Bagshaw Museum and Wilton Park

Bagshaw Museum and Wilton Park offers a fun, fascinating, and free day out for the family with plenty to discover.

Bagshaw Museum, housed in an extraordinary Gothic mansion that once belonged to a Victorian former mill owner, is set in 36 acres of lovely parkland and ancient woodland, and it's easy to imagine that you've stepped back in time as you approach the museum.

The museum has a wide range of unusual collections from around the globe, and it is probably one of the only places you can hear a Shirley Bassey hit and come face to face with a Ganges crocodile in this surprising and entertaining place!

The displays include 2 Batley local history galleries, where you can learn about iconic institutions like Fox's Biscuits, the ‘Spirit of South Asia' gallery, and ‘The Kingdom of Osiris', a dramatically lit atmospheric Egyptology gallery that recreates the interior of a tomb! You can see beautiful decorative arts from China, Japan, Africa, and India in the ‘Gods, Divine Creatures and Mythical Beasts' gallery. There is also a versatile temporary exhibitions space that is used to host activities and events.

Despite it costing the mill owner a staggering (in 1875!) £25,000 to build, the house and grounds were auctioned in 1901 for the princely sum of £5, and Wilton Park was born! The large formal park contains bowling greens and tennis courts, a paddling pool, and a large lake that is home to hundreds of water birds throughout the year. The park also has a discovery trail, playgrounds for older and younger children to enjoy, crazy golf, a toddler ride on play area, and a cafe! It's pretty hard to go wrong, here!