interactive session encourages visitors to question, reflect, and see displays in new ways. Rather than offering definitive answers, the tour invites discussion and curiosity, and may even inspire you to think about your own family history.

Please note the first floor is only accessible via stairs.

Heritage Open Days
Kirklees Heritage Open Days

Book your place here: https://ticketsource.pulse.ly/8pjfbdwkxf

Address

Ravensknowle Park, Wakefield Road
Huddersfield
HD58DJ

Opening Hours

Saturday 12pm - 5pm
Sunday 12pm - 5pm

Telephone

+441484223240

Website

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