National Coal Mining Museum for England
Former miners lead you down 140 metres in a cage into a real mine. It is one of Britain’s most immersive industrial museums.
The museum is housed at Caphouse Colliery, which closed in 1995. Its signature attraction is the underground tour. Put on a hard hat and lamp, descend about 140 metres in the mine cage, and listen to former miners explain how coal was cut in different eras. The tour takes about 75 minutes. Above ground there are a miners’ bathhouse, a steam winding engine house and pit pony stables. The museum is free to enter, but underground tours must be booked at reception on the day, with limited places, so arrive early. Electronic devices are not permitted underground. It is about 8 km from the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, so the two can be visited on the same day.
Opening hours
Daily 10:00–17:00 (underground tours approx. 10:00–15:15)
Nearby sights
- Yorkshire Sculpture Park
- The Hepworth Wakefield
- Elland Road
- Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills
- Leeds Town Hall
- Leeds Corn Exchange
- Leeds Art Gallery & Henry Moore Institute
- Royal Armouries Museum