Discover 35 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Bradford (United Kingdom). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: National Science and Media Museum, Bracken Hall Countryside Centre and Museum, and Bradford Industrial Museum. Also, be sure to include Sunbridge Wells in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Bradford (England).
Table of Contents
National Science and Media Museum
Exhibits on the history of TV and film. The National Science and Media Museum, located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, is part of the national Science Museum Group in the UK. The museum has seven floors of galleries with permanent exhibitions focusing on photography, television, animation, videogaming, the Internet and the scientific principles behind light and colour. It also hosts temporary exhibitions and maintains a collection of 3.5 million pieces in its research facility.
The venue has three cinemas, including Europe's first opened IMAX screen. It hosts festivals dedicated to widescreen film, video games and science, and has previously hosted popular film festivals, including the Bradford International Film Festival until 2014.
In September 2011 the museum was voted the best indoor attraction in Yorkshire by the public, and it is one of the most visited museums in the north of England. As of February 2016 the museum, in response to revenue shortfalls, has controversially adopted a policy of focusing on "the science and culture of light and sound"—to the exclusion of what are seen as "unsustainable" aspects of creativity and culture, such as past film festivals.
In March 2016 a £7.5 million five year investment plan in the museum was revealed by the Science Museum Group. In March 2017 its name was changed from National Media Museum to National Science and Media Museum.[1]
Address: Little Horton Ln., BD1 1NQ Bradford (Bradford West)
Bracken Hall Countryside Centre and Museum
Museum. Bracken Hall Countryside Centre and Museum is a children's museum, natural history education centre and nature centre established in 1989 at Bracken Hall on the edge of Baildon Moor, close to Shipley Glen in West Yorkshire, England.
In 2013 the Bradford Council removed their funding of the museum. The Friends of Bracken Hall worked to gather support in order to reopen the museum, and whilst the centre was planned to re-open in late 2015, it was finally re-opened to the public in April 2016 with the help of Baildon Town Council.[2]
Bradford Industrial Museum
Museum in Bradford, England. Bradford Industrial Museum, established 1974 in Moorside Mills, Eccleshill, Bradford, United Kingdom, specializes in relics of local industry, especially printing and textile machinery, kept in working condition for regular demonstrations to the public. There is a Horse Emporium in the old canteen block plus a shop in the mill, and entry is free of charge.[3]
Address: 235 Moorside Rd, BD2 3HP Bradford (Bradford East)
Sunbridge Wells
Shopping centre in Bradford, England. Sunbridge Wells is a leisure and shopping facility and tourist attraction built in tunnels in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The centre was opened in 2016.[4]
Address: Sunbridge Rd., BD1 1SD Bradford (Bradford West)
Cartwright Hall
Art gallery in Bradford, England. Cartwright Hall is the civic art gallery in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, situated about a mile from the city centre in the Manningham district. It was built on the former site of Manningham Hall using a gift of £40,000 donated by Samuel Lister and it is named after Edmund Cartwright. The gallery which opened in 1904 initially had a display of artworks loaned from other galleries and private collections until it was able to purchase a permanent collection of Victorian and Edwardian works using money raised by the 1904 Bradford Exhibition.
Cartwright Hall stands in Lister Park and enjoys scenic views of the city. Cartwright Hall has been held to represent "Bradford Baroque", a style of architecture typical of Bradford. It is however designed by the same architects as Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum (Sir John W. Simpson and E.J. Milner Allen), also in the Baroque style.
The purpose-built gallery is home to a collection of permanent works, from Old Masters to 20th-century British paintings and sculpture. Cartwright Hall also has a biennial open exhibition and contemporary and historical exhibitions by local, national and international artists. Since the mid 1980s the Bradford museum group has collected works that are associated with the cultural background of many post-war migrants to the Bradford area. Acquisitions include contemporary South Asian Art - Islamic calligraphy, phulkari style illustrated textiles and items of contemporary Sikh art, including a portrait of Guru Nanak.
In 1983 Cartwright Hall was briefly used as part of the musical number Every Sperm is Sacred in the Monty Python film, The Meaning of Life.
