Oakwell Hall
Encyclopedia
Oakwell Hall is an Elizabethan Manor House located in the village of Birstall
, West Yorkshire
, England
and set in period gardens surrounded by 110 acre (0.4451546 km²) of country park.
The builder of the house was John Batt, a recarved stone with the date 1583 probably indicates the date of construction. The estate had been purchased by his Halifax-born father, a receiver of rents to the important Savile family, who resided at Howley Hall, in the nearby town of Batley
.
Oakwell Hall was immortalised in literature by Charlotte Brontë
in her novel Shirley
.
Founded in 1988, the Friends of Oakwell Hall and Country Park (http://www.friendsofoakwellhall.org.uk) are a voluntary support group for the Manor House and its surrounding 110 acre (0.4451546 km²) of country park.
Whilst many join simply because they appreciate the beauty and tranquillity of the Hall and park, others join because of the 'hands on' opportunities available on site. Friends work closely with the Head Ranger and staff at Oakwell and provide assistance both inside and outside the Hall.
building was built to the usual post-medieval plan of a central hall block flanked by crosswings.
The entrance to the building is still through a porch and screens passage at the 'lower' end of the house.
Oakwell Hall passed into municipal hands in 1928 and today it is owned by Kirklees
Cultural Services, and managed by the volunteer group 'Friends of Oakwell Hall' (see section above). The interiors were restored to their early-17th century condition during the time the Batt Family inhabited the Hall. This was done with the aid of an inventory of 1611. During the restoration the original painted panelling of the Great Parlour and the Painted Chamber was revealed from under many layers of varnish and paint.
The Hall was a main thoroughfare for the house linking the two wings and would have been the hub of domestic life. It was also intended as a reception room for visitors, tenants and businessmen and was ideal for large gatherings.
It is sparsely furnished and uncluttered to create a large open space, practical to use and impressive to visitors. The table is placed at one end of the room as it would probably have been towards the end of the seventeenth century, rather than in its earlier position of importance in the centre of the room. The size of the room is intended to impress visitors entering the house.
In the late seventeenth century dining rooms and parlours were the preferred rooms for eating and entertaining guests in private. The great parlour is furnished today with pieces intended to show it as a fashionable and comfortable room of the 1690s.
When the hall was originally built, food may have been cooked over a large fire at one end of the Great Hall. By the time the Inventory of 1611 was drawn up, the kitchen had already become a separate room, probably sited in the east wing of the house where it is today. The kitchen is divided from the main living quarters of the house by the screens passage so that smells and noise would not so easily penetrate the family rooms.
The original seventeenth century fireplace was replaced by the present one in the nineteenth century, but it would undoubtedly have been much wider and larger. Evidence of previous occupants of the Hall can still be seen by the candle burns on the timbers on the wall opposite the window.
In 1611 this room had five arks for storing meal and grain. Today it has one great ark and a collection of food chests for storage. Lack of a fireplace and unpanelled walls would have made this room a cold place in winter though the warmth rising from the kitchen below would take off the chill and keep the stored food dry.
In the nineteenth century this room was transformed with the addition of the stairs and passage through which you have just come. The wall to your right is an addition, and the room would have been larger. The original timber studding can clearly be seen on two walls, showing the lath and plaster structure.
and plate which could be kept under lock and key, while the same principle lay behind the small food or spice cupboard in the corner, the key to which was kept by the mistress, as spices were valuable commodities. The family would eat in here in private or with one or two guests.
The screen at right angles to the doorway was intended to prevent draughts wafting through the bed curtains. There is also an adjoining dressing room or closet, this is now used to display reproduction costumes.
The warm colours of the panelling and bed curtains are echoed in the carpet on the table, a usual feature of wealthier seventeenth century houses. Tables or beds were ideal places to display a fine carpet which was too valuable to walk upon.
The floorboards have been re-laid in a seventeenth century manner. In 1609 a floor was laid at a cost of five shillings and tenpence for seven days' work, as recorded in the Account Book.
