Oakwell Hall Visitor Centre Gates - Birstall, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 44.366 W 001° 40.284
30U E 587629 N 5955351
These gates are used to close of the courtyard that leads to the visitor centre of Oakwell Hall, a manor house built in 1583.
Waymark Code: WMV6KG
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/04/2017
Views: 2
Oakwell Hall was built as a manor house for the Batt family and the hall and grounds has had a rich and varied history. The design of the gates reflects this history.
The family supported the defeated Royalists in the English Civil War, and received a fine from the Parliamentarians.
In the 19th century the hall was used as a girls' school. Charlotte Brontë's closest friend Ellen Nussey was a pupil. Charlotte Brontë visited the hall and was inspired to use it as the setting for the manor house, Fieldhead, in her novel Shirley.
For a number of years the grounds surrounding the hall were used as a coal mine. In 1973 the coal mine closed, all associated buildings destroyed and the area landscaped and turned into a country park.
Oakwell Hall itself passed into municipal hands in 1928 and is owned by Kirklees Cultural Services, and managed by volunteers from the Friends of Oakwell Hall. The interiors were restored to early-17th-century condition, the time the Batt family lived here, with the aid of an inventory of 1611.
The gates were designed by sculptor Anotonia Stowe and installed in 2015. Her website has the following information.
"...The feature gates mark the entrance to the heritage centre and display elements of the history of the site.
When the gate is closed there is a calm, organic leafy design featuring elements from community workshops which include symbols from the Batt family coat of arms. When the gates are opened visitors can discover various reproduction objects hanging on coat hooks along the gates, which tell the story of the history of Oakwell Hall.
The objects include a civil war sword, helmet, mining lamp, snap tin, miner’s helmet, battery and lamp along with an Oakwell Hall cast key. The gate is finished in a greeny blue bronze which compliments the new entrance way at Oakwell Hall.
Thank you to everyone who contributed, including the workshop participants, the Friends of Oakwell Hall, the Project Team and the National Coal Mining Museum as well as Kirklees Museums and Galleries."
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