In 2003 an Unreal Tournament map was created featuring the inside of the hall as part of a contest for PC Format Magazine.[5]
Address: Lister Park, BD9 4NS Bradford (Bradford West)
Bingley Five Rise Locks
Tourist attraction in Bingley, England. Bingley Five-Rise Locks is a staircase lock on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Bingley. As the name implies, a boat passing through the lock is lifted or lowered in five stages.[6]
Address: Leeds - Liverpool Canal, B D16 Bingley (Shipley)
Lister Park
Renowned park with Islamic water gardens. Lister Park is a picturesque public park in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, between Manningham, Heaton and Frizinghall. It has won various national awards.[7]
Address: North Park Rd., BD9 4ND Bradford (Bradford West)
Bingley St Ives
Park in England. Bingley St. Ives, or St. Ives Estate is a 550-acre country park and former estate between Bingley and Harden in West Yorkshire, England now owned by Bradford Council. The park has Grade II listing in the English Heritage National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Interest. The park has been given Accredited Country Park status by Natural England.
As well as being a public country park the property is also used by Bingley St Ives Golf Club, the Sports Turf Research Institute, Bradford Independent Care Group, Bingley Angling Club, and Aire Valley Archers. Some 300,000 people per year visit the country park.[8]
Address: St Ives Estate, Bradford (Shipley)
Odsal Stadium
Stadium in Bradford, England. Odsal Stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, is the home of Bradford Bulls Rugby League team. It has also been used by the Bradford Dukes speedway team, BRISCA F1 and F2 stock cars, the football team Bradford City, following the Valley Parade fire, and for baseball, basketball, kabbadi, show jumping, tennis, live music, international Rugby League and the 1997 Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain.
The stadium's highest attendance was 102,569 in 1954 for the Warrington-Halifax Challenge Cup Final replay, and for a domestic, non-final, Rugby League match, 69,429 at the third round Challenge Cup tie between Bradford Northern and Huddersfield in 1953. The stadium is owned by Bradford City Council, but due to financial problems the Rugby Football League purchased the lease on it in 2012.[9]
Address: Bradford Bulls, BD6 1BS Bradford (Bradford South)
Salts Mill
Shopping centre in Shipley, England. Salts Mill is a former textile mill, now an art gallery, shopping centre, and restaurant complex in Saltaire, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It was built by Sir Titus Salt in 1853, and the present-day 1853 Gallery takes its name from the date of the building which houses it. The mill has many paintings by the local artist David Hockney on display and also provides offices for Pace plc.
The Mill and surrounding town of Saltaire was financed and built by the 19th century industrialist and philanthropist Sir Titus Salt after he observed other textile factories and was disappointed by the working conditions he saw there. At the time mill working conditions were commonly poor, with most workers suffering disease, low wages and labour exploitation. Dangerous machinery and long hours, sometimes exceeding 16 hour working days, resulted in frequent accidents. Titus Salt acknowledged this and built a factory and surrounding town with which he intended to improve the working conditions for his employees. When completed, the mill was the largest industrial building in the world by total floor area. It is a grade II* listed building. The mill closed in 1986 and the following year it was sold to Jonathan Silver, who began a long renovation scheme.[10]
Address: 7-6 Victoria Rd, BD18 3LA Shipley (Shipley)
Undercliffe Cemetery
Cemetery in Bradford, England. Undercliffe Cemetery is located between Otley Road and Undercliffe Lane in the Bolton and Undercliffe ward, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The cemetery stands atop a hillside overlooking the city and contains some very impressive Victorian funerary monuments in a variety of styles. It is a notable example of a Victorian cemetery where a number of rich and prominent local residents have been buried, notably mill owners and former mayors. Undercliffe Cemetery is grade II* listed by English Heritage in their Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England.[11]
Address: The Lodge Undercliffe Cemetery Undercliffe Lane, BD3 0DW Bradford (Bradford East)
Northcliffe Park
Park in Shipley, England. Northcliffe Park is a 35-hectare area in Shipley, West Yorkshire, England, set aside for allotments, parkland and woodland. The park and playing fields were donated by Sir Norman Rae in 1920 and the playing fields are known as the Norman Rae fields, but are part of the park itself. The park adjoins the town of Shipley to its eastern and northern sides, and Heaton to the south, with Northcliffe Golf Club also bordering the park on the western side. Bradford Model Engineering Society have two demonstration and ride-on lines within the park which are open to public in the summer.
