Calverley Old Hall activities and events
Thanks to funding from National Lottery Players, Landmark's rejuvenation of Calverley Old Hall has become a catalyst for engagement work with the local and wider community. See upcoming and past events below.
Upcoming events
Our overarching theme for events at Calverley Old Hall is Crafting Cultures - using traditional craft skills, including building crafts, textiles and food, to connect communities, cultures and heritage. Follow our Engagement projects across Landmark Trust including Calverley Old Hall, on social media here: Facebook, Instagram.
May Open Days
Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 May 2026
Join us for public Open Days at Calverley Old Hall with live owl experience with SMJ Falconry and printmaking activity with Silka Guy in the Community Space.
Visit the recently-completed Landmark and explore the craftsmanship, creativity and care which has contributed to this major restoration project completed in autumn 2024. Information on the rescue and repair of the building will be available along with activity sheets for children.
September Open Days: Life at the Medieval Manor
Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September 2026
Explore Calverley Old Hall in September 2026 as part of Heritage Open Days.
Take part in creative activities based on the Heritage Open Days 2025 theme of 'Everyday Histories' and see for yourself the craftsmanship, creativity and care which has contributed to this major restoration project.
Festive Open Days 2026
Details to be announced.
We welcome visitors to Calverley Old Hall this festive period for free public Open Days.
Past events
During the restoration of Calverley Old Hall we held activities and training sessions both on-site and online. Our overarching theme for events at Calverley Old Hall is Crafting Cultures - using traditional craft skills, including building crafts, textiles and food, to connect communities, cultures and heritage. The aims of our activities are:
- Exploring and discovering the history and context of Calverley Old Hall through research, learning and creative activities that engage with a wide range of people and explore cross-cultural links and influences.
- Returning this ancient manor to prominence and popularity, setting Calverley Old Hall within a regional and national context.
- Providing accredited training and meaningful work experience opportunities that encourages long term involvement in our heritage and improves life chances for people.
- Presenting a programme of events and open days that inspire a range of audiences, and encourage its future use as a venue for small creative events, meetings, and workshops.
Below, see an overview of the events and activities that have taken place at Calverley Old Hall as part of our repair and conversion of this historic building.
Wax Ring Carving with Lydia Poole
Saturday 28 March 2026
Participants unleashed their creativity with Lydia Poole and discovered the art of wax ring carving. In this hands-on workshop, they learned to sculpt a unique ring from jeweller's wax to produce their own ring design. The flexibility of wax offered a perfect way to experiment in jewellery design, using traditional tools and equipment, with supportive guidance from Lydia throughout.
All levels were welcome, and no experience was needed. Participants left with their own custom ring design in wax, which could be worn or cast into metal.
An Evening of Light and Sound at Calverley Old Hall
Wednesday 11 & Thursday 12 February 2026
Our local community were invited to join us for a free, informal evening at Calverley Old Hall, experiencing the historic manor house after dark. During the evening we screened our newly commissioned short animated film, created by artist Dawn Feather using animations drawn by members of the local community at our September 2025 Open Day.
The film was projected onto the gable wall of the chapel and accompanied by a soundscape made with Bradford College students who attended a sound workshop on site at Calverley Old Hall in January 2026, led by poet Carolyn Eden and sound designer Ed Heaton.
Folk Music Group Session with Tom Hawkins
Sunday 1 February 2026
Musician Tom Hawkins led a folk music workshop focused on gentle melodies and rich harmonies. Arranged specifically for the instruments and voices attending, participants were expertly guided by Tom to build a strong ensemble sound.
Suitable for amateur musicians and singers at beginner or intermediate level, the workshop offered a great opportunity to be sociable, develop musicianship, and try new things by creating music together as a group.
Winter Scent & Abstract Art with Helen Brook
Saturday 24 January 2026
Helen Brook hosted a unique workshop at Calverley Old Hall in January, designed to reconnect participants with the power of winter. Through nature-guided meditation and scent-inspired mark-making using botanicals and natural inks, attendees explored the season’s potential for rest and renewal.
Participants left with their own unique artwork, feeling relaxed and creatively inspired. All materials, herbal teas, and winter nibbles were provided.
Pressed Flower & Vintage Fabric and Paper Workshop with The Herbarium Collective
Saturday 6 December 2025
The Herbarium Collective hosted a festive workshop where participants created unique, vintage-inspired floral art. Using pressed flowers, vintage fabrics, and papers, they crafted personalised mixed-media artworks. All materials, including pre-pressed flowers, along with refreshments, were provided.
Open to all levels and ages 16+, the workshop was ideal for nature lovers and those seeking a relaxing, creative experience. Participants left with a beautiful, sustainable, handmade piece of art to keep or gift.
