Shibden Hall offers improved facilities as it reopens to public
Julie Rawson and her daughter Sophie Rawson outside Shibden Hall.
THE FORMER home of Anne Lister, whose story was brought to life in Sally Wainwright’s television drama Gentleman Jack, has been re-opened to visitors.
Shibden Hall closed to the public for winter between Christmas Eve and Saturday so that work could be carried out.
Wainwright’s hugely popular BBC and HBO series about the English landowner and diarist, who was dubbed the “first modern lesbian” and died in 1840, was responsible for a surge in visitor numbers to the Calderdale Council attraction.
In August last year alone, there were 14,419 visitors compared to 2,579 in August 2018.
During the summer of last year, there was an average of 500 visitors a day – in previous summers, a more typical number was about 150.
The site closed so that the hall and barn could be thoroughly cleaned alongside a programme of careful conservation work on many of the objects on display.
Essential work took place on the heating system and minor building work was needed on the roof and guttering.
The security of the site has also been improved with closed circuit television equipment installed.
The visitor entrance and facilities for school groups have been upgraded, with improvements made to the shop area as the increases in visitor numbers has seen greater demand for souvenirs and merchandise.
It has previously been reported that the house, parts of which date back to 1420, will be closed for filming of the second series of Gentleman Jack for several weeks during June and July as well as September and November.