Gentleman Jack boosts visitors to home of ‘first modern lesbian’
THE manor house in Gentleman Jack is to extend its opening hours to accommodate the increase of tourists following the success of the BBC One series.
Grade II listed Shibden Hall, where lesbian diarist Anne Lister lived, dates from 1420 and previously had 100 visitors on a good day.
Visitor numbers to the hall in the picturesque Shibden valley, a mile from Halifax, West Yorks, are now 300400 a day, said Richard Macfarlane, the museum’s manager. Calderdale council has also reported an increase in tourism in the region.
The hall will now open on Fridays to accommodate the increased interest and the council is discussing the possibility of opening during the winter.
Lister, born in 1791, is known for her extensive diaries that detailed her life and lesbian relationships.
Described as the “first modern lesbian”, she wrote some five million words in her diaries, equating to 26 volumes and 7,722 pages.
The diaries detailed her life as a landowner, businesswoman, intrepid traveller and mountaineer, according to Calderdale Museums.
In 2011, the UN classed her journals as “pivotal” documents. The TV drama, starring Suranne Jones, was watched by almost six million people every week when it aired in May. Some of the costumes from the show, designed by Tom Pye, will be displayed at Bankfield Museum, Halifax, until Oct 26.
Calderdale council, which runs the hall, said it was hoped the new opening times would be in effect before the August bank holiday weekend.
The council said visitors from as far as the US, where the show is broadcast by HBO, have travelled to the site.
Visitors can journey through the lives of the people who lived and worked there, and take a stroll in the restored gardens and the estate which make up Shibden Park.