The painted panelling creates a three dimensional effect on entering the room. A closer look reveals that it was painted to imitate the grainy effect of wood. The wild ‘squiggles’ all over it were intended to imitate walnut
, a wood which was becoming more fashionable than oak in the later seventeenth century. It was expensive, but this did not stop fashion conscious people from painting walls and furniture to imitate it. The paint had a linseed oil base, and tools such as feathers and combs were dragged over it to create the grained effect.
On leaving the Hall you arrive in the gardens to the rear. Surrounding the Hall are the formal gardens including a herb garden at the side of the Hall. Herbs and flowers were essential ingredients for the housewife and cook. Not only were they both distilled to produce scented oils and form the basis of herbal remedies but they also had an important culinary role. Although Oakwell's herb garden is small in comparison to seventeenth century originals it gives an impression of the range of herbal plants available. Over 80 different varieties of herbs are to be found in this garden with many more to be found planted amongst the flowers in the formal gardens behind the hall.
Recent restoration work has been carried out to bring the formal gardens back to how they would have been in the 1690s. This includes using plants popular at the time. The garden contains a parterre
of compartments, with topiary
specimens and clipped box hedging. The patterns of the box were taken from furniture and plaster work in the Hall and features the lozenge design local to the area. The trellis used has been made using locally sourced original materials and 17th century carpentry skills. Even the shade of green used to colour the woodwork is typical of the period.
, another to Red House Museum
.
, Ox-eye Daisy, Self Heal
and Yellow Rattle
. These nectar rich flowers attract great numbers of insects, particularly bumblebee
s. On a day to day basis it is used as a dog exercise area (extremely popular with the locals). It does however also get used for historical English Civil War
- battle re-enactments
, horse shows and country fairs.
constructed a concrete
road to help with tipping. The road is still there concealed beneath the grass and acts as a dam
. Water plants living there include Water Forget-me-not, Bogbean and Purple Loosestrife
. Large numbers of creatures are attracted by the pond, such as; toad
s, Moorhen
s, Smooth Newt
s, Swan Mussels
plus varieties of damselfly
and dragonfly
.
, Ragged Robin
and Yellow Flag Iris
. A pond was created in 2003 to attract wildlife and the southern part of the meadow has been allowed to revert back to scrubland to create a habitat for birds such as the Yellowhammer
and Linnet
. In autumn the scrubland attracts Thrush
es, Fieldfare
s and Redwing
s which feed on the Hawthorn
berries.
techniques to produce multistemmed Sessile Oak
s and Birch
. Nova Wood is carpeted by Bluebell
s during spring
and is a habitat for summer migrant
birds such as Chiffchaff
and Blackcap
.
s that run through Oakwell, both running north to south. Nova Beck forms the western boundary of Nova Wood and flows through areas of dense wildflowers. Many of the species present such as Yellow Archangel
, Wood Anemone
and Wild Garlic
are good indicators of ancient woodland
. Hard Shield Fern, Red Campion
and Herb Bennet
are also in abundance.
Oakwell Beck does not support the same diversity of plants as Nova Beck, though in spring and early summer the wooded areas are thick with Wild Garlic
, Lesser Celandine
and Bistort. Occasional patches of Lords and Ladies
survives in shadier parts. Ash
, Alder
and Willow
make up the majority of the tree cover and provide habitat for Tawny Owl
s.
This Stone Ram statue stands proudly on the lawn in front of the Hall. Its origins are unknown, there is rumour that it once stood above the gates to Dewsbury Brewery, this has unfortunately not been confirmed as yet and the search into its background goes on.
of William Batt, owner of the house in 1684. He was a young man of 25, a bachelor
whose widowed mother, Elizabeth, lived at Oakwell. The best account of the ghost story comes from the Victorian writer Mrs Gaskell
in her "Life of Charlotte Brontë"(1857). Her account is as follows:
"Captain Batt was believed to be far away; his family was at Oakwell; when in the dusk on winter evening, he came stalking along the lane, through the hall and up the stairs, into his own room, where he vanished. He has been killed in duel in London that very same afternoon of December 9th 1684."
The legend also states that he left a bloody footprint behind in a bedroom.
