Shelf Hall

The sketch and description were originally published in The Halifax Courier in 1912-1913. Old Shelf Hall, a plain looking building some centuries old and ruinous, overlooks the entrance to the new hall, erected in 1860 by the late Mr Samuel Bottomley and now owned and occupied by Mr S Watkinson. It is a magnificently proportioned building and elegant externally and internally. The mansion stands on historic ground, for from time immemorial a manor of Shelf Hall was distinct from the Manor of Shelf for centuries. In the largest room of the old hall is a 17th century fireplace and over the south doorway are the initials ‘IP’ and the date 1629 – the initials of John Philippe, the owner of that time. PH/28.