Oddfellows Hall, Haworth

The Grand United Order of Oddfellows

is a friendly society, one of several which predated the National Health Service. There were a few of these membership/insurance organisations and you paid into a fund which covered you in cases of hardship or ill health. They also promoted friendship between members with social meetings and events. The Order of Oddfellows still exists today.

The Oddfellows Hall in Haworth was on Queen Street, near to The Old Hall. Their premises closed many years ago and had been left empty for quite a long time. This meant that their Great War Memorial was at risk of damage due to being in an unheated and unmaintained building, plus it’s long term future was in doubt.

A stone building with arched windows and a brown door with stone steps leading up to it. Clear blue sky above.
Haworth’s Oddfellows Hall.

A framed painting which is a war memorial. There are 83 names on it, ten of which died in the war. There is a central square panel with the crest of the Oddfellows Society and all the names are painted in gold.
Haworth Oddfellows Roll of Honour in 2017.

A bare patch behind the memorial shows the Arts and Crafts style decorations previously on the wall. It is a pale green wall with a reddish garland painted on the top just beneath the cornice. There is a curved painted banner with the words 'United We Stand, Divided We Fall.' beneath this is the emblem of the Friendly Society with two hands clasped together in a handshake. At either side can be see a slightly plaer green wall with a different reddish garland painted beneath the cornice.
Arts and Crafts decoration on the wall.

Boxes of very dusty old papers and some old furniture inside the Oddfellows Hall building.
Oddfellows emphemera in the hall.

In late 2017 we finally obtained consent from the Oddfellows Society to take custodianship of Haworth’s Oddfellows Hall Great War memorial.

Our director Ian Walkden was very concerned about the eventual fate of the war memorial, which measured about seven feet square (2.1 metres.) This was very large and it would take some effort to find a new home for it, notwithstanding the weight of the memorial and the problems handling and transporting it.
Initial conversations with Keighley’s Cliffe Castle Museum were somewhat guarded as they would have to consider the same problems with it and in any case we were hoping that we could find a home for it in Haworth, as most if not all of the men named would have been living in the village. We asked about on social media and were directed to speak with Robin Wright of Wyedean Weaving who said they were very interested in giving this memorial a home. They are located in the village and it’s highly likely that some of the men named were actually employed in their mill during the Great War, so it seemed an ideal solution if only we could get it to work…

The Memorial:

This measures approximately 2.1 metres square and takes the form of an illuminated board with the eighty-three names listed alphabetically in gold lettering, complete with regimental information for each man. The lists show seventy-three of those members who served and returned, with a central section listing the ten members who made the supreme sacrifice in the Great War.
The memorial was removed from the hall and transferred into the care of Wyedean Weaving of Haworth in 2018, after discussions took place with the Managing Director Robin Wright, who said they would be honoured to become the new custodians.

A grant was sought from the War Memorials Trust who very kindly agreed to fund 50% of the costs, supporting the funding already committed by Wyedean Weaving to conserve the memorial before it went on permanent display in the company boardroom.
A dedication service was held in November 2018 at Wyedean Weaving to unveil the memorial in it’s new home. We would like to thank everyone associated with this venture, which has seen an ‘at risk’ memorial given a new lease of life and it’s future assured.

The Rescue and relocation:

Once permission had been obtained from the Oddfellows Society and Wyedean Weaving, we made arrangements for several able-bodied men to help take the memorial down and transport it to Wyedean Weaving.
On the day we unbolted it from the wall and several pairs of hands reached up to hand down this heavy memorial, only to find that it wasn’t heavy at all! Apart from the wood frame it was a large canvas oil painting and apart from some cosmetic blemishes, was in very good condition for it’s age.

Two men standing on ladders carefully unbolt a war memorial from a wall.
Careful removal from the wall.

A bare patch behind the memorial shows the Arts and Crafts style decorations previously on the wall. It is a pale green wall with a reddish garland painted on the top just beneath the cornice. There is a curved painted banner with the words 'United We Stand, Divided We Fall.' beneath this is the emblem of the Friendly Society with two hands clasped together in a handshake. At either side can be see a slightly plaer green wall with a different reddish garland painted beneath the cornice.
Arts and Crafts decoration on the wall.

Six men who removed the memorial from the wall. The memorial is behind them leaned against the wall.
The lads who helped with removal.

View of the back of the war memorial showing the wooden frame and the rear of the canvas painting.
Oddfellows War Memorial – rear view.

We passed it down and leant it against the wall. we were quite relived that it wasn’t diffcult to move and set about getting it outside into the large van for transportation down the hill to Wyedean. Problem being, it was too large for the van. However, needs must and we were determined to get it to Wyedean that day so four of us took a corner each and carried it a quarter of a mile down the road, walking in the main road for a good part of it! Fortunately the traffic was very light and we made it without incident to the entrance of Wyedean Weaving, having passed the main Haworth War Memorial on the way.

Four men carrying a war memorial down a road. They are passing a sign which says: Belle Isle Road.
Passing Bell Isle Road on the way to Wyedean Weaving.

Four men standing at the front of the stone mill building of Wyedean Weaving. The war memorial is leaned against the wall.
The War Memorial arrives at Wyedean Weaving.

The War Memorial leaned against the stone wall outside Wyedean Weaving.
The Memorial outside Wyedean Weaving.

The memorial inside the boardroom at Wyedean Weaving. Two men are having a discussion.
Ian Walkden and Robin Wright having a chat.

The memorial was brought into their boardroom which would become it’s permanent home after it had gone away for the conservation work to be carried out.

Conservation work

The memorial was sent away to be conserved and duly returned in time for the rededication ceremony at Wyedean.

Rededication ceremony

We are very fortunate that Wyedean Weaving arranged a videoing of the ceremony and kindly placed it online here:

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