Leeds locals can shape free Leeds 400 exhibition

Leeds residents are being asked to look through family albums, keepsake boxes and community archives for items that could become part of the Leeds 400 Exhibition at Leeds Central Library.

The free exhibition is due to open on 1 September 2026 at Leeds Central Library. A start time has not been listed in the source material. The call is aimed at Leeds residents with photographs, stories, artwork, fanzines or memorabilia that help show what the city means to them.

Leeds City Council said the exhibition will mark 400 years since Leeds was awarded its first City Charter by King Charles I in 1626. The library wants public contributions to sit alongside historic material from its own special collections and images from the Leodis archive.

Family photos and local memories wanted

The library is looking for personal objects that capture important moments, people or communities in Leeds life. That could mean a photograph from a family collection, a story linked to a neighbourhood, artwork, a fanzine, or another object with personal or community meaning.

One image already being highlighted by the library is from 1970 and titled “Butch and Mates”. It shows unknown children playing in front of terraced houses in Servia Hill. Librarians hope scenes like that will prompt residents to consider what is sitting in their own cupboards, albums and boxes.

Antony Ramm, Leeds Central Library’s special collections librarian, said the exhibition is intended to bring the history and heritage of Leeds to life while also recognising the people, events and communities that have shaped the city in smaller, personal ways.

“For this exhibition what we’d really love is for people to share some of those personal moments and memories which define what Leeds really means to them so they can be part of celebrating this very special year,” he said.

Rare Leeds treasures will sit beside modern city life

The Leeds 400 Exhibition will include heritage treasures from the library’s special collections, including material linked to pioneering Leeds feminist Mary Gawthorpe and a one-of-a-kind copy of Ralph Thoresby’s Ducatus Leodiensis, described in the source as the first written history of Leeds.

The display will also draw on the library’s Leodis archive, which preserves images of the city taken by artists and photographers over the centuries. More modern items from the library collection are also expected to appear, including tickets to gigs and performances by famous acts and fanzines created by football and sports fans from around the region.

For readers interested in how the city’s archive collections are used in public displays, Leeds Central Library has also recently brought local sporting history back into view through rare archive items linked to Leeds and the 1966 World Cup.

How residents can take part

People who want to suggest stories, objects or photographs for the Leeds 400 Exhibition are being asked to email localandfamilyhistory@leeds.gov.uk ahead of the display opening.

The source material does not list an exhibition end date, opening time, venue address, accessibility information or booking requirement for visitors. It does confirm that the exhibition is free, will open in September 2026, and will be held at Leeds Central Library as part of city-wide Leeds 400 celebrations.

Councillor Asghar Khan, Leeds City Council’s executive member for housing and hubs, said the exhibition would give local people a chance to be involved in marking a historic occasion for the city.

Source: Leeds City Council