Thousands flock to Peace Museum's new location

Dr Áine McKenny said the museum had seen a "massive increase" in visitors

More than 9,000 people have visited the newly reopened Peace Museum since its relocation to a new venue.

The museum, which charts the history of peace movements and peacemakers, moved from its original home in Bradford to Salts Mill in Saltaire, in August

Dr Áine McKenny, the museum's head of communications, said the "massive increase" of visitors had been "overwhelming" for all those involved.

A National Lottery heritage grant of just over £245,000 and an additional £150,000 from Bradford 2025 City of Culture helped fund the move to the Grade II listed mill.

The museum has had up to 300 visitors per day since it reopened on 10 August

Formerly based in Piece Hall Yard, in Bradford, the museum closed at the start of the pandemic as the original site was no longer viable and had issues with access.

Since it reopened on 10 August, the museum has been open five days a week.

Dr McKenny said: "We're averaging about 300 a day, 1,500 every week, and it's been a massive increase since we were last open in our old site.

"We'd have five visitors a day to the old site. Ten on a really good day. That would be us really busy if we had ten people in.

"To have that massive increase of people coming in and getting to see our amazing collection, it's been incredible."

All 16,000 artefacts in the museum's collection have been moved into a specialist basement storage space in Salts Mill, and will be rotated in the new exhibition space.

Peace banners are among the museum's 16,000 artefacts

Dr McKenny said: "We've been spending years working on this project. Then we spent the whole year in the space getting it ready, getting the collection ready.

"And to see people interacting with it, engaging with it, seeing the positive feedback. It's been really overwhelming. We're really, really happy."

Later this year the museum, which first opened in 1998, will launch its Schools Programme and plans to hold workshops in classrooms across the district.

It also aims to launch an education space in the new site next year, to coincide with the start of the City of Culture programme.

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