Identification and description | |||||
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Name | SHIBDEN HALL | ||||
Location |
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Localisation | Latitude: 53.728731 Longitude: -1.8377847 National Grid Reference: SE 10800 25827 Map: Download a full scale map (PDF) |
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Overview | Heritage Category: Park and Garden Grade: II List Entry Number: 1001470 Date first listed: 27-Jun-2000 |
A landscape park with formal and informal gardens and pleasure grounds, surrounding
a C15 and later manor house. The grounds were laid out for the owner in the 1830s
by a Mr Gray of York incorporating structures designed by the architect John Harper.
Joshua Major and Son designed the layout for the main terrace in 1855, which was laid
out by William Berry of Halifax, who also laid out a lake in the park.
HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT
The timber-framed Shibden Hall was built c 1420 for a cloth merchant, William Otes,
who is recorded as living in Schepdene (guidebook). The Shibden property passed through
several owners during the succeeding centuries, it being occupied by the Lister family,
also cloth merchants, from the early C17. In 1826 James Lister died and his niece,
Anne (1791-1840) took over the management of the Shibden Hall estate, although she
did not actually inherit it until after the death of her father, Jeremy, and aunt,
also Anne, in 1836.
By the 1820s the estate was largely agricultural, with a modest garden on the south-east
side of the Hall (Sheeran 1990; Garden Hist 1997). In 1836 Anne Lister employed the
architect John Harper of York to remodel the Hall and provide proposals for structural
works in the grounds (drawings and watercolour sketches, WYAS). She employed William
Gray of York (who also worked at Clumber Park, qv) to lay out the grounds using Harper's
building designs. A large stone terrace was constructed to the south and east of the
Hall, together with a further terrace above to the west. A new approach was constructed
from the north-west, a park was laid out in which a lake was constructed, and a substantial
kitchen garden was walled. Anne wrote a detailed journal in which the works to the
Hall and estate were recorded (WYAS). Following Anne's death in 1840 Dr John Lister
(1802(67) inherited the estate. Lister employed William Berry of Halifax to lay out
beds and a fountain on the south terrace to a design by Joshua Major and Son (Joshua
Major c 1787-1866) of 1855 (Garden Hist 1997).
Following Lister's death his son, also John (1847-1933), inherited the estate, but
in 1923 was declared bankrupt. His friend Mr A S McCrea, a Halifax councillor, bought
the Hall and presented it and 90 acres (c 37ha) of parkland to the people of east
Halifax as a public park, which was opened by the Prince of Wales in 1926. John Lister
lived out his life at the Hall, which upon his death was handed over to Halifax Corporation
who opened it as a museum. The site remains in use as a public park and museum (2000).
DESCRIPTION
LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING Shibden Hall stands 2.5km east of Halifax,
physically separated from the town by a steep ridge called Beacon Hill. The 25ha site
is bounded to the south-west partly by Shibden Hall Road and partly by agricultural
land, and to the south-east by the Leeds to Halifax railway, formerly the Manchester
and Leeds Railway, which stands upon a tall embankment at the east end. To the north-east
the park is bounded by the Leeds Road and to the north-west partly by Godley Lane,
sunk in a cutting, and partly by Godley Gardens, a C20 development. The Hall stands
on a south-facing promontory half way down a hill falling from south-west to north-east,
surrounded by the park and gardens. The hillside runs north-east down to the valley
bottom, in which runs the Red Beck. The south-west section of the site is divided
from the rest of the park and Hall by Shibden Hall Road along which the estate is
bounded by stone walls. The setting is partly rural, with C20 development standing
close to the the north-west and north-east sides of the site. Views extend north-west
and east along a curving steep-sided valley, on the sides of which are scattered groups
of C20 housing.
ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES The main approach enters the site 350m north-west of the
Hall, off Godley Lane at a mid C19, gothic stone gate arch, and tall flanking screen
walls constructed in chequerboard pattern. A three-storey, now roofless (2000), stone
lodge, castellated and with a prominent chimney, stands on the east side of the entrance,
dividing the archway from the wall to the east (lodge and gateway John Harper c 1836).
