Features of Shibden Hall

This SideTrack looks at some of the features to find when you visit Shibden Hall

The Ambulance Ref 418-A1038

This wooden ambulance can be seen in the carriage collection in the barn at Shibden Hall. It was built around 1??? for the community of Stainland-with-Old Lindley. During World War I, it was used to transport soldiers from Halifax Station to local hospitals and convalescence facilities

The Apothecary's Shop Ref 418-A1037

This is in the Folk Museum at Shibden Hall. There are examples of herbs, medicines, jars and other equipment which was used in the care of people's health in the 18th/19th centuries

The Basket-Maker's Shop Ref 418-B3299

This is in the Folk Museum at Shibden Hall. There are examples of tools and equipment which was used in basket-making and the production of baskets and chairs

The Black Posting Chariot Ref 418-B3300

This carriage can be seen in the carriage collection in the barn at Shibden Hall. It was originally painted yellow and black. It was suitable for long-distance travel. It was drawn by 2 horses with a postillion. It was built around 1800

The Blacksmith's Shop Ref 418-B3298

This is in the Folk Museum at Shibden Hall. There are examples of tools and equipment which was used by the blacksmith in the production and repair of the horse shoes, metal tools, wheels and machinery of the estate

The Brewhouse Ref 418-B3297

A brewhouse was recorded around 1677.

The reconstruction in the Folk Museum at Shibden Hall shows what this may have looked like. There are examples of tools and equipment which was used in the production of beer, including vats for fermenting the malted barley and the still for distilling.

Some of the equipment was brought here from the Old White Beare, Norwood Green

Carriage Collection Ref 418-C617

A collection of horse-drawn vehicles which is kept at Shibden Barn.

The collection includes

The Cart Sheds Ref 418-C2460

These can be seen in the Folk Museum at Shibden Hall. A number of agricultural vehicles, including The Heck Cart and the fire engine are kept here

The Children's Room Ref 418-C2459

This is on the first floor Shibden Hall.

This was originally a store room.

The piano is by Pohlmann's

The Cooper's Shop Ref 418-C2462

This is in the Folk Museum at Shibden Hall. There are examples of tools and equipment which was used in the production of barrels, buckets, water-carrying items and churns. Some of the items here came from local breweries

The Crispin Inn Ref 418-C2461

After the Old Crispin Inn in Halifax was demolished, the interior and fittings were moved to the Folk Museum at Shibden Hall where they were reconstructed to create an impression of a pub of the early 19th century.

There is an example of the equipment used in the game of Knur & spell

The Dairy Ref 418-D1015

This is in the Folk Museum at Shibden Hall. There are examples of tools and equipment which was used in the production of milk, cream, butter and cheese, including troughs where the milk stood allowing the cream to separate, churns, and cheese-making equipment

The Dining Room Ref 418-D990

The present dining room at Shibden Hall was once a bedroom. It later known as the Little Parlour and the North Parlour.

Note

The painted tapestry / wall painting added by Robert Waterhouse in the 1570s
The rattan armchair from the reign of James II
The 18th century lantern clock by Thomas Ogden
The child's highchair from the 17th century
The mahogany cradle for holding a cheese

See The New Buttery Shibden Hall

The Edwardian Bedroom Ref 418-E742

This is on the first floor at the front of Shibden Hall.

It has been described as the chamber over the lower Parlour and The Blue Room.

This was Anne Lister's room.

There was a pigeon loft above this room. In 1818, Anne had the ceiling raised

The Estate Worker's Cottage Ref 418-E743

This example of a typical early 19th century one up-one down house is in the Folk Museum at Shibden Hall. It was recreated using evidence from George Walker's book The Costume of Yorkshire

Folk Museum Ref 418-F232

Aka The Folk Museum of West Yorkshire.

The Folk Museum to the rear of Shibden Hall was opened in 1953, and the courtyard has been arranged as a 17th-18th century village around the aisled barn.

In 1960, a fire at the Museum destroyed a 15th century cruck barn and several farm vehicles and implements.

There are several coaches and carriages at the Museum

Look out for

See Frank Atkinson and Verney Horsfall

The Garden Carriage Ref 418-G1302

This carriage – aka the step-in gig – can be seen in the carriage collection in the barn at Shibden Hall. This particular vehicle was built for a lady who been injured in a riding accident, so as to give her some mobility. It has some of the earliest examples of pneumatic rubber tyres. It was drawn by a pony. It was built around 1???

