Bankfield Museum Studentship

Bankfield Museum, Halifax

Bankfield Museum in Halifax was founded in 1887. Previously, this Victorian mansion was the home of local mill owner, philanthropist and MP, Colonel Edward Akroyd, and it is set in the attractive surroundings of Akroyd Park, at the centre of Akroydon model village conservation area.  

The museum’s nationally important costume and textiles collection of around 17,000 items showcases local manufacturing, western dress, embroidery, court dress, military uniforms and domestic textiles. The archive also holds significant pieces from Ancient Egypt, the Balkans, China, Japan, and the Indian subcontinent. Bankfield Museum has an annual costume exhibition in the fashion gallery featuring items from the collection and loans from across the country.

Display from Bankfield Museum’s 2026 gallery exhibition

Bankfield Museum is part of Calderdale Museums, run by Calderdale Council. The museum’s displays cover local history, costume, art, toys, military history, jewellery and textiles from around the world. It also hosts temporary exhibitions including costume, embroidery, quilting, textile art, paintings and photography.

Placement Project

The successful students will spend a total of 15 days on placement together at Bankfield Museum for one day a week between the beginning of October 2026 and the end of March 2027, during semesters 1 and 2.

Selection of shoes from Bankfield Museum’s collection

The placement is an opportunity for the students to work closely with the fashion curator at Bankfield Museum on an auditing project within the textile and costume store. This will give students valuable hands-on experience on collections care, cataloguing, object handling, photographing, object storage and using digital collections management systems.

Students will become more familiar with Spectrum standards of collections care and apply this in a practical setting using Modes collections management systems. With such a large collection the auditing project can be tailored to the particular interests or subjects that students may wish to focus on.

The students will also have the opportunity to assist with the installation of the 2027 fashion exhibition, gaining experience on mounting costume, exhibition preparation, conservation and curation. 

Bankfield Museum is located in Halifax. There are regular trains from York and the train station is a 20-minute walk or short bus ride from the museum. Train travel will be provided, organised and booked by the Department of History of Art. The students must have a valid railcard.