Information from the Peace Museum at Salts Mill, Saltaire:
The Peace Museum will close its doors on Monday 31st August 2026 until mid-November for installation of a new heating system and upgrades to the gallery space.
Earlier this year, The Peace Museum was thrilled to announce a major capital investment award from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, as part of the legacy of UK City of Culture 2025.
The funding makes possible vital work – providing long-term sustainability for the museum, safeguarding its nationally significant collection and ensuring that peace heritage has a permanent and accessible home in Bradford.
The funding acknowledges the museum’s recent development achievements. Since August 2024, visitor numbers have surged, growing from 3,000 to 60,000 per year. Alongside this, the museum has delivered an eclectic range of partnership projects, engaging & inspiring a new generation of peacemakers locally, nationally & internationally.
Regular visitors will know that the museum gallery space, housed in Salts Mill, gets very cold during the winter season. In previous years, the museum has been forced to close from December – March due to cold temperatures. This work will enable the museum to stay open year-round, allowing an estimated additional 15,000 people to visit each year. It will create a stable temperature range, humidity control and energy efficiency. This is important for creating long-term preservation of the collection and improved comfort for visitors, volunteers and staff upon reopening.
The works will enable more school groups, families, researchers, and members of the community to engage with inspiring histories and urgent contemporary conversations that define the work of The Peace Museum.
During the closure period, the museum will continue its outreach work with a programme of touring workshops and online events.
The Peace Museum will reopen in mid-November, with an exciting new exhibition ‘Pressing Matters’ – exploring the role of printmaking and posters in peace histories.
“We are really excited to see the next stage in the museum’s development, allowing up to 15,000 more people to visit and be inspired by the collection. This short-term closure will secure the long-term stability of the UK’s only peace museum.
Throughout the temporary closure, an exciting range of online and pop-up events – including community printmaking – will mean supporters and visitors will be able to contribute to our Autumn exhibition, ‘Pressing Matters’.
The foundations of peace are built by ordinary people making extraordinary efforts. I’d like to thank all our supporters, from our visitors to volunteers, funders and partners, for making this exciting transformation possible.” – Professor Rachel Julian, Chair of Trustees
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