Wortley Hall is a former stately home in the quaint village of Wortley, located south of Barnsley, Yorkshire. For more than six decades the hall has been owned by individual members and organisations associated with the British trade union and wider labour movement. It is currently used by several trades unions and other organisations as a venue for residential training courses and other meetings, as well as for purely social gatherings and is run as a non profit co-operative which is also open to the public.
The building is constructed of sandstone ashlar with graduated slate roofs to an irregular floor plan, mostly in 2 storeys with a 7-bay south front.[1]
The hall is a licensed venue for wedding and civil partnership ceremonies, and is open to day visitors who wish to explore its formal gardens and extensive grounds.
Montagu left the Wortley Hall estate to his daughter Mary. In 1735 she had eloped with John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, who later became Prime Minister. From her it passed in 1794 to their son, Colonel James Archibald Stuart (1747–1818), who added the surname Wortley to his own and later also added Mackenzie. He left the estate to his son Colonel James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie (1776–1845) who was one of the two MPs for Yorkshire from 1818 to 1826, when he was created Baron Wharncliffe.
In 1950, a group of local trade union activists identified the hall as a possible educational and holiday centre, and established a co-operative which succeeded in purchasing the hall for those purposes. It was formally opened on 5 May 1951.
In 1980, the hall was used as the setting of the country estate in the Ken Loach TV film The Gamekeeper.
The hall was highlighted in series six, episode 12 of Great British Railway Journeys by Michael Portillo on BBC Two on 20 January 2015. Michael Portillo described its current role, met the general manager and stayed the night. He showed the links to trade unionism.
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