The historical facts behind the story are as follows:
visited the Hall and was inspired to use Oakwell Hall as the setting for the Manor House - Fieldhead, in her novel Shirley
.
This excerpt from chapter 11 of Shirley
is her description of Oakwell Hall.
" If Fieldhead had few other merits as a building, it might at least be termed picturesque: its irregular architecture, and the grey and mossy colouring communicated by time, gave it a just claim to this epithet. The old latticed windows, the stone porch, the walls, the roof, the chimney-stacks, were rich in crayon touches and sepia lights and shades. The trees behind were fine, bold, and spreading; the cedar on the lawn in front was grand, and the granite urns on the garden wall, the fretted arch of the gateway, were, for an artist, as the very desire of the eye."
Charlotte Brontë; Shirley (1849)
Birstall, West Yorkshire
Birstall is a large village in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England and situated roughly 6 miles south-west of Leeds. It features a quaint triangular Victorian marketplace, which replaced an earlier market on High Street in the Georgian area of the village further up the hill...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and set in period gardens surrounded by 110 acre (0.4451546 km²) of country park.
The builder of the house was John Batt, a recarved stone with the date 1583 probably indicates the date of construction. The estate had been purchased by his Halifax-born father, a receiver of rents to the important Savile family, who resided at Howley Hall, in the nearby town of Batley
Batley
Batley is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies southeast of Bradford, southwest of Leeds and north of Dewsbury, near the M62 motorway. It has a population of 49,448 . Other nearby towns include Morley to the northeast, Ossett to the southeast...
.
Oakwell Hall was immortalised in literature by Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards...
in her novel Shirley
Shirley (novel)
Shirley is an 1849 social novel by the English novelist Charlotte Brontë. It was Brontë's second published novel after Jane Eyre . The novel is set in Yorkshire in the period 1811–12, during the industrial depression resulting from the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812...
.
Friends of Oakwell Hall
Whilst many join simply because they appreciate the beauty and tranquillity of the Hall and park, others join because of the 'hands on' opportunities available on site. Friends work closely with the Head Ranger and staff at Oakwell and provide assistance both inside and outside the Hall.
The House
The blackened GritstoneGritstone
Gritstone or Grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for paper and for grindstones to sharpen blades. "Grit" is...
building was built to the usual post-medieval plan of a central hall block flanked by crosswings.
The entrance to the building is still through a porch and screens passage at the 'lower' end of the house.
Oakwell Hall passed into municipal hands in 1928 and today it is owned by Kirklees
Kirklees
The Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 401,000 and includes the settlements of Batley, Birstall, Cleckheaton, Denby Dale, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Kirkburton, Marsden, Meltham, Mirfield and Slaithwaite...
Cultural Services, and managed by the volunteer group 'Friends of Oakwell Hall' (see section above). The interiors were restored to their early-17th century condition during the time the Batt Family inhabited the Hall. This was done with the aid of an inventory of 1611. During the restoration the original painted panelling of the Great Parlour and the Painted Chamber was revealed from under many layers of varnish and paint.
Great hall
The imposing Main Hall was originally two-storeyed but in the mid-17th century John Batt's grandson removed the ceiling and inserted a gallery and a large mullioned and transomed window.The Hall was a main thoroughfare for the house linking the two wings and would have been the hub of domestic life. It was also intended as a reception room for visitors, tenants and businessmen and was ideal for large gatherings.
It is sparsely furnished and uncluttered to create a large open space, practical to use and impressive to visitors. The table is placed at one end of the room as it would probably have been towards the end of the seventeenth century, rather than in its earlier position of importance in the centre of the room. The size of the room is intended to impress visitors entering the house.
Great Parlour
This was the most important room in the house in the early seventeenth century. According to the inventory of 1611 it had some of the best furniture, and contained the Batts' collection of maps. In the 1630s the Batts added a magnificent plaster ceiling, and they later had painted the oak panelling including a landscape scene above the fireplace. Most of the original panels have survived though several are recent reproductions replacing those lost and decayed. The painting technique known as scumbling was a popular way of decorating rooms to create an air of warmth and grandeur. Few examples of this decorative work survive today.In the late seventeenth century dining rooms and parlours were the preferred rooms for eating and entertaining guests in private. The great parlour is furnished today with pieces intended to show it as a fashionable and comfortable room of the 1690s.
