Red House Museum facts for kids
Red House Museum, Gomersal
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| Established | 1974 |
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| Location | Oxford Road, Gomersal, West Yorkshire, England BD19 4JP |
| Type | Historic house museum. |
The Red House Museum was a special old house that became a museum. It was built way back in 1660 and later updated in the fancy Georgian style. Even though it closed its doors to visitors at the end of 2016, it's still a very important building. It's called a Grade II* listed building and can be found in Gomersal, Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England.
Contents
History of Red House
The Red House was built by a man named William Taylor in 1660. His family owned the house for a very long time, until 1920. The Taylor family had lived in Gomersal for over a hundred years before William built this new brick house next to their old one. They started out as farmers and people who made cloth. Over time, their business grew, and they became successful merchants.
The old house was still standing in 1713, and workshops nearby were full of tools for making cloth. The old house was probably taken down when a barn and a coach house were built around the mid-1700s. The Red House is special because it's made of red brick. This was unusual in a village where most buildings were made of local sandstone. That's why it got its name, the Red House! The outside and inside of the house were changed and updated during the 1700s. Later, in 1920, some windows in the living room and dining room were made bigger.
In 1967, the house was given a special status as a Grade II* listed building. This means it's very important because of its history, its connection to industry, and its links to famous writers. It also has some beautiful parts from the Georgian period, like a staircase, fireplaces, and windows, all built into the original 1600s structure. The barn and coach house are also important. In 1969, the local council bought the house. Five years later, in 1974, it opened as a museum for everyone to visit.
Exploring the Architecture
Outside the Red House
This house has two floors and is built with red bricks. It has stone blocks called quoins at the corners, which make it look strong. The roof is made of stone slates and is hipped at the front, meaning it slopes down on all sides. At the back, there are four pointed roof sections called gables. The main door isn't exactly in the middle. On either side of the door, there's a sash window and a special window that sticks out a bit, called a canted bay window. Upstairs, there are three double windows and two single windows. The back wall, with its four gables, was rebuilt between 1995 and 1997 to keep it strong.
Inside the Red House
The inside of the house is decorated and furnished to look just like it did in the 1830s. This was when Joshua Taylor, who owned a woollen cloth mill, lived there with his wife Anne and their six children.
When you walk in, you see an old staircase from the 1700s. It has thin wooden balusters (the small posts that support the handrail) and leads up to a landing that also dates from the same period. The entrance hall has wooden parts painted to look like wood grain, a popular style in the Georgian era. Portraits of the Taylor family hang on the walls, showing them from 1737 to 1817. These include Joshua Taylor's sister Deborah, his parents John and Anne, and his father-in-law Captain Tickell.
The rooms like the parlour, dining room, study, governess' room, scullery, kitchen, and bedchambers are set up to show what life was like in the 1830s. They have furniture from the 1800s. The dining room has special stained glass windows with pictures of famous writers William Shakespeare and John Milton. There's also a painting of the Mount Vesuvius volcano erupting in 1794, which is even mentioned in the famous novel Shirley. Many rooms have old iron fire grates with ledges, which were used for heating food in pots and pans.
Garden and Outbuildings
The garden at Red House is designed to look like a 19th-century garden. It has green lawns, sweet-smelling old climbing roses, a cozy arbour (a shady spot), and flower beds filled with old-fashioned flowers. You can also see a display of old gateposts on the lawn.
To the west of the house, there's a two-story stone barn with a stone slate roof and a large entrance for carts. The stone coach house has four open arches at the front. Its inside has been carefully restored to its original look.
Famous Visitors and Staff
Some famous people visited the Red House. John and Charles Wesley, who were important Methodist preachers, were friends with John Taylor (William Taylor's great-grandson) and visited the house.
Another famous visitor was Charlotte Brontë, a well-known writer. She had been a student with Mary Taylor, who was Joshua Taylor's daughter. Charlotte Brontë made the Taylor family famous in her novel Shirley, calling them the Yorkes and the house Briarmains. A local minister from the Gomersal Moravian Church, who visited in the 1840s, might have inspired a character in Shirley too.
Mabel Ferrett (1917-2011), who was a poet, publisher, and local historian, also worked at the museum. She wrote a book called The Taylors of the Red House in 1987.
Why the Museum Closed
Due to cuts in government funding, the local council decided they could only afford to keep two museums open. This meant that Red House, along with the Tolson and Dewsbury Museums, might have to close. Groups like the Council for British Archaeology Yorkshire said the council wanted to save a lot of money.
People who loved the museum, and groups interested in the Bronte connection, were very sad about the idea of it closing. They campaigned hard to keep it open. However, Kirklees Council closed the Red House on December 21, 2016. The items from inside the museum were put into storage or moved to other places, and the building itself was put up for sale.
As of June 2018, the building was still unsold, and nearly £30,000 had been spent just on keeping it maintained.
