Jonathan Anderson's travel guide to Wakefield, Yorkshire

Wakefield is Britain through and through. When I started curtating an exhibition about the human form for the Hepworth Wakefield, my life was based on trains — between Paris and London, London and Yorkshire. The big metropolises can feel overwhelming, but Wakefield has a different kind of energy. Each time, as I edged further north, I felt a sense of decompression and a growing fondness for the landscape of rural Yorkshire.

Here are some of my favourite parts.

Nostell Priory

Nostell Priory, a country house in nearby Crofton, is incredible. It has one of Britain’s largest collections of Chippendale furniture and the quality of the pieces, which range from a dolls’ house to Lady Sabine Winn’s writing table, are out of this world. I’ve always loved collecting arts and crafts — I have pieces by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and William Morris at home in east London. I go to Nostell and dream about living an alternate life in a grand stately home with the wonderful pieces.

Sculpture in Yorkshire

I love a museum but I have the patience of a small animal — I admit I could do a museum in 10 minutes (and have yet to visit the Louvre since being at Loewe in Paris). The exception is the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Henry Moore’s sculptures were disobedient in that they didn’t conform to the Victorian or Pre-Raphaelite perception of the body. Putting his work outdoors gives it a different dimension.

Wakefield Cathedral

Wakefield Cathedral, in the centre of the city, is the tallest cathedral in Yorkshire and dominates the Wakefield skyline. When I visit any cathedral it reminds me of being with my grandparents. They weren’t particularly religious but my grandfather was obsessed with architecture. When I first came to Wakefield Cathedral I thought, ‘How does man conceive to build something like this?’ It’s a building that has transcended time over the centuries and you appreciate the magnitude of humankind’s power and vision. When you’re inside, you feel as though the rest of the world doesn’t exist.

The Hepworth Wakefield