It’s official: visitors are guaranteed a quality time at Kirklees’ museums and galleries.

All five of the civic museums – Oakwell Hall, Red House, Bagshaw Museum, Dewsbury Museum and Tolson Memorial Museum – have retained their Visit England “Quality Assured’ accreditation and Huddersfield Art Gallery has achieved it for the first time.

Tourism chiefs from Visit England found that the museum buildings, exhibitions, displays and customer care all combine to give an excellent visitor experience.

The accolade comes as the future of the museums is under scrutiny. The council is looking at ways of making them all more commercially viable.

The sites were secretly assessed under Visit England’s visitor attraction quality scheme, offering an unbiased viewpoint of visitor’s experience by industry professionals. Assessor replicated the entire visitor journey, from looking at websites before the visit to experiencing all aspects of each attraction, including customer-staff interactions.

Findings included:

Oakwell Hall and Visitor Centre: Assessors found it fascinating and well-preserved. Staff were complimented on their cheery welcome and attentive service. The extensive and well-maintained parkland was also praised.

Red House Museum: Described as a delight to visit, the assessor listed its charming gardens, friendly staff and expertly-themed room sets among its attractions.

Dewsbury Museum: The museum’s impressive architectural features were highlighted in the report, along with the colourful and engaging Toy Gallery, the WW2 schoolroom and the Significant Places Gallery.

Bagshaw Museum, Batley: The beautiful and well-preserved interior of the museum was described as an attraction in its own right. ouse.

Tolson Museum, Huddersfield: The report said the museum’s imaginative and visually appealing displays created a visitor experience of fun and discovery. Galleries were spacious and special mention was made of the highlighted ‘Top Ten’ exhibits along with the excellent visitor guide.

Huddersfield Art Gallery: Personal highlights of the assessor included the Lowry works and the Yorkshire Makers Gallery, which was described as an excellent showcase and shop window for Yorkshire artists and designers. James Berresford, CEO of Visit England said: “We congratulate Kirklees museums and galleries for doing so well in this latest round of accolades, which continue to reflect the wide variety of attractions on offer in England.

“Our attractions are some of our great assets, creating appeal for visitors at home and from abroad. These accolades recognise the wonderful and innovative ways attractions in Kirklees are going above and beyond the call of duty to ensure people enjoy their visit, from a friendly and warm welcome, to high-quality food and drink on offer, or capturing the imagination with creative experiences.”