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The nearest of the surrounding sights is the Thackray Medical Museum , on Beckett Street (Tues-Sun 10am-5pm; daily during school holidays; GBP4.40), next to St James' Hospital ("Jimmy's" from the TV series); catch bus #5a, #13, #17, #41, #42, #43, #50 or #88. Essentially a medical history museum, it's a hugely entertaining place - ghoulish too at times when it delves into topics like surgery before anaesthetics, and the workings of the human intestine. For Leeds' industrial past, visit the vast Leeds Industrial Museum , two miles west of the centre off Canal Road (Tues-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1-5pm; GBP2), which runs between Armley and Kirkstall Road - take bus #5a, #14, #66 or #67. There's been a mill on the site since at least the seventeenth century, and the present building was one of the world's largest woollen mills until its closure in 1969. You can also visit the ruins of Kirkstall Abbey (dawn to dusk; free), the city's most important medieval relic. Built between 1152 and 1182 by Cistercian monks from Fountains Abbey, it was the site of 400 years of monastic life before being surrendered to Henry VIII in 1539. The abbey lies about three miles northwest of the city centre on Abbey Road; take bus #732, #733, #734, #735 or #736. The site's still evocatively bucolic, with plenty of signed footpaths around, while the former gatehouse now provides the setting for the Abbey House Museum (Tues-Fri & Sun 10am-5pm, Sat 12-5pm; GBP3), with two floors dedicated to Victorian Leeds. Four miles east of the city, the Jacobean house of Temple Newsam (April-Oct Tues-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1-5pm; GBP2) contains many of the paintings and much of the decorative art owned by Leeds City Art Gallery, including one of the largest collections of Chippendale furniture in the country; bus #27 runs here from the centre. If you were to see just one stately home within the area, however, it should be Harewood House , seven miles north of Leeds (Easter-Oct daily 11am-4.30pm; grounds & bird garden 10am-6pm; Nov-Easter Sat & Sun only; GBP8; grounds & bird garden only GBP6.25). Conceived in 1759 by York architect John Carr, the building was finished by Robert Adam, the furniture made by Thomas Chippendale and the landscaped gardens laid out by Capability Brown. To cap it all a sweeping terrace designed by Sir Charles Barry (architect of the Houses of Parliament) overlooks the garden, while the ensemble is further enhanced by paintings by artists of such mettle as Turner, Gainsborough, Reynolds, El Greco and a whole host of Italian masters. There are guided tours of the house and galleries throughout the summer every Tuesday and Thursday at 2pm. Buses to Harewood from Leeds include the #36, #781 and #X35.
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