Bankfield beauty

So what do you do on a wet and very windy Saturday? Well, dive into a local museum, of course. I'd been meaning to visit the Bankfield Museum in Halifax for a while, to see a specific exhibition there. It was such horrid weather that I ran straight from the car into the entrance lobby, without even stopping to take a photo of the museum itself, but there was plenty to enjoy inside (and from the windows - above).

The museum building was once the home of one of Halifax's most prominent mill owners, Edward Ackroyd (1810-1887), something of a similar figure to Saltaire's Sir Titus Salt, in that he had great concern for his workers' welfare and local conditions. He bought land around his mansion for a model village, Ackroydon, though the plan was never fully realised, and he enabled workers to buy their own houses through low cost mortgages. 

The Bankfield mansion, built in 1800, was extended and laid out in grandiose fashion whilst he lived there. By 1887, his worsted business was in decline and Edward himself was dying, so he sold the building to Halifax Corporation (he had no children) and it has been a museum and library ever since. 

It retains some of its grandest features. The entrance staircase is stunning and there are wonderful painted ceilings:

and many of the original encaustic tiled floors:

Some of the pieces inside belonged to Ackroyd but others have been brought in as part of collections and donations, particularly under the curatorship of Henry Ling Roth in the early 1900s.  

I'm always intrigued by the wonderful Italian 'veiled statues', popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. This one is by Bazzanti c1860 (and may be - but is probably not! - Ackroyd's wife Elizabeth). 

At the other end of the artistic scale, I equally enjoyed seeing the collection of old stone and glass bottles with local origins. 

I was there a good couple of hours and there was so much to take in and enjoy that a repeat visit wouldn't go amiss. 

By the way, for copyright reasons, I can't reproduce any of the paintings from the exhibition I went to see but it was by my favourite artist, Kate Lycett, who works out of her studio in nearby Hebden Bridge. Look HERE for examples of her distinctive work, all inspired by Yorkshire scenes. It was a stunning exhibition of new work she created during lockdown. My daughter bought me a copy of Kate's lovely book 'The Nightingale Project' for Christmas and it's a delight to look through.