Great Parlour Chamber
In 1690 this room was probably occupied by John Batt, master of the household. A clue to this is the garderobe or toilet in the outer wall, a "luxury" for the few. The modern rushmatting in this and other family rooms in the house was also a feature of many wealthy households, and was warmer and more comfortable than bare floorboards or stone floors. The fireplace, as with most others in the house, is a nineteenth century addition, though it is one of few interior structural changes made in the house since the seventeenth century. The inclusion of a table and chairs in a bed chamber in the seventeenth century was not unusual. Bed chambers often had a dual purpose and their occupiers thought nothing of entertaining guests in them with wine or cards.Kitchen
The kitchen was one of the busiest rooms in the seventeenth century home. The mistress would supervise her female servants to prepare food, medicines and sweet-smelling pot-pourris, and there would be a constant stream of visiting tradesmen, estate workers, errand boys and servants of visiting gentry. At mealtimes all the servants would gather there to eat off wooden platters.When the hall was originally built, food may have been cooked over a large fire at one end of the Great Hall. By the time the Inventory of 1611 was drawn up, the kitchen had already become a separate room, probably sited in the east wing of the house where it is today. The kitchen is divided from the main living quarters of the house by the screens passage so that smells and noise would not so easily penetrate the family rooms.
The original seventeenth century fireplace was replaced by the present one in the nineteenth century, but it would undoubtedly have been much wider and larger. Evidence of previous occupants of the Hall can still be seen by the candle burns on the timbers on the wall opposite the window.
The Kitchen Chamber
In contrast with the warmth and luxury of the New Parlour Chamber across the landing, this room, where the servants would probably have slept and food was stored, is unpanelled and has no ceiling. Its position next to the back stairs and immediately above the kitchen, made it easily accessible for the servants in this wing of the house. Many local houses used their kitchen chambers for storage and household junk.In 1611 this room had five arks for storing meal and grain. Today it has one great ark and a collection of food chests for storage. Lack of a fireplace and unpanelled walls would have made this room a cold place in winter though the warmth rising from the kitchen below would take off the chill and keep the stored food dry.
Little Parlour Chamber
The inventory of 1611 for Oakwell Hall records seventeen beds of different types within the household. Some of these were truckle beds for the servants; others were grand tester beds used by members of the family. Sometimes older beds were relegated to less important rooms in the house to make room for newer and grander pieces. This chamber is furnished with older furniture and would probably have been used as a second best bedchamber. Reproduction tapestries are hung from the walls.In the nineteenth century this room was transformed with the addition of the stairs and passage through which you have just come. The wall to your right is an addition, and the room would have been larger. The original timber studding can clearly be seen on two walls, showing the lath and plaster structure.
The New Parlour
The layout of this room shows typical features of a modest seventeenth century dining room. Servants would place food on the side table, and serve it to the family. The food did not have far to travel from the kitchen, so there was no risk of it being spoilt and going cold. The fine court cupboard, a feature of many homes in the seventeenth century, was used to house the family pewterPewter
Pewter is a malleable metal alloy, traditionally 85–99% tin, with the remainder consisting of copper, antimony, bismuth and lead. Copper and antimony act as hardeners while lead is common in the lower grades of pewter, which have a bluish tint. It has a low melting point, around 170–230 °C ,...
and plate which could be kept under lock and key, while the same principle lay behind the small food or spice cupboard in the corner, the key to which was kept by the mistress, as spices were valuable commodities. The family would eat in here in private or with one or two guests.
New Parlour Chamber
A gentry household in the seventeenth century had to be able to accommodate visitors. This room, displayed as a second best bed chamber, may have been occupied by the nursemaid and her charges, or other members of the household.The screen at right angles to the doorway was intended to prevent draughts wafting through the bed curtains. There is also an adjoining dressing room or closet, this is now used to display reproduction costumes.
