Exhibition – Cannon Hall: The Story of a House and Its Family 

Saturday 23 May – Sunday 20 September 2026

Step inside Cannon Hall Museum and explore 300 years of history of the house and family in this fascinating new exhibition.  Discover the hall from its beginnings as a small manor house in the middle of the 17th century through its time as a home of society, politics and community in the 18th and 19th centuries and concluding with its role as a base for many different communities during the Second World War. 

Learn about the people who called Cannon Hall home, from fiery personalities to fashionable society hosts and rumoured spies to pre-Raphaelite artists.  Follow the journey of how the rooms were used and changed by the family as each generation of the Spencer – and later Spencer Stanhope -families left their mark on the building. 

Nearly 70 years after Cannon Hall opened its doors to the public, discover paintings and objects that give a glimpse into the family who called this place home for more than 3 centuries. 

The exhibition will feature items on loan from descendants of the family, Cawthorne Jubilee Museum and Barnsley Archives and Local Studies.      

You can read more about a member of the family ahead of visiting the exhibition in this fascinating blog Exploring the Tribute to Sir Walter Spencer Stanhope 

Barnsley Museums and Heritage Trust is delighted to have helped with the conservation of several of the paintings in the exhibition and we are also very grateful to the Leche Trust for their help with the conservation of the portrait of Barbara Stanhope   

For museum opening times check  Visit | Cannon Hall