Anne Lister at Home

This article, written by the Collections Manager for Shibden Hall, describes the history of the building, the changes that Lister made to it, and the site’s explosion of visitor interest in the wake of the TV series Gentleman Jack, which created some interesting curatorial dilemmas. Once again, I won’t be summarizing in detail, but will touch on a few topics of particular interest.

Lister’s alterations to the building – made possible by the profits from coal, but often outstripping that income – were part of a program to enhance the grandeur and significance of the family. Following the fashion for reviving medieval and Jacobean styles, some significant changes included opening up the main room to the full height of two stories, adding a formal staircase and gallery, and creating more physical and logistical separation between the family rooms and service areas and personnel. Although almost none of the furnishings from Lister’s day remain, the current physical structure is essentially as she left it.

Just as the structural changes were intended to increase the appearance of wealth and aristocratic legacy, Lister’s work on the estate functioned to move it away from the image of farmland to an estate prioritizing privacy and romantic landscaping. This included the creation of the “chaumière” cottage (featured as a romantic getaway in the TV series), whose location has not been identified.

As noted previously, very few of Lister’s furnishings and possessions remained with the estate. (For example, her library was sold off by a later owner, John Lister, who no longer had the advantage of coal income to help maintain the estate’s finances.) In addition to a few items that remain, the museum has been able to locate and acquire some objects of identifiable provenance, such as a traveling writing desk with an engraved plate reading “Miss Lister, Shibden Hall” that was found in France.

Although the museum has aimed to furnish the displays in a manner appropriate to Lister’s era, visitors often confuse the furniture and furnishings with actual historic artifacts, or with the TV sets and set dressing. Although Shibden Hall was used for some location shots for the TV series, much of the interior work used constructed sets, often enlarging the rooms beyond the original size for logistical reasons.

Clare provides an insider’s view of the balancing act of presenting such a famous – but somewhat fictionalized – site in a way that satisfies visitors’ desires while presenting accurate history.