The warm colours of the panelling and bed curtains are echoed in the carpet on the table, a usual feature of wealthier seventeenth century houses. Tables or beds were ideal places to display a fine carpet which was too valuable to walk upon.
Painted Chamber
This room is furnished with reproduction furniture to show what oak furniture looked like when new (i.e. not dark with age and polish). The painted panelling in this room has a larger design than that the Great Parlour, and is slightly less decorative. It was discovered under several layers of emulsion paint and is thought to date, like that downstairs from the seventeenth century. The room is displayed as the mistress's, chamber; the small table is drawn up to the window to obtain the maximum light for sewing, which would fill a large part of the mistress’s day. The furniture is entirely reproduction. It may at first look too "modern", new oak furniture looks very pale and lacks the discolouration of three centuries of use.The floorboards have been re-laid in a seventeenth century manner. In 1609 a floor was laid at a cost of five shillings and tenpence for seven days' work, as recorded in the Account Book.
The painted panelling creates a three dimensional effect on entering the room. A closer look reveals that it was painted to imitate the grainy effect of wood. The wild ‘squiggles’ all over it were intended to imitate walnut
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
, a wood which was becoming more fashionable than oak in the later seventeenth century. It was expensive, but this did not stop fashion conscious people from painting walls and furniture to imitate it. The paint had a linseed oil base, and tools such as feathers and combs were dragged over it to create the grained effect.
The Study
A very small room located off the gallery above the Main Hall. The 1611 inventory of Robert Batt of Oakwell Hall shows him to have over 60 books at a time when books were very expensive and few people could read. Robert studied at Oxford University and eventually became rector at Newton Tony in Wiltshire.Formal Gardens
Recent restoration work has been carried out to bring the formal gardens back to how they would have been in the 1690s. This includes using plants popular at the time. The garden contains a parterre
Parterre
A parterre is a formal garden construction on a level surface consisting of planting beds, edged in stone or tightly clipped hedging, and gravel paths arranged to form a pleasing, usually symmetrical pattern. Parterres need not have any flowers at all...
of compartments, with topiary
Topiary
Topiary is the horticultural practice of training live perennial plants, by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, perhaps geometric or fanciful; and the term also refers to plants which have been shaped in this way. It can be...
specimens and clipped box hedging. The patterns of the box were taken from furniture and plaster work in the Hall and features the lozenge design local to the area. The trellis used has been made using locally sourced original materials and 17th century carpentry skills. Even the shade of green used to colour the woodwork is typical of the period.
Park Land
With 110 acre (0.4451546 km²) there are many diverse environs that make up the Country Park. Woodland, streams, pasture land, ponds and bridleways. It is a major attraction for nature lovers to visit the Park all year round to see the changes in seasons. There are several walks around the Park with clearly visible nature trail markers. Along the walks you can find many information points giving details of the flora and fauna. One walk out of the park leads to the site of the Civil War Battle of Adwalton MoorBattle of Adwalton Moor
-The Battlefield:The site of the battle is high ground in Adwalton near Bradford, which is now in an area of rural-urban fringe, . Parts of the site are protected as "green belt" or other types of open space...
, another to Red House Museum
Red House Museum
Red House Museum is a historic house and museum in Gomersal, West Yorkshire, England.Red House was built by William Taylor in 1660, and the Taylor family owned it until 1920. The house had a number of famous visitors. One was Charlotte Brontë, who had been a pupil at Roe Head with Mary Taylor, the...
.
Adventure Playground
The Park also features a state of the art play area, designed so that disabled children can play alongside their able bodied friends and familyColliery Field
The pasture land in the middle of the park is of very great size and was the former site of the spoil heaps of Gomersal Colliery, which closed in the 1970s. The nutrient poor soil has been ideal for re-seeding with meadow plants such as Red CloverRed clover
Trifolium pratense is a species of clover, native to Europe, Western Asia and northwest Africa, but planted and naturalised in many other regions....
