Every September we get very excited about the Heritage Open Days festival, which this year runs from 8th – 17th September. This sees thousands of staff and volunteers across England organise events to celebrate our fantastic history and culture. It’s your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – all of which are FREE to explore.

This year we have some very special events happening at Leeds Central Library starting with a bumper day of local history on Saturday 9th September.

First up, at 10.30am, is a fascinating talk entitled ‘The Factory Child’s Last Day: Poetry and Politics in 19th century Leeds’.

This talk will explore some of the poetry written during the industrial revolution which exposed the harsh working conditions experienced by children in mines, mills and factories. Reading these poems today, they may seem overly sentimental and exaggerated. However, they contributed to the philanthropic movement in 19th-century Britain that led to the legislation restricting child labour in several industries and a consequent reduction in childhood morbidity and mortality. 

Find out which Leeds MP campaigned for legislation to restrict child labour by composing an emotive ballad on the topic? And who was the Bingley Byron? Why was he commissioned to write a poem entitled The Factory Child?

The speaker, Emma Storr, is a GP, academic and poet, born and brought up in London, who now lives in West Yorkshire. For several years she taught medical students at the University of Leeds. One optional module she designed and ran was on the ill child in history. Research into this topic led to her interest in poetry written in the 19th-century on the topic of child labour and health.

This talk is free to attend but booking is essential, 10.30am, Sanderson Room, third floor, Central Library.

Local History Open Day – Saturday 9th September, 10am – 4pm, Local and Family History Library, second floor, Central Library.

We can’t wait to show off some of our local history and special collections that are not usually on display to the public – including maps, photographs and unique books. We’ll also have our copy of Christopher Saxton’s atlas on display for the first time. Containing 35 detailed, hand coloured maps of the counties of England and Wales, the fascinating book was created by the Yorkshire-born ‘father of English cartography’ Christopher Saxton in 1579 after getting royal permission from Queen Elizabeth I. You may have seen our colleague Phil showing it off to the local press recently as well as to the BBC. You can read more about this amazing treasure on its dedicated Secret Library page.

Pop along to the second floor of Leeds Central Library any time on the 9th September to browse hand-picked selections from our impressive collection of local history materials for Leeds and Yorkshire, with Librarians on hand to answer any questions.

No need to book – drop in event all day.

But the events don’t end on the 9th, we have Heritage Tours running every day although currently all have sold out already. Keep an eye out for any returns though.

On Wednesday 13th September at 5.30pm we have Jennie Batchelor paying us a visit to talk about ‘Needlework, early women’s magazines and Jane Austen Embroidery‘.

We all know that Jane Austen was an accomplished novelist, but she was also a talented needlewoman who stitched gifts for friends, made shirts for her brother and personalised her clothing with decorative embroidery. But where did she get her designs from? In this illustrated talk, author and academic Jennie Batchelor answers this question by drawing on treasures from Leeds Central Library’s Sanderson Collection and her nearly twenty years of tracking down presumed-lost needlework patterns from women’s magazines of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Original material from the Sanderson Collection, including The Lady’s Magazine, will be available to view at the event.

Free but booking required, Wednesday 13th September, 5.30pm, Sanderson Room, third floor, Central Library.

The final event taking place in Central Library is on Saturday 16th September, 10 – 11.30am. This sees Pablo Fanque’s Victorian Circus Game pay a visit to our first floor. This is a fantastically fun way to learn about the true story of Pablo and other successful, talented circus performers of his era.

Throw a giant dice, and learn about the circus by entering a beautiful hand-painted circus ring! Learn REAL circus skills; be a clown, a juggler, stilt walk and hula hoop during this lively interactive game.

Room 800, first floor, Leeds Central Library. Free, no booking required. For ages 6+

There are hundreds of events taking place in Leeds over the Heritage Open Days Festival. Have a browse of the website or look out for printed brochures to plan your week.