The area was historically known as North Clough ('clough' referring to the ravine containing Northcliffe Dike stream), and then North Cliff which over time became Northcliffe.[12]
Bingley Three Rise Locks
Historical landmark in Bingley, England. Bingley Three Rise Locks is a staircase of three locks on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Bingley, West Yorkshire, England. The locks are a Grade II* listed building.
The locks were designed by John Longbotham and opened in 1774. The stone locks are still operational and underwent major refurbishment including the installation of new lock gates in 2015.[13]
Address: Leeds - Liverpool Canal, Bradford (Shipley)
Saltaire United Reformed Church
Church in Shipley, England. Saltaire United Reformed Church is a church at Saltaire, West Yorkshire, England. Commissioned and paid for by Titus Salt in the mid 19th century, the church is a Grade I listed building and sits within the Saltaire World Heritage Site.[14]
Shipley Glen Tramway
Tourist attraction in Baildon, England. The Shipley Glen Tramway is a historic funicular tramway located in the wooded Shipley Glen near the village of Saltaire in the English county of West Yorkshire.
The lower station of the funicular is some 660 feet (200 m) by foot from Saltaire railway station, and a similar distance from the historic Salts Mill, now occupied by shops and restaurants as well as the David Hockney gallery.[15]
Bolling Hall Museum
Museum in Bradford, England. Bolling Hall is one of the oldest buildings in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is currently used as a museum and education centre. The building is about a mile from the centre of Bradford in East Bowling. Its surroundings are suburban in character.
Before the Industrial Revolution, Bradford was a small town and difficult to defend as it lay in a basin. However, Bolling Hall occupies a commanding position on a hillside. The earliest part of this building, dating from the 14th century, has been interpreted as a peel tower, although Bradford is somewhat outside the typical geographical area for these defensive structures.
The Manor of Bolling (Bollinc) is first mentioned in Domesday Book and was at that time in the possession of a man named Sindi. The manor then came under the control of Ilbert de Lacy. By 1316 the manor was owned by William Bolling, and Bollings owned the estate until the late 15th century when control went to the Tempests who held the estate until 1649. The estate changed hands several times thereafter until eventually it was let to several tenants until being presented to Bradford Corporation in 1912. It was opened as a museum three years later.
During the second siege of Bradford in 1643, during the English Civil War, the house was a Royalist base. On this occasion the Royalists took the town, which had strong Parliamentarian sympathies, and it was thought that the victors would put the inhabitants to the sword. There is usually material on display relating to the English Civil War including a death mask of Oliver Cromwell. In the 18th century, parts of the house were modernised by the architect John Carr, following a fire. The Hall was designated as a Grade I listed building in 1952.
The Bolling chapel at Bradford parish church, now Bradford Cathedral, was founded by the owners of Bolling Hall and was restored by the Tempest family in the 17th century but did not survive the 20th-century rebuilding of the Chancel.[16]
Address: Bowling Hall Rd, BD4 7LP Bradford (Bradford East)
Bowling Park
Park in Bradford, England. Bowling Park is a public urban park near Bolling Hall in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England about 1+1⁄2 miles south south east from the city centre. The park is irregularly shaped with an area of 50 acres and is bounded by Bowling Hall Road, Burras Road, Bowling Memorial Cemetery, Parkside Road, Avenue Road, Bowling Park Allotments and Bowling Park Drive.
