Shibden Hall is 600 years old and as part of work planned to celebrate, Calderdale Council is asking visitors to share their memories, stories or photographs of the Hall, or any creative work influenced by Shibden’s present or past.
The first reference to Shibden Hall was in 1420/21, meaning the iconic Calderdale building is celebrating its 600th anniversary. To celebrate, Calderdale Museums has produced a new 600-year timeline(external link) of Shibden Hall, created with the research group ‘Packed with Potential’.
Special exhibitions at Shibden Hall and Bankfield Museum are also planned for next year, sharing stories about the Hall’s history, including information about the various families in occupation and nearly a century as a public museum.
To help demonstrate the special place that Shibden Hall occupies in the hearts of visitors, the Council is also looking to collect people’s memories, photographs and other artefacts for use online and in future exhibitions, and to be kept in an archive of Shibden’s 600th year.
Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Services and Communities, Cllr Jenny Lynn, said:
“We know Shibden Hall is incredibly special and that so many local people and visitors from further afield will have such special memories, photographs or fascinating stories about the Hall.
“To celebrate Shibden Hall’s 600th anniversary, we’d really love people to share these with us to help us document its recent history. This will complement the many historical accounts that will feature as part of exhibitions and archive work for Shibden 600.
“We understand that people may not want to part with original copies, so we’re happy for photos, stories and artwork to be shared digitally. Our museums team will then compile the digital artefacts to be used in future exhibitions and on our website and social media. We will let those sharing items know if they will be used and all will be credited.”
To share stories or memories, please email no more than 500 words to collections@calderdale.gov.uk Favourite photographs of Shibden to be saved in museum archives and possibly used online and future displays should also be emailed to this address . Please include your name, date the image was taken and names of anyone in the picture.
Photos of any Shibden Hall inspired artworks or creative endeavours should be emailed with details of who to credit if you’re happy for museums to save and share.
For more information about Shibden 600, visit https://museums.calderdale.gov.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/shibden-600