Gardeners' Stairs & Tunnel Ref 418-G1300

In the far corner of the front lawn of Shibden Hall is a spiral staircase which leads to a set of tunnels which were used by the gardeners and staff. These were built by Anne Lister in the 1830s so that she would not see the staff as they returned from working on the estate

The Goat Cart Ref 418-G1301

This children's carriage can be seen in the carriage collection in the barn at Shibden Hall. It was built around 1??? for the Rawson Family. It was drawn by 1 or 2 goats

The Hearse Ref 418-H3883

This vehicle can be seen in the carriage collection in the barn at Shibden Hall. It was built around 1??? by Marstons of Birmingham

The Heck Cart Ref 418-H3884

This vehicle can be seen in the Cart Sheds at Shibden Hall. It was designed specially for use on the local hill roads It was built around 1???

The Housebody Ref 418-H3757

In the 16th century, the central hall at Shibden Hall was two-storey.

Above the central hall was the Flesh Chamber with another room at the front.

The ceiling was removed, and the panelling and the staircase added by Anne Lister in the 1830s

The Waterhouse family installed a 20-light window in the sixteenth century. This shows the black cross and crosslets of the Otes family, the owls of the Savile family, and the black inverted pyramid of the Waterhouse family.

Paintings of Anne Lister, her aunt Anne, and her uncle James hang here.

The hand-made oak table extends to about 16 feet in length. It was assembled in the Hall as it is too large to go through the doors.

The Lister family motto

Justus Propositi Tenax

is carved into the framework of the staircase.

The Savile Room is off the Housebody

The Kitchen Ref 418-K472

The kitchen is on the first floor at the rear of Shibden Hall. There is a typical collection of tools and utensils of the time.

The cooking hearth was constructed around 1560
A clockwork spit
A salt-box by the fire where it would keep the sale dry

This was known as The Lower Kitchen in Anne Lister's time. The Upper Kitchen is now occupied by the modern Ticket Office and Gift Shop. The Workshop stood beyond the Upper Kitchen

The Library in the Tower Ref 418-L1621

Anne Lister added the Norman tower to the west gable at Shibden Hall – to house her books. This and with other extensions were carried out by John Harper in the 1830s. The tower had a flushing WC. The roof was originally flat; the hipped roof was added later

The Lister Chaise Ref 418-L1622

This 18th century carriage can be seen in the carriage collection in the barn at Shibden Hall. It is one of the oldest surviving vehicles of its kind in the world. It was drawn by one horse and there was another horse for the postillion. It was built before 1750

The New Buttery Ref 418-N761

This is on the ground floor at the rear of Shibden Hall. This was built by Robert Waterhouse. It is thought that this was originally 2 rooms. It was used as a bedroom by aunt Anne Lister.

Later, food from the kitchen passed through here and the serving hatch into the dining room

The milk house is beneath this room

The North Chamber Ref 418-N760

This is on the first floor of Shibden Hall.

The bed is from the 17th century.

Anne Lister built panelled walls to make this room more private. These were removed in the 1960s.

This may be what Anne Lister recorded as my father's room.

During the Royal Visit of 11th July 1912, toilet facilities for Queen Elizabeth were created in a corner of this room

The Oak Room Ref 418-O533

A room on the first floor at Shibden Hall.

This was built in the 1580s as Robert Waterhouse's best chamber.

There is a clock here by S. B. Pinchin.

On the bedside table are false curls such as those worn by Anne Lister

The Porch Chamber Ref 418-P1220

This is on the first floor at the front of Shibden Hall

The Powder Closet Ref 418-P1189

The powder closet at Shibden Hall is to the right of the fireplace in the Red Room. It was originally the garderobe.

Note the wig stand

The Red Room Ref 418-R432

An upstairs room at Shibden Hall.

The name comes from the colour of the scroll-work on the frieze.

The wooden floor is original.

The bed was built around 1630 when the Lister family occupied the Hall.

The doorway in the left-hand wall led to the flesh chamber before Anne Lister opened the housebody.

The doorway to The Powder Closet is to the right of the fireplace.

The doorway to the Flesh Chamber and another room which used to be above the Housebody can be seen in the corner on the left as you enter the Red Room Flesh Chamber can still be seen in The Red Room.