From here the north-west drive extends in serpentine fashion south-east, through Troughabolland
Wood, cut into the steep hillside which extends down from the north, following the
contour. The drop to the north of the drive is precipitous in places, and a tall stone
bridge carries the drive across a steep clough c 175m from the Hall. Long views extend
north and north-east from the drive across the park and the valley to the hillside
beyond. Some 10m north-west of the Hall the drive enters the west side of the forecourt
between massive stone piers surmounted by ball finials, arriving at the north front
of the Hall. The forecourt is bounded to the north by a stone barn and service buildings,
and to the west by a tall stone retaining wall.
A second, west drive enters 140m west of the Hall, off Shibden Hall Road, at a gap
in the stone boundary wall, descending east for 75m before turning north to join the
north-west drive 50m north of the Hall. Views extend north and north-east from this
drive across the park to the hillside beyond.
A third drive (mid C20) enters 100m north-east of the north-west entrance, close to
the junction of Godley Lane with Old Godley Lane, 300m from the Hall. From here the
drive extends east down the hillside below Troughabolland Wood, giving access to the
northern park and lake.
The drive system was laid out in the late 1830s by Anne Lister (OS 1854), replacing
an approach directly from Shibden Hall Road to the west. The main entrance and approach
to the Hall before the 1830s appears to have been from the south (watercolour, John
Horner c 1815, WYAS). At about the same time as Anne Lister laid out the drives, the
course of Shibden Hall Road was altered, softening its line into a sweeping curve
(Sheeran 1990).
PRINCIPAL BUILDING Shibden Hall (C15, altered C16 and 1830s, listed grade II*, scheduled
ancient monument) stands towards the centre of the site, on a south-facing promontory
projecting from a steep hillside. The original C15 timber framing of the hall house
has been augmented by some later stonework, including a three-storey west tower in
Norman style with a pyramidal roof (John Harper c 1836). The entrance front lies on
the north side, with the garden front to the south, this latter formerly having been
the main entrance to the Hall. The Hall is now (2000) a museum.
An early C17 aisled stone barn (listed grade II*) and associated outbuildings stand
to the north of the Hall, from which they are separated by the forecourt. The barn
is occupied by a museum of rural life (2000).
GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS Formal terraced gardens lie close to the Hall to the
west, south, and east. To the south of these lie informal wooded pleasure grounds,
extending east in a belt to the lake, and west beyond Shibden Hall Road into Cunnery
Wood.
The Hall stands on the north side of the substantial south terrace (Harper c 1836),
bounded to the south and east by massive stone retaining walls. The terrace is approached
via the door at the centre of the south front, or from the south-west corner of the
forecourt along the west side of the Hall. A three-arched stone loggia in Gothic style
is set into the east half of the south front overlooking the terrace. At the south-east
corner of the terrace projects a tall bastion, in which a staircase leads down to
the park below. Tunnels are let into the terrace behind the retaining wall. Several
large urns stand on the raised terrace walls to the south and east. The terrace is
laid to lawn inset with several rose beds in a simple pattern (mid-late C20), surrounded
by a broad perimeter path. A stone wall projects east from the south-east corner of
the Hall to the north-east corner of the terrace, in which a gateway gives access
down a flight of steps to the east terrace below. The south terrace overlooks the
pleasure grounds to the south and south-west, and is itself overlooked by the west
terrace.
The narrow east terrace lies below the east front and is bounded by an extension north
of the stone retaining wall of the south terrace. Laid with stone flags it provides
views over the park to the east and north-east, and to the distant hillside beyond.
To the west of the south terrace a grass bank leads up to the west terrace. From the
south-west corner of the south terrace rises a flight of steps flanked by stone balustraded
walls, leading up the bank to the west terrace above. This terrace is itself terraced
into three low levels, laid largely to lawn with a central, rectangular stone pool,
and surrounded to the north, west, and south by a stone wall. A bastion is set into
the south-west corner, overlooking the pleasure ground and cascade to the south. The
west terrace overlooks the south terrace to the east, and beyond this the park and
hillside beyond.
The terraces were laid out for Anne Lister by William Gray incorporating structures
designed by John Harper in 1836. The south terrace which was laid out at this time
overlies the former southern approach (watercolour, John Horner c 1815, WYAS). In
1855 Joshua Major and Son provided a Drawing of the proposed shawl garden on the [south]
terrace of Shibden Hall (WYAS); this was executed but was grassed over in the mid
C20, although archaeological evidence remains (Garden Hist 1997). The shawl refers
to the intricate pattern of beds designed in the Paisley pattern commonly used on
shawls at the time. The internal terraces of the west terrace seem to have been remodelled
during the mid C20 (OS 1933), at which time the central pond may have been created.
