OAKWELL HALL, Birstall

Another sunny autumn day today and I took advantage of it and visited Oakwell Hall, Birstall.  The Hall dates back to 1583 and was built by John Batt and is now furnished as it was for the Batt family in the 1690s.  Oakwell Hall is set amid beautiful West Yorkshire countryside and was a source of inspiration in Charlotte Bronte's novel 'Shirley' in which she renamed it 'Fieldhead'.  Unfortunately, the gardens were not at their best at this time of year and it was decidedly cold but the paths and lawns were beautiful with golden leaves and the sky was blue with the Leeds/Bradford airport traffic leaving trails of white across the sky.  What I loved best about Oakwell Hall itself was the multi-coloured glass in the hall's windows which, unfortunately, does not show up so well in my photographs.  Click on the images for a closer look.

 

 



Click on the image for a closer
look at the coloured glass.  So pretty.

You can see more of the hall, the interior, at this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bradford/content/panoramas/new_oakwell_hall_01_360.shtml

Of course, I had to take photographs of the gardens, particularly the trees. 

 

 

 

They put these on the seats in the Hall so visitors
will not sit down.  At least, they won't sit down twice!