The park is grade II listed with English Heritage on their Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England and is owned by the City of Bradford.[17]
St George's Hall
Building in Bradford, England. St George's Hall is a strategic grade II* listed Victorian building located in the centre of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Originally designed with a seating capacity of 3,500, the hall seats up to 1,335 people and 1,550 for standing concerts. It is one of the oldest concert halls still in use in the United Kingdom. German Jewish wool merchants who had moved to Bradford because of its textile industry, partly financed the building of St George's Hall, and were instrumental in its construction.[18]
Address: Bradford, Bridge Street
Bradford Cathedral
15th-century, CofE place of worship. Bradford Cathedral, or Cathedral Church of St Peter, is an Anglican cathedral and is one of three co-equal cathedrals in the Diocese of Leeds in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Its site has been used for Christian worship since the 8th century, when missionaries based in Dewsbury evangelised the area. Until 1919, it was the parish church of St Peter. The cathedral is a Grade I listed building. As well as the cathedral at Bradford, its neighbouring cities Ripon and Wakefield also have two cathedrals under the same diocese.[19]
Address: 1 Stott Hill, BD1 4EH Bradford (Bradford West)
Alhambra
Theatre in Bradford, England. The Alhambra Theatre is a theatre in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, named after the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain, which was the place of residence of the Emir of the Emirate of Granada. It was built in 1913 at a cost of £20,000 for theatre impresario Francis Laidler, and opened on Wednesday 18 March 1914. In 1964, Bradford City Council bought the Alhambra for £78,900 and in 1974, it was designated a Grade II listed building. It underwent extensive refurbishment in 1986. Today it is a receiving house for large-scale touring theatre of all types and the main house seats 1,456.[20]
Address: Bradford, Morley Street
Pudsey Town Hall
City or town hall in Pudsey, England. Pudsey Town Hall is a municipal building in Robin Lane, Pudsey, West Yorkshire, England. The town hall was the headquarters of Pudsey Urban District Council from 1912 to 1974.[21]
Bradford City Hall
Building in Bradford, England. Bradford City Hall is a 19th-century town hall in Centenary Square, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is notable for its landmark bell/clock tower and is a Grade I listed building.[22]
Address: City Hall Centenary Square, BD1 1HY Bradford (Bradford West)
Bradford Playhouse
Theatre in Bradford, England. The Bradford Playhouse is a 266-seat proscenium arch theatre with circle and stall seating based in Little Germany, in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Formerly known as The Priestley, the theatre also has a studio space that has flexible lighting, sound and seating arrangements.[23]
Address: Bradford, Chapel Street, Little Germany
Red House Museum
Museum in Gomersal, England. Red House Museum was a historic house museum, built in 1660 and renovated in the Georgian era. It closed to the public at the end of 2016 but remains as a Grade II* listed building in Gomersal, Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England.[24]
Wool Exchange
Building in Bradford, England. The Wool Exchange Building in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England is a grade I-listed building built as a wool-trading centre in the 19th century. The grandeur of its Gothic Revival architecture is symbolic of the wealth and importance that wool brought to Bradford. Today it is a Waterstones bookshop as well as a cafe.[25]
Address: The Wool Exchange 10 Hustlergate, BD1 1RE Bradford (Bradford West)
Bradford Dale
Bradford Dale, is a side valley of Airedale that feeds water from Bradford Beck across the City of Bradford into the River Aire at Shipley in West Yorkshire, England. Whilst it is in Yorkshire and a dale, it is not part of the Yorkshire Dales and has more in common with Lower Nidderdale and Lower Airedale for its industrialisation.
Before the expansion of Bradford, the dale was a collection of settlements surrounded by woods. When the wool and worsted industries in the dale were mechanized in the Industrial Revolution, the increasing population resulted in an urban sprawl that meant these individual communities largely disappeared as Bradford grew, and in 1897, the town of Bradford became a city. Since most settlements became suburbs of the City of Bradford, the term Bradford Dale has become archaic and has fallen into disuse, though it is sometimes used to refer to the flat section of land northwards from Bradford City Centre towards Shipley.
