Images Dated 2021 June

Shibden Hall AA42_02081

SHIBDEN HALL, SHIBDEN, HALIFAX, Calderdale. An exterior view of Shibden Hall, seen from the south with the gardens in the foreground. The house was built for William Oates c1420 and was altered in the 16th and mid 19th century. The original sections are timber-framed and the 16th century work included the addition of stone casings. It has a hall with two storey cross wings, and a tower in the south-west corner added by Anne Lister c1836

© Historic England Archive

Shibden Hall AA42_01540

SHIBDEN HALL, SHIBDEN, HALIFAX, Calderdale. An interior view of the staircase in Shibden Hall, seen from the ground floor hall. Shibden Hall dates to the late medieval period, where it was built c1420 for William Otes, and was altered in the 16th and latter quarter of the 19th centuries. The surviving original hall has two cross wings, a stone and timber entrance front on the south side and a c1836 Norman-style west tower with three storeys, designed by John Harper of York. Much of the interior has been altered, but there is some 17th century panelling on the ground and first floors. The staircase is accessed from the Buttery by two steps, and leads to a first floor hall with a balustraded railing. In front of the staircase is a railing with twisted balusters and wooden sculptures on each of the railing pilasters.
The hall was occupied by the Lister family from the early 17th century to 1923, when John Lister became bankrupt and the hall was presented to the people of Halifax as a public park and museum. Anne Lister (1791-1840) managed the estate from 1826 and inherited it in 1836. After her death, the estate was given to her partner, Ann Walker, but was returned to the Lister family in 1854 after Walker's death. Anne Lister kept coded diaries, which she hid in the walls of Shibden Hall, that recorded her romantic relationships with women. They were de-coded and published in 1988 by Helena Whitbread and she became known as the first modern lesbian

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The Rookery Sutton Coldfield, 1942 AA42_03385

The Rookery, Lichfield Road, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham. The derelict east front of The Rookery.
Once described as "The greatest ornament and addition to the town of Sutton" (Agricola 1762), The Rookery was constructed in circa 1700 by William Jesson, of Langley Hall. The house was home to members of the Jesson family until the 1780s when Elizabeth Jesson let the house to tenants. In 1811 a girls school was established in the Rookery and around this time the artist, David Cox, painted a watercolour of the house, now in collection of the Tate Gallery. In 1871 it was purchased by William Henry Tonks, a successful Birmingham brass founder. The Rookery remained in the Tonks family until 1934 when it was sold to Sutton Borough Council. In 1957 it was demolished. The site is now occupied by the police station

© Historic England Archive