Grimethorpe Hall

Year | 2024

Location | Grimethorpe, Barnsley

Client | Historic England, Grimethorpe Residents Group and the Grimethorpe Colliery Band

A community-focused initiative aimed at bringing the restoration of a derelict yet cherished building to life.

The Grade 2* listed Grimethorpe Hall is very literally falling at the seams. Amongst the dense residential housing of Grimethorpe village, the hall sits within an overgrown field littered with the remnants of its exterior walls. Any form of entry is blocked - a purposeful measure by Barnsley Borough Council, preventing any adventurous youths from being hurt by its half-collapsed roofs, interior walls and floor plates. Despite its pitiful state, Grimethorpe Hall remains a notable landmark of the village with cherished memories amongst its residents. To local client Peter Stevenson, it is a village treasure that needs to be returned to its community and restored to life. With the help of Historic England representative Bryan Davies, Peter enlisted the help of Live Projects students to start putting his visions to paper, setting a new framework in place for Grimethorpe Hall’s future. This Live Project explores both conservation design approaches in conjunction with community engagement, and the strategic processes behind funding a community organised building. 

In the 1900s, the Grimethorpe Colliery brought thousands of residents into the village. When the Colliery was closed in 1993 by the National Coal Board (NCB) due to Margaret Thatcher’s trade legislations, the village suffered economic ruin and poverty. In this period, the NCB also purchased Grimethorpe Hall, subsequently selling it when its attempt to demolish the building fell through. The compounding effects of the colliery’s closure on the village have lasted to the current day, where local organisations and community initiatives have struggled to persevere due to financial instability. Now owned by the Crown Estate, the incentive to restore Grimethorpe Hall offered an opportunity for a community that has been conditioned by loss to reclaim a space as their own. 

Whilst the client’s initial vision set Grimethorpe Hall as a new home for the Grimethorpe Colliery Band - a renowned brass band founded from the village colliery, the Live Project’s team explored the local consensus. This was through a variety of community engagements, such as the local church, pub, primary school and social media platforms. The conclusion was that Grimethorpe Hall could provide community space that the village desperately needed. Alongside four developed design options, the team produced guidance booklets to take the client through the processes of becoming a charitable organisation, obtaining funding, pre and post planning submissions, construction and use. In light of the early stages of this project, the team also produced products such as keychains and coasters and a 1:20 dollhouse for future engagement and interaction, as well as acting as tangible keepsakes for the community.

Credits

Student Team: 

Kay Russell, Emily Baker, Chrissy Cheung, Tom Durham, Cameron nClark, Martin Puig Chen, Natalia Hryszko, Radita Pramesti Utami, Daniel Glaser, Jack Dann, Emma Stone

Mentor:

Dan Jary, Emily Pieters and Sam Brown