The woollen and worsted industries had a profound effect on the dale, the later City of Bradford and the wider region. The geological conditions in the valley also allowed some coal mining to take place, but a greater emphasis was upon the noted stone found on the valley floor (Elland Flags and Gaisby Rock), which as a hard sandstone, was found to be good for buildings and in use as a harbour stone due to its natural resistance to water.
The dale is notable for the lack of a main river (Bradford Beck being only a small watercourse in comparison to the rivers Wharfe, Aire, Calder and Don) and necessitated the importation of clean water into the dale from as afar afield as Nidderdale. Most of the becks in the city centre have now been culverted and have suffered with pollution from the heavy woollen industry in the dale.[26]
Peel Park
Park in Bradford, England. Peel Park is a 22.6-hectare urban public park in the Bolton and Undercliffe area of Bradford, England, located about 0.75 miles north-east of the city centre, and named after Sir Robert Peel. Peel Park was Bradford's first public park and is on the English Heritage and National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens online databases. The park is a Green Flag Award winner and has been for a number of years.[27]
Address: Bolton Rd., BD 2 4 Bradford (Bradford East)
Impressions Gallery
Art center in Bradford, England. Impressions Gallery is an independent contemporary photography gallery in Bradford, England. It was established in 1972 and located in York until moving to Bradford in 2007. Impressions Gallery also runs a photography bookshop, publishes its own books and sells prints. It is one of the oldest venues for contemporary photography in Europe.[28]
Address: 7 Aldermanbury, BD1 1SD Bradford (Bradford West)
Holden Park
Park in Oakworth, England. Holden Park is the only park in the village of Oakworth, West Yorkshire, England. The park is also known locally as Oakworth Park.[29]
Pictureville Cinema
Pictureville Cinema is a cinema auditorium located within the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.
Pictureville is one of the best equipped cinemas in the world. It is equipped for 35 mm, 70 mm, 4K resolution and Cinerama projection. The cinema features Dolby Digital EX, DTS and 8 Channel SDDS digital sound systems. It has the only public Cinerama projection system outside the USA.
The cinema opened on 8 April 1992, with a charity performance of Hook in 70 mm and 6-channel stereophonic sound. The first Cinerama screening was This is Cinerama on 16 June 1993.[30]
Address: Pictureville, Bradford (Bradford West)
Church of All Saints
Parish in Bingley, England. Church of All Saints is the Anglican parish church in the town of Bingley, West Yorkshire, England. It is one of two Anglican churches in the town, the other being Holy Trinity. All Saints has existed since Norman times and it is set in the oldest part of the town, near to where the River Aire is crossed by Ireland Bridge.[31]
Address: 52 Old Main St, BD16 2RH Bingley (Shipley)
Roberts Park
Park in Baildon, England. Roberts Park is a 14 acres public urban park in Saltaire, West Yorkshire, England. Higher Coach Road, Baildon, is to the north and the park is bounded to the south by the River Aire. A pedestrian footbridge crosses the Aire and links the park to the village of Saltaire. The park is an integral part of the Saltaire World Heritage site.
The park is grade II listed in English Heritage's Register of Parks and Gardens and is a Green Flag Award winner. Visitor numbers are estimated to be up to 3,000 people per day.[32]
Address: Lodge Higher Roberts Roberts Park Lodge Higher Coach Road, BD17 7LU Shipley (Shipley)
Shipley Town Hall
Shipley Town Hall is a municipal structure in Kirkgate in Shipley, West Yorkshire, England. It was the headquarters of Shipley Urban District Council.[33]
Colour Experience
Museum in Bradford, England. The Colour Experience is a visitor attraction and museum in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.
The museum covers the science of light and colour. It is run by the Society of Dyers and Colourists as an educational charity. Educational workshops are provided for school groups.[34]
Address: Perkin House 82 Grattan Road, BD1 2LU Bradford (Bradford West)
Holy Trinity Church
Episcopal church in Bingley, England. Holy Trinity Church is an Anglican parish church in the town of Bingley, West Yorkshire, England notable for its original church being demolished by explosive charge on 7 April 1974.[35]
Address: Trinity Pl, BD16 2PR Bingley (Shipley)