After returning to Shibden with Anne Lister's body, Ann Walker settled in to live alone, but in her confused state, she barricaded herself into the Red Room

The Saddler's Shop Ref 418-S3505

This is in the Folk Museum at Shibden Hall. There are examples of tools and equipment which was used in the making and maintaining of harness, saddles, collars, and horse brasses for the domestic and agricultural horses on the estate

The Savile Room Ref 418-S3418

A room on the ground floor at Shibden Hall. It is off the housebody.

Anne Lister made several alterations to the room: enlarging the window, replacing the original larger fireplace with a smaller one, and refurbishing the panelling.

A door in the panelling can be opened to show a part of the original fireplace.

The ceiling shows

A Tudor rose
An owl – the crest of the Savile family –
The letter I for Joan Otes

The piano is by Johannes Christoph David Pohlmann, father of Daniel Johann David Pohlmann, and is dated 1769, one of the earliest pianos in existence.

There is a clock by Thomas Lister

Shibden Barn Ref 418-S569

The large aisled barn – or laithe – is one of the finest in the district and was built in 1600. Anne Lister planned to incorporate the barn as the main entrance to Shibden Hall.

It now forms a part of the Shibden Hall folk museum and houses the Carriage Collection of horse-drawn vehicles.

The weather-vane is a copy of one erected by Rev John Lister [1749].

The barn was extensively repaired and renovated [2002]

The Shibden Barouche Ref 418-S3507

This open carriage can be seen in the carriage collection in the barn at Shibden Hall.

It was built in 1??? Woodall Nicholson & Company Limited. It was drawn by 2 horses

Shibden Hall, Halifax Ref 418-S248

15th century timber-framed house which stands in Shibden Park, Halifax.

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.

The Hall is discussed in the books Ancient Halls in & about Halifax, Buildings in the Town & Parish of Halifax, Halifax Antiquarian Society Transactions, In & About Our Old Homes, The Old Halls & Manor Houses of Yorkshire and Views of Ancient Buildings in the Parish of Halifax.

See Cripplegate House, Daisy Bank, Shibden, Folk Museum, Lower Shibden Hall, Shibden Hall, Halifax A Visitor's Guide, Shibden Hall Lion and Upper Shibden Hall

This & associated entries use material contributed by Darrell Prest, Kai Roberts & Chris Ward

Shibden Hall Lion Ref 418-S2984

A stone sculpture of a lion which stands at Shibden Hall, Halifax.

It bears the arms of the Lister family.

It was created in 1837 for Anne Lister when she extended the property.

In 1996, the lion was stolen.

It was later found at Sotheby's in Sussex. It was returned to Shibden and unveiled by the Duke of Kent on 8th May 2009, at the completion of the Shibden Park Restoration Project

Shibden Hall Lodge Ref 418-S3682

This was the entrance to Shibden Hall from Godley Road.

Owners and tenants have included

M. Tattershall [1889]
John William Taylor [around 1900]

This & associated entries use material contributed by Jeffrey Knowles

The Staircase Ref 418-S3419

Leads from the Housebody.

Before the upper floor was removed, and the panelling and the staircase added by Anne Lister, the upper floor was reached by external stairs.

The painting entitled Marian's View – which shows the Shibden Valley in the 1820s – hangs on the landing

The State Chariot Ref 418-S3506

This 19th century carriage can be seen in the carriage collection in the barn at Shibden Hall. It was built by Barker & Company of London It was drawn by 4 horses

The Study Ref 418-S3486

This room in Shibden Hall was originally a buttery with stairs to the upper floor.

The wooden panelling was installed by James Lister.

There is a portrait of Rev John Lister on the wall

The Tack Room Ref 418-T1341

Horses were used for pulling the carriages and for carrying out agricultural work. This room can be seen in the Folk Museum at Shibden Hall and it was here that the saddles and collars for the Hall's horses were stored and maintained

The Threshing Room Ref 418-T1342

This is in the Folk Museum at Shibden Hall. There are several tools and devices which would have been used in the agricultural work on the estate, including a salving bench.

The early 19th century box threshing machine was driven by a gin turned by a horse

The Vardo Ref 418-V154

This caravan can be seen in the carriage collection in the barn at Shibden Hall. It would have been used by gypsies and travelling people It was built around 1???

The Workshop Ref 418-W2688

This was on the first floor at the front of Shibden Hall, next to the Upper Kitchen

Page Ref: X254

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