Ilkley Manor House: The Yorkshire house loved by Alan Titchmarsh which has a history dating back to the Iron Age
Then, in around AD 80, the Roman governor Agricola built a timber fort there. After being burnt down in around AD 190, a stone replacement was constructed.
It later became the foundation of an Anglo-Saxon settlement and a church was built on the site in the eighth and ninth centuries, the forerunner of today’s All Saints’ Parish Church.
Next to it was built a manor house in around 1390.
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Reconstruction was carried out in the 17th century, creating the building seen today, but by the 19th century it had been divided into cottages and after the Second World War was in such poor repair that demolition was proposed.
Local benefactor Percy Dalton, who had bought the property, decided to donate it to the council for use by the community.
Funds were found for renovation work and by 1961 Ilkley Manor House opened to the public as a fascinating relic of the town.
A few years later the ground floor was used to house the extensive collection of Ilkley Museum assembled since Victorian times, while the upper rooms became art galleries.
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Hide AdBradford Council withdrew funding in 2013 and the Ilkley Manor House Trust was formed to run the building.
A five-year closure ended in 2018 when it was reopened by new patron, the TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh.
The museum and gallery is open every weekend with free admission, and there is a programme of cultural events.
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