Watson mentions Schipden-hall in a grant made by Richard de Heton, the fifth Vicar of Halifax, in 1389
The oak-timbered H-plan house – originally with 5 rooms on each of the two storeys – was built around 1420 by William Otes, and cased in stone in 1504
On William's death, the Hall passed to his grandson, William. This William left the property to his daughter Joan, but attempted to change this when he later had a son, Gilbert, wishing to pass the Hall to Gilbert
However, Joan's husband, Robert Savile, and the Savile family challenged the ownership in the courts. Between 1491 and 1504 the ownership of Shibden was in the hands of the court. The court awarded a lifetime interest to Joan, and the property passed to the Savile family; Gilbert was to receive an income from the property during his lifetime.
The Hall subsequently passed to Joan and Robert's daughter, Sibel and her husband, Robert Waterhouse [1584]. Waterhouse made alterations and extensions, including the stone window in the house-body. He placed the elaborate painted decoration in the dining-room.
The Hall then passed to their grandson, Edward Waterhouse.
In 1613, Edward sold the Hall to Caleb Waterhouse
In 1613, Caleb sold the house to Mrs Crowther and her nephew, John Hemingway, for £1,600.
When Mrs Crowther died in 1615, John was under age and was made ward of the Crown and his uncle – Samuel Lister – was appointed guardian to John and his four sisters.
Two of the sisters – Sibel and Phoebe – married two of Samuel's sons – Thomas and John.
On Samuel's death, the Hall passed to James Lister. This was unsuccessfully challenged by Richard Sterne on the grounds that the property belonged to his wife, the widow of the previous owner. James obtained ownership in 1709.
The Hall then passed in turn to James's sons:
The Hall passed to Jeremy's son, James.
On James's death in 1826, the Hall passed to his niece, Jeremy's daughter, Anne.
It has been said that James thought that his brother Jeremy was unsuitable to take on the Hall.
Anne added the Norman tower to the west gable – to house her books – and other extensions in the 1830s. This had a flushing WC. She commissioned architect John Harper to do the work, and the building was given its famous black-and-white colour scheme at this time. Harper based his designs for the changes on the results of his visits to several local 17th century houses.
The gate and carriage drive which leads into Godley Cutting was built by Harper for Anne in 1835-7 and the design is based upon Micklegate Bar at York.
A tunnel – built to allow gardeners to walk unseen between the park and the servants' quarters – was discovered during restoration work in 2007.
The lake is 290 yards long and was originally about 10 feet deep, and was constructed by Anne, who ordered Harper to design a pleasure boating lake which resembled a river and was a visually pleasing addition to the landscape. It was intended that the water power be used to drive machinery in the coal mines.
In 1946, a boy from West Vale drowned in the lake and the depth was reduced to 6 feet by dumping rubble, including the material from demolished air raid shelters.
After Anne's death, Dr John Lister and his branch of the family moved to Shibden Hall from the Isle of Wight.
John was the son of Dr John Lister. He lived there with his sister, Anne.
Lister ran into financial difficulties. In 1923, A. S. McCrea. bought the property. Lister was allowed to continue to live there at a peppercorn rent (which he did until his death in 1933)
McCrea subsequently donated the property to Halifax Corporation as a public park, on conditions that the Corporation preserve it for the public, and that no alterations be made to the house or the park without McCrea's permission.
On Lister's death [1933], the Hall and the adjacent aisled barn were scheduled as Ancient Monuments.
On the 4th June 1934, the Corporation opened the property as a museum depicting local life from the 15th century onwards. A folk museum to the rear of the Hall was opened in 1953, and the courtyard has been arranged as a 17th-18th century village
In 1958, a series of wall-paintings dating to around 1590 were discovered behind panelling in the dining room. These show stencilled geometric and floral designs. They are currently behind hinged panelling and can be viewed on request.
In 1960, a fire at the folk museum destroyed a 15th century cruck barn and several farm vehicles and implements.
It is said that Shibden Hall was a model for the Thrushcross Grange of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights.
Ghost stories from the Hall include the tales of
The Hall closed from September 2002 to March 2003 for major restoration financed by a grant of £358,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and £122,000 from Calderdale Council.
In December 2005, a grant of £4 million from the National Lottery Heritage Fund made it possible to restore Shibden Park to its appearance in Anne Lister's time in the early 1800s
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