Internal Features
All the original fireplaces have been preserved. There is a large inglenook fireplace, ten feet across, in the dining room. Next to the fireplace is a salt cellar. Salt was very important for the preservation of food and had to be stored in the driest place in the building. Stored in the salt cellar today is a pair of very small, leather, children's shoes which were discovered during restoration work on a chimney. Shoes were traditionally secreted away in the Middle Ages to ward off evil spirits and to bring good fortune to the residents of the Hall. Two oak beams in the dining room are 18 inches by 10 feet and actually extend throughout the Hall. The original adze marks are clearly in evidence.
In the kitchen there is an old oven. It has a cast iron interior and is surrounded by large stones. It is reputed to be the oldest oven in Yorkshire that is still capable of use. From the kitchen, steps lead down to a cellar. On the first floor, two of the six bedrooms have arched gothic style windows to provide light on the landing. The windows have stone mullions. All the doors are constructed of solid English oak and the handsome front door dates from when that part of the building was rebuilt in 1702.
In the study there is an original fireplace and cast iron stove. This is almost identical to the one in the later-built Brontë Parsonage Museum in nearby Haworth.
The Hall is a Grade II listed building and is subject to a Preservation Order.
Read more about this topic: Oakworth Hall
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