From the south-west corner of the south terrace a stone path descends via several
flights of steps to the pleasure grounds below to the south and south-west. On the
west side of the steps, close to the flight leading up to the west terrace, stands
a stone springhead set into the hillside and flanked by stone walls. An intricately
carved spout emerges from beneath a stone arch to throw water into a small rectangular
pool below.
The pleasure grounds are divided into two sections: the west half at the west end
of North Wood, and the east half running east down the hillside through North Wood
to the lake. South of the west terrace lies a small valley with a broad stone cascade
from which a stream leads down to a pond 50m to the east. The valley is planted with
ornamental shrubs including rhododendrons. From the upper, west side of the cascade
a wide stone tunnel leads south-west beneath Shibden Hall Road to an extension of
the pleasure grounds set into Cunnery Wood, in which two further ponds ascend the
valley.
A path cut into the hillside leads north-east from the cascade into the narrow body
of North Wood, down the hillside parallel to the south-east boundary, overlooking
the park to the north and Hall to the west. Some 400m east of the Hall, at the south-east
end of the lake, the path meets the outflow of the lake which leads down a serpentine
stone cascade to a stone channel. The channel leads into the Red Beck to the east,
which is itself confined in a stone channel before leaving the estate via a culvert
beneath the railway embankment on the south-east boundary.
The garden and pleasure grounds, including the cascade, were laid out initially for
Anne Lister c 1836 with additional features being added for John Lister in the 1850s.
PARK The park surrounds the Hall to the west, north, and east, falling from high ground
to the west to the lake close to the east boundary. It is laid to lawn with scattered
clumps and single trees. A steep slope at the west corner is occupied by Troughabolland
Wood. The lake (1836(8), formed from damming the Red Beck, dominates the park. It
is bounded to the north-east by woodland rising up the hillside, and is overlooked
by the park and Hall to the west. A boathouse stands towards the south-east end of
the south-west bank. The park, including the lake, was laid out by Anne Lister in
the later 1830s, incorporating trees which marked former field boundaries (OS 1854),
and was further planted up during the rest of the C19 and C20.
Since the purchase of the estate in the 1920s by the local authority, and its subsequent
use as a public park, various features have been incorporated amongst the C19 elements,
including a playground, a small golf facility and associated building, the conversion
of the lake to a boating lake, and the construction of playing fields.
KITCHEN GARDEN The kitchen garden (c 1836) stands 150m south-west of the Hall, south-west
of Shibden Hall Road, on the north side of Cunnery Wood. Much of its wall has collapsed
and the interior is uncultivated. A path from the curved south-east corner extends
south-east down the hillside towards the lowest pond in Cunnery Wood, giving access
via the tunnel beneath the road to the Hall and pleasure grounds beyond.
REFERENCES
G Sheeran, Landscape Gardens in West Yorkshire 1680-1880 (1990), pp 129(34, 136 Garden
History 25, no 2 (Winter 1997), pp 219-29 Shibden Hall, guidebook, (Calderdale Leisure
Services 1998)
Maps OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition surveyed 1849(50, published 1854 2nd edition surveyed
1905, published 1908 OS 25" to 1 mile: 3rd edition published 1907 1933 edition
Illustrations John Harper, Drawings and watercolour sketches of proposals for structural
works in grounds of Shibden Hall, 1836 (SH: 2/M/2/5(30), (West Yorkshire Archive Service)
Joshua Major and Son, Drawing of the proposed shawl garden on the [south] terrace
of Shibden Hall, 1855 (SH: 2/M/2), (West Yorkshire Archive Service) [reproduced in
Garden Hist 1997]
Archival items The extensive Shibden Hall archive contains many relevant items and
is kept by the West Yorkshire Archive Service, Calderdale (WYAS) at Halifax.
Description written: May 2000 Amended: September 2000 Register Inspector: SR Edited:
November 2001
This garden or other land is registered under the Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act 1953 within the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens by Historic England for its special historic interest.