Tudor Blackwork Stitching with Jessica Heywood
Saturday 22 November 2025
Jessica Heywood hosted a relaxing afternoon at Calverley Old Hall, where participants learned the traditional art of Tudor blackwork stitching. During the workshop, they found out about the historical and contemporary relevance of backstitching and learned the main blackwork stitches and patterns.
Suitable for all skill levels, from beginners to more experienced stitchers, attendees created their own designs on an embroidery hoop to take home. The event offered an insight into this traditional form of embroidery, popular during the Tudor era when the Calverleys were living at Calverley Old Hall.
Introduction to Life Drawing with Leeds Drawing Club
Saturday 8 November 2025
Working with a nude model, this fun, friendly workshop gave participants an introduction to life-drawing skills and techniques. Guests joined Leeds Drawing Club for a beginner-friendly experience in the unique 16th-century historic setting of the Calverley Old Hall Community Space. All equipment and materials were provided. Participants learned about gesture, proportions, the space around the model, and tone, and had ample opportunity to put their learning into practice with a live model and receive 1:1 support from their tutor.
Heritage Rag Rugging Techniques with Darn It! Workshops
Tuesday 4 November 2025
Darn It! Workshops welcomed participants into the Community Space for a sociable workshop that introduced them to the traditional craft of rag rugging. Attendees mastered two versatile rag rug techniques, transforming humble scraps into stunning wall art, cosy homewares, or even a charming brooch.
Ideal for beginners or those looking to develop their skills, the session provided full tutor support throughout. Participants enjoyed a creative day with like-minded people and left with all the skills and materials needed to complete their piece at home.
Calligraphy & Watercolour with Grace Joanna
Saturday 11 October 2025
Grace Joanna hosted a relaxing afternoon of creativity, teaching watercolour and brush pen calligraphy. Participants created beautiful, personalised greeting cards with step-by-step guidance, perfect for all skill levels. All materials were provided, along with cake and hot drinks.
Participants took home their handmade cards, a personalised bag, and newfound confidence to continue their creative journey. It was the perfect opportunity to unwind and learn something special!
Tudor-inspired Yorkshire Rose Surface Embroidery with Form in Fabric
Saturday 27 September 2025
In the historic setting of the Community Space, participants created their own decorative pieces inspired by the Tudor-era Yorkshire Rose found within Calverley Old Hall’s Painted Chamber.
They worked with a hoop, needle, and floss to create custom roses, exploring traditional stitches including simple running and seed stitches, whipped stitches, lattice work, and couching. All skill levels were welcomed to enjoy this supportive and inspiring afternoon.
Calverley Old Hall: Open Days
17 - 18 May 2025
In May 2025 we opened the doors of Calverley Old Hall once again to welcome everyone to see our latest Landmark restoration project.
Visitors were invited to view the finished, fully furnished Landmark, see the hireable Community Space and explore the craftsmanship, creativity and care which has contributed to this major restoration project completed in 2024.
The weekend also featured the public reveal of our newly commissioned artworks inspired by the painted chamber, which are now on permanent display in the Community Space.
The Unknown Artist’ by Georgina Davy
Chamber of Dreams by Ian Kirkpatrick
Calverley Old Hall Public Guided Tours February 2026
Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 February 2026
On Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 February 2026, we were thrilled to invite our local community to enjoy a guided tour of the newly completed rescue of Calverley Old Hall. It was an opportunity to learn about the history of the building, the people who have called it home, as well as the work The Landmark Trust had carried out over the past few years to complete this wonderful project.
Visitors explored the area of the building that makes up the Landmark holiday let, including the Great Hall, the Solar and the Painted Chamber.
Improving accessibility in historic buildings CPD day
On 28 January 2025 we hosted a one day continuing professional development training event at newly repaired Calverley Old Hall, exploring the opportunities and challenges of improving accessibility in historic buildings.
Volunteering: Calverley Old Hall Community Garden
As part of our National Lottery Heritage Funded (NLHF) repair project at Calverley Old Hall, the Landmark Trust worked in collaboration with a local garden designer to create a community garden area, which is open to everyone for free access, seven days a week, during daylight hours. Thank you to all of our volunteers who have signed up to care for the garden.
Crafting Cultures: Reimagining the Calverleys
Over the last few months a team of artists have been working with local people to creatively retell the story of the Walter Calverley murders in 1605. We invited the Calverley community to see the result of these artistic interventions, which delve into the background of Walter’s family and examine the story with a modern eye. Featuring textiles, drawings, creative writing and a series of dramatic monologues that tell the story from different people’s perspective - all using the beautifully restored Hall as the backdrop. Plus the unveiling of a community weaving artwork coordinated by textiles artist Agnis Smallwood and our new stone sculpture inspired by our restoration project carved by artist Pat Walls.
