The council is closing the popular attraction in the hope to cut costs amid "unprecedented financial challenges".
At a meeting that took place last month, Leeds City Council announced they will be closing Thwaite Watermill in an attempt to cut costs.
The council is giving up the lease, and the site will be shut from Monday 1 April 2024.
The council said the move, which has been subject to public consultation, could help save between £660,000 and £756,000 over the next five years.
Thwaite Watermill is a unique attraction which is currently open to the general public during weekends and school holidays as well as during term time for booked groups and school visits.
Image: Thwaite Watermill
According to the council, the attraction has seen low numbers of visitors recently having recorded only 11,114 visitors in 2022.
Dating all the way back to 1641, Thwaite Watermill began life as a textiles mill before it was used for wood, oil and corn-grinding, and then for stone-crushing and making putty.
It was closed in 1976 but is one of the last remaining examples of a water-powered mill in Britain.
All existing bookings until October 2024 will be honoured and the official surrendering of the lease will be taken into consideration over the coming months.
Image: Thwaite Watermill
A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “The council does not take any decisions affecting our visitor attractions lightly. However, the financial pressures we are now facing have forced us to look at options which would never have previously been considered.
“Ending the lease on Thwaite allows us to balance the urgent and unavoidable need to make cost savings with continuing to provide a diverse, high quality, accessible experience for our visitors at Leeds Museums and Galleries’ other eight sites, all of which are owned by Leeds City Council."
We hope you're hungry Leeds, because a big festival dedicated to all things food is coming to Temple Newsam.
The Temple Newsam Food Festival is now in its second year after a resounding first edition, aiming to celebrate cultural diversity, independent businesses, and global cuisine.
It will take place this weekend on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 August 2026, with the beautiful and historic Temple Newsam providing the perfectly picturesque location.
The festival will celebrate local talent, independent businesses, world cultures and international flavours.
The Street Food Arena will feature an array of global cuisines, cultural delicacies, and irresistible desserts whilst the event's bustling Artisan Markets will showcase a plethora of small businesses and local entrepreneurs offering freshly-baked goods, quality produce. hand-made crafts, unique experiences, vibrant art, and much more.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
And it doesn't stop there as festival-goers can enjoy a selection of independent bars serving cocktails, specialty spirits, fresh cider, wine and beer.
This year there will be a huge focus on live cookery demos, with ten demonstrations from a whole range of talented chefs including Leeds' own Josh Whitehead of Finer Pleasures, Bobby Geetha of Kerala Canteen and stars from Masterchef and The Great British Bake Off.
And it's not just about food and drink, as new for this year there will be a dog show, plenty of live music and lots of fun activities such as inflatable jousting and target paintball.
Tickets are on sale now, and you can grab yours here.
The hidden Leeds bakery serving giant cheese twists, pickle sausage rolls and chocolate focaccia
Clementine Hall
This spot in the city is baking up some weird and wonderful creations.
But you'll have to act fast if you want to get your hands on them, as it's only open one day a week for all your doughy desires.
Introducing Fold, a focaccia-focused bakery by the talented team behind The Cheesy Living Co.
Rewind to this time last year and with three restaurants flourishing across Leeds, the team needed a space to bake all their bread and sweet treats in-house to supply to sites.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
And this is where Fold came in, located underneath the arches of Brussels Street on the outskirts of the city centre - it may take a while to find this spot but once you have, it'll be worth it.
And they're making some of the most inventive bakes that we've seen.
Of course there'll always be a focaccia on offer, with flavours ranging from crispy chilli oil, sesame and spring onion to kimchi, cheese and pistachio.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
And it's not just savoury focaccia, you'll even find gooey chocolate and banana focaccia as well as Biscoff waffle focaccia....yep, seriously.
Elsewhere they specialise in gigantic footlong cheese twists with more crispy bits than soft, as well as chorizo and cheese stuffed sausage rolls and a range of freshly baked bagels for you to go home and smear in your cream cheese of choice.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Some seriously spectacular specials have been the gochujang cookies and the 'pickle roll', basically like a sausage roll but with...pickles.
It seems there's really no boundaries for where these bakes will go, and you can guarantee that every visit will be different than the rest.
Only open on Saturdays from 10am - 1pm, Fold are changing the baking game. Pop in and say hello, you won't be disappointed.
Clementine Hall -
11th March 2024 
