Shibden Hall, Shibden, Halifax, Calderdale, UK (b/w photo)

Photographer: George Bernard Wood An interior view of the staircase in Shibden Hall, seen from the ground floor hall Shibden Hall dates to the late medieval period, where it was built c1420 for William Otes, and was altered in the 16th and latter quarter of the 19th centuries. The surviving original hall has two cross wings, a stone and timber entrance front on the south side and a c1836 Norman-style west tower with three storeys, designed by John Harper of York. Much of the interior has been altered, but there is some 17th century panelling on the ground and first floors. The staircase is accessed from the Buttery by two steps, and leads to a first floor hall with a balustraded railing. In front of the staircase is a railing with twisted balusters and wooden sculptures on each of the railing pilasters. The hall was occupied by the Lister family from the early 17th century to 1923, when John Lister became bankrupt and the hall was presented to the people of Halifax as a public park and museum. Anne Lister (1791-1840) managed the estate from 1826 and inherited it in 1836. After her death, the estate was given to her partner, Ann Walker, but was returned to the Lister family in 1854 after Walker's death. Anne Lister kept coded diaries, which she hid in the walls of Shibden Hall, that recorded her romantic relationships with women. They were de-coded and published in 1988 by Helena Whitbread and she became known as the 'first modern lesbian'.