Founded in 1961,[1] it holds a collection of objects, artefacts and documentary material relating to the development of Otley and the surrounding District since the prehistoric period.
These include prehistoric stone tools and artefacts; an archaeological collection from the excavations of the Palace of the Archbishop of York at Otley; The Otley Printers' Engineers Collection; The Urban Development Archive, and an archive representing the Social History of Otley from the 18th Century onwards.
Until early 2010, two rooms in the Otley Civic Centre housed the museum's eclectic collection of objects depicting the history of Otley and its surrounding District from prehistoric times through Anglo Saxon and Viking era, into the medieval period, and documenting its development from a rural community to a Victorian industrial town, and into the 20th century.
[2][3] In 2024, while still without a permanent physical home, the museum publicised its new website which will serve as a showcase for photographs of some of the approximately 1900 artefacts that have been curated by volunteers.
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