Haworth Old Hall

Standing at the bottom of Main Street, the Old Hall is one of the oldest buildings in the village, dating back to late sixteenth or early seventeenth century. Formally known as Emmott Old Hall the building was the home of a succession of local landowning families. Underneath the building are vaulted cellars which some believe were once connected to tunnels used as escape routes for priests and other people, and later by other non-conformists who used the building as a meeting house. The Emmott family were recusants, Roman Catholics who kept the faith despite it being outlawed during periods from the reign of Elizabeth I to George IV. In failed attempts to establish one national church to which everyone adhered, anyone found to be practising Catholicism faced persecution and harsh penalties. However as the Emmotts did not inherit the Old Hall until 1746 it is likely that the tunnels story is no more than local folklore.

In its time the Old Hall has been a court house, private dwelling and now a public house and restaurant with accommodation. Over the centuries there have been some additions to the building but on the whole it has kept true to its seventeenth century origins. A heavy oak door opens into the bar area with stone flag floors and polished oak beams. The dining room is in what was the grand hall of the house and retains two magnificent fireplaces, a great place to sit, eat and soak up the atmosphere after a walk on the moors.