Bankfield Museum

03/09/2026

Have you entered the Calderdale Open Art Exhibition?

This competition is open to all amateur and professional artists and we have already received some fantastic entries including:

🖌️ Marsden, 10th March 2023 - Watercolour and Ink by Stephen Boxall
🐑 Memory of Keswick, Herdwick Sheep - Needle Felt Wool by Fiona Burton
☔️ My Light Shines Through - Digital Art, by Anu Dhaliwal

Artists are invited to submit original artwork in any 2D format (e.g. paintings, drawings, photography, digital art, textiles). The theme of this year's competition is memories.

Successful entries will be displayed in a 6-month exhibition at Smith Art Gallery, Brighouse opening on Saturday 16 January 2027.

🔗 To find out how to enter and for more about our grand prizes, visit https://museums.calderdale.gov.uk/event-details/calderdale-open-art-exhibition-2026-entry-portal-opens

📥 If you need any assistance with the entry process, please email [email protected]

01/09/2026

We are excited to be taking part in another Eureka Teachers' Morning! 🍎

This special educational morning is designed to connect teachers with fantastic school visit opportunities.

Meet the Calderdale Museums Learning Team along with other local attractions face-to-face, explore what’s on offer for educational trips, and gather inspiration for future visits in a relaxed and engaging morning.

📍 Eureka! The National Children's Museum
📆 Saturday 19 September
🕙 10am-1pm
🔗 https://www.facebook.com/events/1527406185709740/

What’s on offer for teachers…
⭐ Free entry for teachers (with proof of teacher status), plus discounted entry for any accompanying children and adults
⭐ Opportunity to stay and enjoy the full day at Eureka!
⭐ A fun prize draw for teachers who visit every stand.

31/08/2026

We have had a brilliantly busy August at Bankfield Museum! Here's a little look at what has been happening:

🎩 We danced the night away at the annual Bankfield Regency Summer Ball.

🖌 As the Arts Council Museum Estate and Development funded work to Bankfield's roof draws to a close, specialist restoration work was carried out on the decorative ceiling panels in our Main Hall. It was fantastic to watch the intricate process from start to finish. Photo credit: Nick .

🚂 Preparations began for our upcoming exhibition, Halifax Transport, including some collection cleaning.

🫟 Our Learning Team got creative and hosted lots of children's summer craft sessions.

🎨 Entries opened for the Calderdale Open Art competition, and we have already received some fantastic entries including ‘Marsden, 10th March 2023 - Watercolour and Ink by Stephen Boxall’.

💧 We prepared Mr Darcy's iconic 'wet' shirt to go out on loan to 'Cosprop ‘Costume Couture: Sixty Years of Cosprop’ at Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh.

Don’t forget, you can stay up to date with all our upcoming events and exhibitions by visiting https://museums.calderdale.gov.uk/whats-on, or subscribing to our monthly e-newsletter https://museums.calderdale.gov.uk/mailing-list

30/08/2026

👗 Join us for a talk with Jenny Fenwick about the exciting journey her 1964 Mary Quant dress went on after being rediscovered in her loft!

The dress has been on display across the world including in the V&A Mary Quant Exhibition in London in 2019 and appeared on the BBC Documentary, Secrets of the Museum. It is now part of the V&A collection.

Alongside the talk we will have, on display, an original Mary Quant dress from the Bankfield Museum collection.

📆 Saturday 19 September, 11am to 12:30pm
🎟️ Tickets are £12 per person. Book online via https://www.ticketsource.com/calderdale-museums/t-yzeddxo

This talk will take place in the ground floor Oak Gallery at Bankfield Museum.

28/08/2026

Dance into the Bank Holiday weekend!💃🕺
A pair of gold 1920s shoes with rhinestone and pearl encrusted heels.
Can you imagine wearing these on the dancefloor?

Remember Bankfield Museum is also open this Bank Holiday Monday.

*These gorgeous heels were on display last year but currently are not on display.

28/08/2026

26/08/2026

We have some bonus open days coming up at Bankfield Museum, giving you more opportunities to explore and enjoy our museum!

📅 We are open every bank holiday Monday, so join us this Monday 31 August from 10am to 4pm.

📆 We will also be open for a one-off Sunday on 13 September, 10am to 4pm to celebrate Heritage Open Days.

Entry to Bankfield Museum is always FREE and there’s something for everyone including a range of art, fashion and local and military history exhibitions with free children’s trails available.

Some of our current exhibitions include:

👠 Fashion Extremes! – From scandalously short miniskirts to voluminous sleeves, towering platform heels and extremely wide skirts to bold clashing colours and flared trousers. Explore 250 years of everyday fashion trends that go beyond the practical and make a bold statement.

🌿 Landscapes: An Exhibition by Julia Woodhouse - Yorkshire-based landscape artist Julia Woodhouse works mainly with acrylic and oil paint. Working from her studio in Hebden Bridge, she produces light-filled works inspired by the natural environment.

🧵Reconstructing Historical Fashion – View costumes from the finalists of the 2025 Costume Society Patterns of Fashion competition made by Lana Vargas, Verity Joy and Georgia Barclay.

We hope to see you soon!

25/08/2026

👩‍🎨 We've had a brilliant summer full of creative children's activities - and there's still more to come! Join us for:

🌈 Children’s Screen Printing
📅 Friday 28 August, 11am to 12pm or 1pm to 2pm
Roll up your sleeves and get ready for a burst of colour as we dive into the exciting world of screen printing.
🎟️ https://www.ticketsource.com/calderdale-museums/children-s-screen-printing/e-djvjka

🎨 Saturday Art Club – Marvellous Mosaics
📅 Saturday 5 September 10.30am to 12pm
In these monthly sessions we explore new materials, techniques or art movements and budding young artists produce their own masterpiece to take home!
🔸 This month we will be exploring the ancient art of mosaics and creating our very own tiles.
🎟️ https://www.ticketsource.com/calderdale-museums/saturday-family-art-club/e-ogloyz

🫟 All children’s creative workshops are £5.00 per child. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Accompanying adults do not need tickets.

⭐ Please note these event will be held in our Education Room, which is located on the first floor of Bankfield Museum. Please contact [email protected] to discuss any access needs

25/08/2026

Have you visited Akroyd Library yet? It's a beautiful space inside Bankfield Museum, and on Thursday there will even be some free drop-in crafts available to make and take home!

Why not have a day out to and pop in the library to get crafty making sunflower pompoms and stained glass rainbows while you're there? 🌈🌻📚