<<< Back
Title: The Old Hall at Broadbottom - AGW00113
Click on the photo to enlarge. Click here to Comment
To license a hi-res version of this image or order a print: Copy the full title, including the number and quote this when contacting us. Not all images are available to license or print.
Title
The Old Hall at Broadbottom - AGW00113
Description
A rare and important example of an aisled timber-framed open hall dating to 1464 and encased in stone in late 16th century. The Hall was probably built for the Draper family, who were cloth merchants. The estate is typical of the post-medieval economy of the Calder valley combining small-scale farming with textile production. Source: Historic England
The aisled halls of the Halifax region form a unique group within the north of England. Dating from the 14th century they are evidence of the prosperity of the medieval yeoman clothier who wished to demonstrate his wealth by building a large ‘open-hall’ house. Few survive unaltered today, which makes Broad Bottom very rare and important. Here we see the large king-post roof truss carried on tall posts which stand on padstones. The fire area has the remnants of the original inglenook with its side screen; the present stone fireplace is an 18th century improvement. Large rafters supported by purlins lend support to the heavy ‘thackstones’ – roof-slates pegged onto riven-oak laths.
At the opposite end are the remains of the ‘dais’, a raised platform to add status to the people who sat at table. To either side of the heavily framed wall were doorways into the ‘solar’, the private apartment in a cross-wing. Set against the massive plank-and-muntin panelling would have been the ‘high-table’ with a coved canopy above. Only the moulded rail survives, which acted as a springboard to the curving struts. (A canopy saved from Whitehall, Ovenden, is in the Bankfield Museum, Halifax.) Above the rail is a series of closely-set vertical studs with wattle-and-daub infilling. The roof at this end is carried by a king-post truss with two braces on each side of the post: such an ‘A’ strut truss is also seen on the front gables at Shibden Hall.
Text from: Calderdale Architecture and History.
The aisled halls of the Halifax region form a unique group within the north of England. Dating from the 14th century they are evidence of the prosperity of the medieval yeoman clothier who wished to demonstrate his wealth by building a large ‘open-hall’ house. Few survive unaltered today, which makes Broad Bottom very rare and important. Here we see the large king-post roof truss carried on tall posts which stand on padstones. The fire area has the remnants of the original inglenook with its side screen; the present stone fireplace is an 18th century improvement. Large rafters supported by purlins lend support to the heavy ‘thackstones’ – roof-slates pegged onto riven-oak laths.
At the opposite end are the remains of the ‘dais’, a raised platform to add status to the people who sat at table. To either side of the heavily framed wall were doorways into the ‘solar’, the private apartment in a cross-wing. Set against the massive plank-and-muntin panelling would have been the ‘high-table’ with a coved canopy above. Only the moulded rail survives, which acted as a springboard to the curving struts. (A canopy saved from Whitehall, Ovenden, is in the Bankfield Museum, Halifax.) Above the rail is a series of closely-set vertical studs with wattle-and-daub infilling. The roof at this end is carried by a king-post truss with two braces on each side of the post: such an ‘A’ strut truss is also seen on the front gables at Shibden Hall.
Text from: Calderdale Architecture and History.
Creator
Alan Greenwood
Source
Alan Greenwood
Date
2005-11-19T15:29:20Z , 2000s
Rights
PHDA - Alan Greenwood Collection
Relation
Pennine Horizons Digital Archive
Identifier
AGW00113.tif
Collection
Citation
Alan Greenwood, “The Old Hall at Broadbottom - AGW00113,” Pennine Horizons Digital Archive, accessed April 26, 2024, https://penninehorizons.org/items/show/194.
Comments