Public Opening Event
On 6 October 2024, we finally opened the doors on the newly restored Calverley Old Hall to the public. The completed project now includes the fully furnished Landmark holiday let, hireable Community Space, and soon to be leased one-bedroom residential flat. The opening day was a chance to examine the craftsmanship, creativity and care which has contributed to the groundbreaking restoration project.
Volunteer gardening day at Calverley Old Hall
On 27 September 2024, we invited local keen gardeners to help us plant our new Community Garden at Calverley Old Hall. The volunteers to come along, get hands on and have a fun couple of hours. Brand new beds were planted with edibles, herbs and ornamental plants, along with spring bulbs ready for the local community to enjoy.
Traditional furniture making workshops
In June and August 2024 we held full-day furniture making workshops at Calverley Old Hall. Participants learned new joinery skills and learned how to make a beautiful traditionally crafted bench for use by visitors to the building. Some of the workshops were open to the public to book, and others were delivered in collaboration with our project partners. During the sessions we produced a film with more information about craft skills training at Calverley Old Hall, including the furniture making and our work with our partners.
Minecraft: Build Calverley Old Hall
In early August 2024, we held exciting one-day Minecraft workshops where kids could unleash their creativity! In this hands-on event, children had the opportunity to build their own version of the historic Calverley Old Hall using Minecraft, letting their imaginations run wild as they constructed and designed their virtual masterpieces.
This immersive experience was brought to you by ComputerXplorers in collaboration with the Landmark Trust. With thanks to National Lottery Players and generous funding from the National Lottery Heritage fund we were able to offer this workshop free of charge.
Workshop: 3D Scanning for Heritage CPD
The creation of digital 3D ‘twins’ of real-world objects offers wide-ranging benefits for the museum and heritage sectors. From enhancing public-facing digital collections catalogues to providing sub-millimetre accurate data for preservation and research purposes, 3D models can engage, inform and support curation.
This workshop on 1 August 2024 at Calverley Old Hall was delivered by Heritage 360 and explored what 3D scanning can offer heritage practice, covering the use of 3D scanned data within the fields of conservation/preservation, collections curation and public-engagement.
During and after the session Heritage 360 used the technology sampled in the workshop to scan some of the archaeological finds from Calverley Old Hall.
Cultural Craft Exchange
In advance of refugee week, and in partnership with Migration Yorkshire, we welcomed six talented craftspeople to Calverley Old Hall to demonstrate a range of traditional craft skills. The event on 15 June 2024 included crafts and crafters from Japan, Hong Kong, and even the UNESCO listed Intangible Heritage craft of Ukrainian Petrykivka painting.
Community garden
We have creating a brand-new Community Garden at Calverley Old Hall. During the design process, we wanted to ensure that the garden becomes a real asset to the people who live nearby and is valued for years to come, so in March 2024 we invited our neighbours in and around Calverley to contribute ideas for the design of the space. We had some fantastic submissions which went on to inspire the final design for the building. We have shared some of the designs online, and don’t forget to visit the Community Garden if you are nearby.
Volunteer limewashing
Thanks to all of our volunteers who joined us in May 2024 to help limewash the 15th century chapel at Calverley Old Hall. The session saw our volunteers learn all about limewash and how to apply this traditional material, before adding their efforts to the huge restoration project at Calverley Old Hall. Come and see their efforts for yourself by visiting the Chapel on selected Mondays and Fridays.
Calverley Old Hall lunchtime webinars
In November 2023 and January 2024 we held two free webinars about the work taking place at Calverley Old Hall. Viewers were given the chance to learn more about designing for a historic building with Karen Lim from Cowper Griffith Architects and the restoration's sustainability with Diane Hubbard of Green Footsteps Limited. If you missed either of the webinars, recordings are available to watch now.
Photo credit: Cowper Griffith Architects
Work Experience Placements at Calverley Old Hall
Throughout 2023 we offered six one-week long work experience opportunities for those aged 18 and above. Participants worked with Dobson Construction Ltd, our main contractors, on the active site at Calverley Old Hall. The placements involved a hands-on range of activities and provided an overview of working on a heritage restoration project. The main focus of each week was bespoke to each placement’s interests, with weeks offered with a focus on joinery, stone masonry, site management, and landscaping.
Participants who took part in the work experience said:
“I was not expecting to learn so many new skills, everyone was very friendly and explained things clearly.”
“Having only visited sites for meetings it has been invaluable being able to see a working site over the course of a week. It will help me going forward no end.”
