Wagon Lifting Hoist Mini Museum

Welcome to the Wagon Lifting Hoist Mini Museum

Located on the ground floor of the Grade II listed landmark lifting tower – one of the last remaining parts of the original Leeds Central Station – the mini museum celebrates Leeds’s rich industrial heritage. It exhibits artefacts spanning the station’s more than century long history, including photography and specially created films capturing the memories of those who once used or worked at the station.

Dating back to 1850, the lifting tower was one of a pair which stood either side of the river and canal viaduct. Using steam power and large chains, its role was to hoist wagons from the higher-level passenger line down to the Great Northern Goods yard at the original Leeds Central railway station.

Leeds Central station closed in 1967, and the entire complex was demolished apart from this one lifting tower. The Grade II listed building received a Leeds Civic Trust blue plaque in July 2011, marking it as an important historical point of interest in Leeds city centre.

Since MEPC began development at Wellington Place more than 15 years ago, we have always been committed to the structure playing a central role and symbolic part at the heart of the development. 

Part of our role as its custodian has always been to ensure it is preserved and protected within the context of striking, modern architecture. And we have always had a vision to bring it back into use at the right time. 

In summer 2023, working with built environment, conservation and historical specialists, we began a painstaking process to repair, restore and activate the wagon lifting tower once again. It has undergone a comprehensive, sympathetic and privately funded, restoration program bringing it back to its former glory. 

Importantly, we saw an opportunity to go much further than just restoring the structure and were committed to transforming the wagon lifting hoist into a space that people can visit and enjoy. 

The mini museum is free for all to enjoy.

View the video of the opening of the mini museum here.

If you have any memories of Leeds Central Station, we’d love to hear them, drop us a line: info@wellingtonplace.co.uk