Shibden Hall, Halifax: The history of West Yorkshire’s 15th century house once owned by ‘first modern lesbian’ Anne Lister who inspired BBC historical drama Gentleman Jack

The Grade II listed house is located in a public park at Shibden and whilst it has been widely modified from its initial design, its external Tudor half-timbered appearance is its most distinguishable feature. One of its most famous residents was Anne Lister who inherited the hall from a family member.

Anne Lister was thought to be the ‘first modern lesbian’ due to her sexuality revelations in her diaries which inspired various TV shows including BBC One’s Gentleman Jack, starring Suranne Jones. Shibden Hall has also been the filming location for 2018 British historical drama Peterloo.

The hall is currently open to the public, where the West Yorkshire Folk Museum is housed next to the barn and farm buildings. It has a wide range of renovated workshops, including a brewery, a basket-weaving shop, a tannery, a stable and an wide collection of horse-drawn carriages.

History of Shibden Hall, Halifax

The building dates back to the early 15th century and the land was said to have first been bought by textile merchant, William Otes, from Southowram, who built Shibden Hall there, which was then named Schepdene.

At the time the building contained the present central section of the property, from gable to gable, and a short section on the eastern and western sides which were the kitchen and Savile room respectively.

The main hall, also known as the ‘Housebody’, was only one room and was shorter and narrower than the one you see today. Then upstairs, on the western front, there was the North Chamber and Red Room; the former was redesigned in the 1600s and most of the furniture in the room dates back from this period.

Before the year 1619, the estate was owned by the Savile and Waterhouse families. The three families’ armorial symbols are recorded in a stone-mullioned 20-light window at the hall.

For more than three centuries between 1615 and 1926, the Shibden estate was owned by the Lister family, who were wealthy cloth merchants and mill-owners. Anne Lister became the sole owner of the hall following the death of her aunt and commissioned York architect John Harper and landscape gardener Samuel Gray in 1830 to make elaborate improvements to the house and land. A gothic tower was added to the building to use as a library and major park features included terraced gardens, rock gardens, cascades and a boating lake.

After Anne Lister’s death in 1840 in the Caucasus, the estate was passed over to her partner, Ann Walker, who then died 14 years later. In the 1850s, a ‘Paisley shawl’ garden was designed by Joshua Major for the terrace.

The estate also became a public park in 1926. The Lister family became the owners again, who donated it to Halifax Corporation in 1933 and a year later the Corporation set it up as a museum for the public to visit.

The house was designated as a Grade II listed building on November 3, 1954 and the park and gardens were restored between 2007 and 2008, following a £3.9 million funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £1.2 million from Calderdale Council. The gardens were listed Grade II on June 27, 2000.

Who was Anne Lister?

Anne was a diarist, famous for her revelations around her sexual identity and was dubbed the ‘first modern lesbian’.

She was the second child and eldest daughter of Jeremy Lister, an officer in the 10th Regiment of Foot during the early days of the American Revolution.

Anne was born on April 3, 1791 in Halifax and in 1793, the family moved to an estate named Skelfer House at Market Weighton; this is where Anne spent most of her childhood. The Listers had four sons and three daughters, however, only Anne and her younger sister, Marian, lived beyond the age of 20.

She was sent to a school run by Mrs Hagues and Mrs Chettle in Agnesgate, Ripon at the age of seven and between the years 1801 and 1804, Anne was home schooled at home by the Reverend George Skelding, the vicar of Market Weighton.

In 1804, she was sent to King’s Manor School in York, where Anne met her first love, Eliza Raine. According to Historic England, this was Anne’s first sexual relationship. Eliza was the daughter of an East India Company surgeon in Madras who moved to Yorkshire after his death.

Historic England notes in its website that Anne was involved in a number of sexual affairs in her 20s, including the love of her life, Marianna Belcombe and developed a passion for literature and writing. She wrote about the intimate aspects of her relationships in code in her diaries.

In 1832, Anne became romantically involved with her Shibden Hall neighbour Ann Walker, when she moved into the house in 1815. Their relationship intensified over the next few months since they first became involved and they tied the knot on February 10, 1834.

Six years later, Anne died of a fever at Koutais, now Kutaisi in Georgia, whilst travelling with her wife Ann and her body was taken back to the UK where she was buried in Halifax Minster on April 29, 1841. Her tombstone was rediscovered in 2000.

Anne left the estate to her paternal cousins in her will but Ann was given a life interest.