, Ox-eye Daisy, Self Heal
Prunella (plant)
Prunella is a genus of seven species of herbaceous plants in the family Lamiaceae, also known as self-heals, heal-all, or "allheal" for their use in herbal medicine.-Habitat:...
and Yellow Rattle
Yellow rattle
Yellow Rattle or Cockscomb, Rhinanthus minor, is a flowering plant in the genus Rhinanthus in the family Orobanchaceae, native to Europe and Western Asia....
. These nectar rich flowers attract great numbers of insects, particularly bumblebee
Bumblebee
A bumble bee is any member of the bee genus Bombus, in the family Apidae. There are over 250 known species, existing primarily in the Northern Hemisphere although they are common in New Zealand and in the Australian state of Tasmania.Bumble bees are social insects that are characterised by black...
s. On a day to day basis it is used as a dog exercise area (extremely popular with the locals). It does however also get used for historical English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
- battle re-enactments
Historical reenactment
Historical reenactment is an educational activity in which participants attempt torecreate some aspects of a historical event or period. This may be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as the reenactment of Pickett's Charge at the Great Reunion of 1913, or as broad as an entire...
, horse shows and country fairs.
Colliery Pond
Colliery pond was created when the Coal BoardNational Coal Board
The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...
constructed a concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
road to help with tipping. The road is still there concealed beneath the grass and acts as a dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
. Water plants living there include Water Forget-me-not, Bogbean and Purple Loosestrife
Purple loosestrife
Lythrum salicaria is a flowering plant belonging to the family Lythraceae, native to Europe, Asia, northwest Africa, and southeastern Australia. It should not be confused with other plants sharing the name loosestrife that are members of the family Primulaceae...
. Large numbers of creatures are attracted by the pond, such as; toad
Toad
A toad is any of a number of species of amphibians in the order Anura characterized by dry, leathery skin , short legs, and snoat-like parotoid glands...
s, Moorhen
Moorhen
Moorhens, sometimes called marsh hens, are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family Rallidae. They constitute the genus Gallinula....
s, Smooth Newt
Smooth Newt
The Smooth Newt, also known as the Common Newt, Lissotriton vulgaris is the most common newt species of the Lissotriton genus of amphibians. L...
s, Swan Mussels
Mussel
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
plus varieties of damselfly
Damselfly
Damselflies are insects in the order Odonata. Damselflies are similar to dragonflies, but the adults can be distinguished by the fact that the wings of most damselflies are held along, and parallel to, the body when at rest...
and dragonfly
Dragonfly
A dragonfly is a winged insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera . It is characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, and an elongated body...
.
Nova Meadow
A damp area containing moisture loving plants including Lady's Smock, Common Tussock Grass, MeadowsweetMeadowsweet
Filipendula ulmaria, commonly known as Meadowsweet, is a perennial herb in the family Rosaceae that grows in damp meadows. It is native throughout most of Europe and Western Asia...
, Ragged Robin
Ragged Robin
Lychnis flos-cuculi, commonly called Ragged Robin, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the family Caryophyllaceae. It is species is native to Europe, where it is found along roads and in wet meadows and pastures...
and Yellow Flag Iris
Iris versicolor
Iris versicolor, also commonly known as the Harlequin Blueflag, Larger Blue Flag, Northern Blue Flag, and other variations of those names, is a species of Iris native to North America where it is common in sedge meadows, marshes, and along streambanks and shores.-Growth:I. versicolor is a perennial...
. A pond was created in 2003 to attract wildlife and the southern part of the meadow has been allowed to revert back to scrubland to create a habitat for birds such as the Yellowhammer
Yellowhammer
The Yellowhammer, Emberiza citrinella, is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae. It is common in all sorts of open areas with some scrub or trees and form small flocks in winter....
and Linnet
Linnet
The Linnet is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae.The Linnet derives its scientific name from its fondness for hemp and its English name from its liking for seeds of flax, from which linen is made.- Description :...
