Oakwell Hall, Birstall
Oakwell Hall is a Grade I Listed Elizabethan manor house, built by John Batt in 1583 and currently furnished as a family home of the 1690s when it was owned by another John Batt.
We represented the last John Batt and family over a number of years, including his marriage to Henrietta Metcalf in 1695.
Oakwell Hall was also visited by Charlotte Bronte in the 1830s and it was immortalised as 'Fieldhead' in her 1849 novel 'Shirley'.
1690-96 - John Batt & Family
December 1991 - May 1996
We portrayed John Batt and his household over a number of years, rolling through and including his marriage to Henrietta Metcalf. As well as the rolling story, we were able to theme each event to cover different aspects of late Stuart life., such as marriage, recreation and women's roles in society.
1695 - The Wedding
January 1995
To experience the wedding, we organise a workshop which involved us dressing and acting as the characters involved, and walking to the exterior of York Minster, where the wedding was actually held. We then paraded through the streets to Holy Trinity church for an informal presentation by Charles Kightly on the subject of religion. The day was then finished off with a seventeenth century style wedding breakfast in the Black Swan.