Hear from some of the professionals who supported the work experience placements on our revival of Calverley Old Hall as they reflect on their memories of the project, and the things that working on this challenging repair project has taught them.
Hard Hat Tours
With the success of our previous Hard Hat Tours, we were pleased to be able to open the doors of Calverley Old Hall once more for a limited number of tours in September 2023. This gave people the opportunity to explore the Old Hall in the midst of its restoration.
You can see what the building looked like inside prior to our rescue project in our virtual 360 degree tour.
Calverley Old Hall Open Day
Our Open Day in October 2023 offered the rare opportunity for visitors to see Calverley Old Hall's restoration progress mid-way through and see the amount of work it really takes to restore such a nationally important building. Visitors also had the chance to get hands-on with helping us to screen print the curtains which are now used in Calverley's Community Space which is available to hire.
Care and Repair of an Old Building CPD workshops
Throughout the Calverley Old Hall restoration project, we have hosted a series of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) workshops. In April and May 2023 this included two sets of 'Care and Repair of an Old Building' workshops. The workshops were aimed at helping homeowners of historic buildings learn more about how to care for their property and improving the skillset of professional tradespeople who wish to learn more about traditional working practices. One workshop had a lime plaster focus, whilst the other used traditional window repairs as a case study.
We have produced a video with information about how to repair a traditional sash window.
Set in stone: Calverley Old Hall Stone Carving Workshops
As part of our National Lottery Heritage Funded restoration project, in April 2023 we ran a programme of events including a series of creative stone carving workshops run by professional stone craftsman, Patrick Walls.The group produced their own small carvings and designs to form a sculpture to be displayed in the garden.
Patrick used the designs produced by participants in the workshops as well as taking inspiration from the rest of the building, to design a standing stone sculpture which is now on display in the garden at Calverley Old Hall. It is full of details which tell the story of the building, its history as well as the rescue project and the people who have been involved in saving this wonderful building.
Calverley Christmas wreath-making workshop
Working in collaboration with a local florist in November 2022, we offered people the chance to learn how to make a festive Christmas wreath, in the beautiful surroundings of Calverley Old Hall.
Traditional weaving workshops
In October and November 2022, we ran a series of 6 design workshops at Calverley Old Hall, where participants from various groups across Leeds and Bradford were able to experience Calverley and use photographs, tiles, old wallpaper and even archaeological items recovered from the building to inspire six unique designs, each with different weave structures, colours and textures.
The pieces were woven on looms at Sunnybank Mills in Farsley, by a team of over 100 participants. The final piece is now displayed in our Community Space which is available to hire and open on our public Open Days.
Working with Lime Masterclass
On Thursday 17 November 2022 we ran a Working with Lime Masterclass. The tutor, Kevin Woods, has over 30 years experience working on historic buildings, and has obtained heritage skills gold accreditation. The course was a Lime masterclass and included preparation, pointing, galletting, lime mortar mixing, placement of mortar and aftercare. Participants worked on the active site of Calverley Old Hall, so this was a unique opportunity to contribute towards the restoration of this amazing building whilst learning new skills to help them in their own work.
Calverley Old Hall September Open Day
On Saturday 24 September 2022 we hosted our first Open Day since the restoration project began. We ran bookable hard hat tours of the current restoration site throughout the day, led by Landmark’s historian, Caroline Stanford. We were also joined by historical re-enactors, Frei Compagnie, who showed visitors historic food, weapons, and armour, and performed re-enactments in the garden. Live music on site was provided by Leeds Waits, which helped create a fantastic atmosphere for all.
Keep an eye out on our website for future Open Days throughout and after the restoration of Calverley Old Hall.
Local resident hard hat tours
On Friday 23 September 2022 we opened the site to our neighbours by running hard hat tours of Calverley Old Hall. It was a chance for our closest neighbours to visit the building site to see what is happening behind the Heras fencing they walk and drive past each day. Tours were led by Project Manager, Linda Lockett, with support from Hannah Thompson, Project Engagement Officer, and staff from our main contractors Dobson Construction Ltd.
If you are a local resident of Calverley and the surrounding villages, and would like to be invited to our local resident events, please contact [email protected] to sign up to our project mailing list.
Sector-based Work Academy Programme
Our first major activity to complement the capital works taking place at Calverley Old Hall was our Sector-based Work Academy Programme, a Department of Work and Pensions initiative to help people re-train or develop their skills ready for paid work. Running for six weeks in June and July 2022, the ‘SWAP’ welcomed 11 participants to learn skills including stone masonry, joinery, leaded lights and more.
For the latest updates from the Calverley Old Hall project:
Thanks to National Lottery players