. In autumn the scrubland attracts Thrush
Thrush (bird)
The thrushes, family Turdidae, are a group of passerine birds that occur worldwide.-Characteristics:Thrushes are plump, soft-plumaged, small to medium-sized birds, inhabiting wooded areas, and often feed on the ground or eat small fruit. The smallest thrush may be the Forest Rock-thrush, at and...
es, Fieldfare
Fieldfare
The Fieldfare is a member of the thrush family Turdidae. It breeds in woodland and scrub in northern Europe and Asia. It is strongly migratory, with many northern birds moving south during the winter. It is a very rare breeder in Great Britain and Ireland, but winters in large numbers in these...
s and Redwing
Redwing
The Redwing is a bird in the thrush family Turdidae, native to Europe and Asia, slightly smaller than the related Song Thrush.-Taxonomy:...
s which feed on the Hawthorn
Crataegus
Crataegus , commonly called hawthorn or thornapple, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the rose family, Rosaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia and North America. The name hawthorn was originally applied to the species native to northern Europe,...
berries.
Nova Wood
Much of Nova Wood was felled for pit props to service the local Gomersal Colliery but the trees have been regrown using coppicingCoppicing
Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which takes advantage of the fact that many trees make new growth from the stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level...
techniques to produce multistemmed Sessile Oak
Sessile Oak
Quercus petraea , the Sessile Oak, also known as the Durmast Oak, is a species of oak native to most of Europe, and into Anatolia.-Description:...
s and Birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
. Nova Wood is carpeted by Bluebell
Common Bluebell
Hyacinthoides non-scripta, commonly known as the common bluebell, is a spring-flowering bulbous perennial plant. -Taxonomy:...
s during spring
Spring (season)
Spring is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition period between winter and summer. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and broadly to ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth. The specific definition of the exact timing of "spring" varies according to local climate, cultures and...
and is a habitat for summer migrant
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
birds such as Chiffchaff
Chiffchaff
The Common Chiffchaff, or simply the Chiffchaff, is a common and widespread leaf-warbler which breeds in open woodlands throughout northern and temperate Europe and Asia....
and Blackcap
Blackcap
The Blackcap is a common and widespread sylviid warbler which breeds throughout temperate Europe, western Asia and northwestern Africa, and winters from northwestern Europe south to tropical Africa...
.
Nova Beck
Nova Beck is one of two streamStream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
s that run through Oakwell, both running north to south. Nova Beck forms the western boundary of Nova Wood and flows through areas of dense wildflowers. Many of the species present such as Yellow Archangel
Yellow Archangel
Lamium galeobdolon, commonly known as yellow archangel, is a widespread wildflower in Europe, and has been introduced elsewhere as a garden plant. It displays the zygomorphic flower morphology, opposite leaves, and square stem typical of the mint family, Lamiaceae...
, Wood Anemone
Wood Anemone
Wood anemone is a common name for three closely related species of woodland anemone.In Europe: Anemone nemorosaIn North America: Anemone quinquefoliaThe Yellow wood anemone is Anemone ranunculoides....
and Wild Garlic
Wild garlic
A number of different plant species of the genus Allium are known as Wild Garlic:*Allium ursinum *Allium vineale *Allium drummondii, Drummond's onion...
are good indicators of ancient woodland
Ancient woodland
Ancient woodland is a term used in the United Kingdom to refer specifically to woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England and Wales . Before those dates, planting of new woodland was uncommon, so a wood present in 1600 was likely to have developed naturally...
. Hard Shield Fern, Red Campion
Red Campion
Red campion is a flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, native throughout central, western and northern Europe, and locally in southern Europe....
and Herb Bennet
Wood Avens
Geum urbanum, also known as wood avens, herb Bennet, colewort and St. Benedict's herb , is a perennial plant in the rose family , which grows in shady places in Europe and the Middle East.Usually reaching a height between 20 and 60 cm, wood avens blooms between May and August,...
are also in abundance.
Oakwell Beck
Oakwell Beck winds its course along the southern boundary of Colliery Field. Along its length can be found exposed coal seams and fossilized 'ripples' from ancient seas.Oakwell Beck does not support the same diversity of plants as Nova Beck, though in spring and early summer the wooded areas are thick with Wild Garlic
Wild garlic
A number of different plant species of the genus Allium are known as Wild Garlic:*Allium ursinum *Allium vineale *Allium drummondii, Drummond's onion...
