The Workers' Stately Home

THE HISTORY OF WORTLEY HALL

Wortley Hall was the ancestral home of the Earls of Wharncliffe – the Lords of the Manor of Wortley. The earliest recording being Alnus de Wortley, mentioned in the Pipe Rolls for 1165. Sir Thomas Wortley, born in 1440 lived in the manor Wortley, believed to be Wortley Hall. His grandson Sir Richard Wortley rebuilt Wortley Hall in 1586. 

During the English civil war Sir Francis Wortley commanded a loyalist garrison at nearby Tankersley, and led the battle on Tankersley moor where he was captured by the Roundheads and taken to the Tower of London. 

Wortley Hall fell into decay until the mid 18^th century. When Edward Wortley commissioned the rebuilding of the hall. In 1800, James Archibold Stuart Wortley and his wife Caroline Creighton should have taken up residence, but were unable to do so because for some reason the architect had omitted to include a staircase. The planning, landscaping, ornamental planting, and the ultimate beauty of the current grounds are attributed to Lady Caroline. 

Further repairs and extensions to the Hall were made mainly during the Victorian period. 

During the 1939-45 war period, parts of the Hall were occupied by the Army and after 1945 the Hall once again began to fall into a state of disrepair.   

Wortley Hall, Labours Home

Wortley Hall had been built from the wealth of the Wharncliffe family, this wealth being derived primarily from coal mining in the South Yorkshire area. Generations of one family had enjoyed privilege at the expense of the many. This era changed in a watershed meeting convened in May 1950.

 At this meeting Vin Williams, addressed other local Labour Movement activists outlining a proposal that Wortley Hall could have the potential of being both owned by the workers and run for the workers benefit.

On 5^th May 1951 Wortley Hall was formally opened as an educational and holiday centre.  the trade union, Labour and Co – Operative movement. It was in a semi-derelict condition and the workers of South Yorkshire and surrounding areas carried out most of the repairs and restoration voluntarily. Engineering workers, miners, railway men, foundry men, builders, labourers, housewives, people from all walks of life, trades and professions volunteered their services due to a belief in the ideals of creating a ‘Home of the Labour Movement’ 

Wortley Hall has hosted International delegations from all over the world, fostering peace and solidarity between our individual labour movements. Throughout a changing world, these links with, for example Bulgaria, The Soviet Union, Cuba, and the A.N.C. of South Africa, have complimented solidarity with our domestic industrial struggles. In the 1984/5 miners strike, Wortley Hall provided meals for striking miners and their families.

 Whilst some groups using Wortley Hall have done so for a number of decades, such as the Workers Music Association Summer School and the Clarion Cycling Club, there is a recognition that Britain’s industrial base has changed. That change has seen an evolution of other progressive groups, such as the Ramblers Association, and the South Yorkshire Festival, who now use and support Wortley Hall. The management of Wortley Hall is now made on a tight commercial footing, striving to provide excellence of service, whilst maintaining a grasp of its heritage and objectives.  

 Over the last 50 years, successive generations have maintained the commitment and beliefs of those early pioneers. Drawn from a broad base of the labour movement, no one person or organisation can have overall control of Wortley Hall. This is one of its strengths, a truly co-operative venture, run by its members for the movement as a whole. In the words of the current President, Stuart Charnley,

“ This is our oasis of socialism, let us ensure its successful continuation.”

Send mail to wortley.hall@virgin.net with questions or comments about this web site.