Everyday Life in Seventeenth-Century Calderdale.

Each January, Wakefield Civic Society and Wakefield Historical Society hold an annual joint meeting, taking it in turns to host.

In January 2026, it is the Historical Society's turn to host and they have invited local historian and author Peter Brears as their guest speaker.

On this occasion, Peter will be talking about 'Everyday life in Seventeenth-Century Calderdale' a subject about which he has written in a book of the same name (Everyday Life in Seventeenth-Century Calderdale By Peter Brears. Published 2025. Hebden Bridge Local History Society Occasional Publication No.15. Hardback. 300 pages, 91 illustrations. ISBN: 978-1-0685561-0-4. £20 (plus £3.50 shipping) See here.)

We will be offering a live-stream of the presentation -

Our Guest Speaker

Peter Brears has been director of both York and Leeds’ City Museums, has acted as consultant to the National Trust, English Heritage, the Historic Royal Palaces, the winner of numerous prizes including the André Simon award for his book, Cooking and Dining in Medieval England, the standard text on the subject.

He has written extensively on traditional foods and cookery in Yorkshire, as well as a ground breaking illustrated catalogue of domestic and farmhouse materials in Torquay Museum. He supervised the reconstruction of several important historical kitchens, including those at Hampton Court, Ham House, Cowdray Castle and Belvoir Castle. His book The Buildings of Tudor and Stewart Wakefield was published in 2019.

Peter is a long standing member of Wakefield Historical Society and a former member of its Council.

The event:

The event will take place in the Kingswood Suite on the first floor at Wakefield Town Hall, Wood Street, Wakefield, WF1 2HQ, starting promptly at 7.00pm. (Doors open at 6:30pm and there is a lift.)

The event is free to attend for members of Wakefield Historical Society and Wakefield Civic Society. Non-members are also welcome to attend but will be asked to make a small donation to Wakefield Historical Society on arrival.

The event will end at approximately 9pm.

A live-stream option will also be available for anyone unable to attend in person. When selecting your tickets, please make sure you select either an 'in person' ticket if you wish to come to the Town Hall, or a 'live stream' ticket if you wish to watch on-line via Zoom. A link to the talk will be emailed to you on the day of the event.

Photography at this event

Please be aware that we take photographs at our events to help to promote the work of the two Societies. These photographs might be used in presentations, written reports, on our website and social media channels and in press releases.

If you do not wish to be photographed, please speak to one of the organisers at the event.