History
The origins of Armley Mills trace back to at least 1707, when it functioned as a fulling mill. In 1788, Colonel Thomas Lloyd acquired the site, transforming it into a major woollen mill. After a devastating fire in 1804, industrialist Benjamin Gott rebuilt the mill in 1805 using fireproof materials, establishing it as the world’s largest woollen mill at the time. The mill operated until 1969, after which Leeds City Council purchased and reopened it as the Leeds Industrial Museum in 1982.