Gaskell House,
84 Plymouth Grove, Manchester
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The Elizabeth Gaskell House, 84 Plymouth Grove is currently renewing its dedicated website. The work is still in progress but all the events programme for the remainder of 2008 is now available, as is the latest news on the house's progress.
Go to www.elizabethgaskellhouse.org to find out more.
In the North West of England, outside the Lake District, 84 Plymouth Grove is a building of literary significance second only to the Brontë Parsonage at Haworth; it is therefore of international, national and local importance. It is one of very few Regency-style Villas left in Manchester, and has many original features and beautiful public rooms.
Importance of the Building
84 Plymouth Grove is a Grade II* detached Regency-style Villa built in the 1830’s. It is a rare survival of its type, being complete in nearly all its internal features in the main rooms and with an exterior which has been little changed. As a grade II* it is among the top 7% of buildings in this country. Architecturally it has a special significance to Manchester as it is one of the few surviving houses of its type in the area.
Importance of its Literary Associations
As the home of Elizabeth Gaskell the novelist from 1850-65, and of her family unti1 1913, the house has very important literary associations, not only with her own work (most of which was written during that period), but because of the other writers who visited her there, including Charles Dickens and Charlotte Brontë.
Elizabeth Gaskell's writings
Cranford, is the most popular of her books and has never been out of print, Mary Barton, is a tale of Manchester in the hungry forties, her Life of Charlotte Brontë is the first biography of modern times, Ruth deals with illegitimacy, North and South about the old and new values in an industrial age, Cousin Phillis set in the Cheshire countryside and her last work, Wives and Daughters, which was successfully televised in 1999. She also wrote many vivid letters. Her books are all available today, in many different editions.
The house today
Is on the English Heritage Buildings at Risk Register. It is in very poor condition and needs major renovation. Structural cracks run through the walls. The foundations must be underpinned, the roof replaced, dry rot eradicated and the whole building restored and upgraded.
Future uses of the building
The main reception rooms will be open to the public and used for lectures, exhibitions and seminars. Once restored, the building must be self-financing, so other parts will be let to provide the necessary income. We have already had approaches from two organisations who are interested in using it when completed.
Manchester Historic Buildings Trust
Manchester Historic Buildings Trust, through partnerships with others, is working on the restoration of the building which will act as a flagship for the regeneration of a socially disadvantaged area, encourage the study of Elizabeth Gaskell's works and of Victorian Manchester, and have an economically viable future.
They are applying to the Heritage Lottery for money to restore the house to its former glory and make it available for public, community and residential uses.
The cost will be over two million pounds. The Lottery could donate one million, and £400,000 has already been promised from other sources. The balance has still to be found by fundraising.
Company Number 3578992
Charity Number 1080606
Chairman: Janet Allan
10 Dale Road, New Mills, High Peak, Derbyshire SK22 4NW
Telephone/fax 01663 744233
Email janet@janetbook.fsnet.co.uk
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