The third part of Joey Talbot’s trilogy of articles exploring the collections of the Morley Museum. Part 1 and Part 2 were published over the last two weeks and we strongly recommend reading them before diving into this final section…. So now we come to the third part of the story of the Morley Museum….
Category: Collections
In search of Morley Museum – Part 2
Part two of Joey Talbot’s trilogy of articles on the mysteries and wonders of Morley Museum. Part one was published last week – we recommend reading before starting part two… In a spacious room on the first floor of the Morley Library building there was once a museum. In the previous article, I introduced this…
In search of Morley Museum – Part 1
In this set of articles by Joey Talbot, Secret Library Leeds becomes Secret Library Morley, as we go in search of the many treasures that could once be found within the walls of the Morley Museum. This is part one of a three part series – keep an eye out for parts two and three…
Coasts Between
This week on the Secret Library Leeds we bring you a snapshot of a unique treasure held as part of our Special Collections: Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer’s A description of the sea coastes of England between Burnham & Scarborough….This wonderful sea chart was shown to the public during our Local and Family History open day in…
A Selection of Botanical Treasures
Here at Leeds Central Library, we recently hosted a treasure handling workshop to show off a few more of our botanical items that we could not fit in our current exhibition – Unearthed: The Power of Gardening – at Leeds Central Library until 29 October 2025. First up was Flora Londinensis by William Curtis. This…
The man who turned into a moss: The botanical exploits of Richard Spruce
In connection with the ongoing Unearthed exhibition at Leeds Central Library, here’s a sneaky look at the backstory of a Yorkshire botanist whose passion for plants led him far and wide, touching on the worlds of science and medicine, empire and gardening. We then peek into his connections to one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs…
Gardens and Gardening in Leeds – a new curated gallery
To accompany our recent Unearthed: The Power of Gardening exhibition, hosted at Leeds Central Library until 29 October 2025, a new collection of images has been created on the Leodis website. Ranging from formal gardens to allotments, these photos offer a glimpse of how the people of Leeds have grown plants, flowers and vegetables over…
Heritage Open Days 2025
This week we take an in-depth look at events at Leeds Central Library during the Heritage Open Days Festival 2025. Local History Open Day Running on Saturday 13 September, 11.00am – 2.00pm in the Local and Family History Library, the Open Day is a chance for librarians to exhibit some of our most cherished and…
The Secret Library | Leeds Libraries Heritage Blog 