Welcome to Bradford District Museums & Galleries.

We look forward to welcoming you at one of our four wonderful sites – Bolling Hall, Bradford Industrial Museum, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery or Cliffe Castle Museum and Park.

FEATURED

Jim Moir: Neo Fauna

Artist Jim Moir, widely known as Vic Reeves, presents new artworks created for this exhibition.

FEATURED

Pre-Raphaelites Reframed

Experience the beauty of our Pre-Raphaelite collection.

FEATURED

Global Perspectives and Islamic calligraphy

A celebration of creativity that crosses borders and generations.

FEATURED

(Un)Layering the Future Past of South Asia: Young Artists’ Voices

This is a selection of twelve artists’ voices from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

FEATURED

Portraits of our Time

Part of the Bradford Care Association and Bradford District Museums and Galleries Creative Connecting and Contemporary Reminiscence Programme

FEATURED

Cartwright Hall Changeover

Temporary Closure of Cartwright Hall to allow for changeover of exhibitions

Current Exhibitions

Cartwright Hall in the sunshine, with BD2025 banner visible just in front

Cartwright Hall Art Gallery

Cartwright Hall Changeover

23 February 2026 – 27 March 2026

Temporary Closure of Cartwright Hall to allow for changeover of exhibitions

Bradford Industrial Museum

Portraits of our Time

29 January 2026 – 29 March 2026

Part of the Bradford Care Association and Bradford District Museums and Galleries Creative Connecting and Contemporary Reminiscence Programme

a painting of a black and white magpie on a very bright colourful background

Cartwright Hall Art Gallery

Jim Moir: Neo Fauna

28 March 2026 – 31 August 2026

Artist Jim Moir, widely known as Vic Reeves, presents new artworks created for this exhibition.

the house body at Bolling Hall. It is full of victorian furniture.

Bolling Hall Museum

110 Years of Bolling Hall Museum

3 September 2025 – 6 September 2026

As Bolling Hall Museum reaches 110 years of being a museum in 2025, come see new displays

A pressed botanical specimen of a flowering plant with a slender brown stem, narrow elongated leaves, and several purple, veined, five‑petalled flowers arranged along the upper stem, mounted on a light background.

Cliffe Castle Museum

Lady’s Slipper and Bees – Pressed Orchids and their collectors

27 March 2026 – 27 September 2026

The display highlights how Victorian plant collectors created these nationally important collections, and the local stories behind them.

A historical outdoor portrait of four men in traditional Somali dress, with Sultan Ali standing beside three bodyguards holding spears and shields, in front of a tree and tent-like structure.

Cartwright Hall Art Gallery

A Somali Village in Lister Park: Weaving Together Industry, Culture and Empire

9 May 2026 – 1 November 2026

This exhibition revisits a key moment in Bradford’s history: the 1904 Great Exhibition in Lister Park.

stylised version of various crafts and tools - including lace, lace bobbins, brushes, stained glass etc and hands

Bradford Industrial Museum

Made by Many Hands: A Heritage Craft exhibition

3 May 2026 – 15 November 2026

Celebrate some of the many crafts that have taken place in the Bradford District

pastel study image of a dark-haired woman -head and shoulders only. She has the strong jaw line, long flowing hair and direct gaze typical of Pre-Raphaelite images.

Cartwright Hall Art Gallery

Pre-Raphaelites Reframed

28 March 2026 – 31 December 2026

Experience the beauty of our Pre-Raphaelite collection.

a painting of an arab weaver, sat in the open area inside house, surrounded by thread and fabric and other figures.

Cartwright Hall Art Gallery

The Big Picture

28 March 2026 – 31 December 2026

Large scale paintings from the 18th Century onwards

photo of a person (details unclear as figure has back to viewer and is in shadow, looking over a large settlement

Cartwright Hall Art Gallery

Global Perspectives and Islamic calligraphy

28 March 2026 – 31 December 2026

A celebration of creativity that crosses borders and generations.

llustration of four women engaged in traditional craft activities. One woman on the left, dressed in red and yellow, styles the hair of a doll. Nearby stand two dress forms with simple garment outlines, one white and one pink. In the center, a woman in a blue dress sits behind a large white textile decorated with small floral motifs, stitching embroidery into the fabric. On the right, a woman in green paints at an easel, working on an image of a mountain landscape, while another woman in green kneels on the floor examining or arranging small embroidered motifs. Along the right edge of the image are repeated illustrations of hands in different positions

Cartwright Hall Art Gallery

(Un)Layering the Future Past of South Asia: Young Artists’ Voices

28 March 2026 – 31 December 2026

This is a selection of twelve artists’ voices from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Items from Fountains Cafe - table, mural, painting etc

Bradford Industrial Museum

Fountains Café: Serving Bradford for Fifty-Five Years

13 February 2025 – 13 February 2027

This display at Bradford Industrial Museum showcases iconic and recognisable objects from the well-known and much-loved Fountains Café, Bradford

Our Venues

The Heritage Craft Room

Cliffe Castle Museum

Bolling Hall Museum

Cartwright Hall Art Gallery

Bradford Industrial Museum

Learn With Us

Bradford District Museum and Galleries’ Learning Team offer a range of interactive, hands-on, curriculum-linked workshops for schools.

For further information, please click the link below to visit our learning page.

What’s On

image of a person at a loom, weaving. there is a colourful textile in shades of pink and purple being woven

Bradford Industrial Museum

Association of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers at Bradford Industrial Museum

12 March 2026 11:00 am – 12 March 2026 3:00 pm

Meet the Association of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers every Thursday 11am – 3pm in Bradford Industrial Museum.

Bradford Industrial Museum

Meet Mr Moore, Mill Manager

12 March 2026 11:00 am – 12 March 2026 3:00 pm

Bradford Industrial Museum

Meet Mr Moore, Mill Manager

13 March 2026 11:00 am – 13 March 2026 3:00 pm

photograph of a piece of bobbin lace in progress, resting on the pillow, with the bobbins in view

Bradford Industrial Museum

Bobbin Lace Exhibition & Workshop

14 March 2026 11:00 am – 15 March 2026 4:00 pm

Photo Archive

See a range of photographs relating to everything here at Bradford District Museums & Art Galleries.

Get Involved

Could you support our work by sponsoring, donating or volunteering?

All opportunities have flexible commitment requirements and aim to provide a rewarding and enriching experience for all.

Latest News

Cliffe Castle Museum

Heather Millard
March 2, 2026

Blog: Butterfield Women (a brief overview)

For Women's History Month a brief overview of some of the women in the Butterfield Family.

Cliffe Castle Museum

Heather Millard
February 2, 2026

Blog: The Lambert Spell Book

Dr Lauren Padgett, shines a light on one of the most superstitious objects in our collection..

Bradford Industrial Museum

Heritage Craft Room

Heather Millard
January 19, 2026

Blog: Heritage Craft @ Bradford Industrial Museum

what is wonderful about the collections that we look after is the sheer range and variety of what we hold and the stories that we can tell with them.

Cliffe Castle Museum

Heather Millard
January 5, 2026

Blog: From the Butterfield Archive: Mrs Mckay’s Musicale

It's time for another delve into the Butterfield archive with our volunteer Ian