, Lesser Celandine
Lesser celandine
Lesser celandine is a low-growing, hairless perennial plant, with fleshy dark green, heart-shaped leaves. The plant is found throughout Europe and west Asia and is now introduced in North America. It prefers bare, damp ground and in the UK it is often a persistent garden weed...
and Bistort. Occasional patches of Lords and Ladies
Arum maculatum
Arum maculatum is a common woodland plant species of the Araceae family. It is widespread across temperate northern Europe and is known by an abundance of common names including Wild arum, Lords and Ladies, Devils and Angels, Cows and Bulls, Cuckoo-Pint, Adam and Eve, Bobbins, Naked Boys,...
survives in shadier parts. Ash
Ash tree
Fraxinus is a genus flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45-65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. The tree's common English name, ash, goes back to the Old English æsc, while the generic name...
, Alder
Alder
Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to...
and Willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
make up the majority of the tree cover and provide habitat for Tawny Owl
Tawny Owl
The Tawny Owl or Brown Owl is a stocky, medium-sized owl commonly found in woodlands across much of Eurasia. Its underparts are pale with dark streaks, and the upperparts are either brown or grey. Several of the eleven recognised subspecies have both variants...
s.
Stone Ram
The Ghost of Oakwell Hall
Oakwell’s most famous legend concerns the ghostGhost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
of William Batt, owner of the house in 1684. He was a young man of 25, a bachelor
Bachelor
A bachelor is a man above the age of majority who has never been married . Unlike his female counterpart, the spinster, a bachelor may have had children...
whose widowed mother, Elizabeth, lived at Oakwell. The best account of the ghost story comes from the Victorian writer Mrs Gaskell
Elizabeth Gaskell
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, née Stevenson , often referred to simply as Mrs Gaskell, was a British novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era...
in her "Life of Charlotte Brontë"(1857). Her account is as follows:
"Captain Batt was believed to be far away; his family was at Oakwell; when in the dusk on winter evening, he came stalking along the lane, through the hall and up the stairs, into his own room, where he vanished. He has been killed in duel in London that very same afternoon of December 9th 1684."
The legend also states that he left a bloody footprint behind in a bedroom.
The historical facts behind the story are as follows:
- A bond surviving in the archives shows that William was at the Black Swan, HolbornHolbornHolborn is an area of Central London. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running as High Holborn from St Giles's High Street to Gray's Inn Road and then on to Holborn Viaduct...
in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on December 9, where he borrowed money. - Local diarist Oliver Heywood has two entries recording the death of William; one that he died ‘in sport’; the other that he was ‘slain by Mr Gream at Barne near London’.
- William was buried in Birstall on December 30, 1684
Oakwell Hall and The Brontë Sisters
For a time during the 19th century the Hall was used as a girls school, Charlotte's closest friend Ellen Nussey attended the school. Charlotte BrontëCharlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards...
visited the Hall and was inspired to use Oakwell Hall as the setting for the Manor House - Fieldhead, in her novel Shirley
Shirley (novel)
Shirley is an 1849 social novel by the English novelist Charlotte Brontë. It was Brontë's second published novel after Jane Eyre . The novel is set in Yorkshire in the period 1811–12, during the industrial depression resulting from the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812...
.
This excerpt from chapter 11 of Shirley
Shirley (novel)
Shirley is an 1849 social novel by the English novelist Charlotte Brontë. It was Brontë's second published novel after Jane Eyre . The novel is set in Yorkshire in the period 1811–12, during the industrial depression resulting from the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812...
is her description of Oakwell Hall.
" If Fieldhead had few other merits as a building, it might at least be termed picturesque: its irregular architecture, and the grey and mossy colouring communicated by time, gave it a just claim to this epithet. The old latticed windows, the stone porch, the walls, the roof, the chimney-stacks, were rich in crayon touches and sepia lights and shades. The trees behind were fine, bold, and spreading; the cedar on the lawn in front was grand, and the granite urns on the garden wall, the fretted arch of the gateway, were, for an artist, as the very desire of the eye."
Charlotte Brontë; Shirley (1849)