Last year marked 10-years since Mancunian literary museum Elizabeth Gaskell’s House opened to the public. Director Sally Jastrzebski-Lloyd explains how this marks one of the most important decades in the building’s almost 200-year history.
The journey to becoming a visitor attraction and museum took several years of tenacity and some serious fundraising from a dedicated group of volunteers who brought the House back to life, while generous grants and donations also made the milestone possible.
The venue has been a member of AIM since 2017, when I took on the Director role. We have benefited hugely from our AIM membership and the support of AIM has been instrumental in our success and survival. Funding from the AIM Biffa Award as part of the Landfill Communities Fund created a new permanent exhibition space in the Brontë Room. Opened in 2022 it has been a key asset to the museum ever since. Other AIM funding has enabled us to professionally repair books in our collection, create a much-needed collection store in our attic space and provide a variety of training and CPD opportunities.
Additional achievements over the past 10 years include the restoration of Elizabeth’s bedroom, the creation of new permanent and temporary exhibition spaces and the development of a rich and varied online events programme that allows thousands of fans all over the world to participate in the conversation around the seminal author and her writing. This includes partnership events with other AIM members, including Chawton House, Brontë Parsonage and Jane Austen’s House.
I also work with more local members such as Salford Working Class Movement Library (WCML) and the Pankhurst Centre on joint marketing initiatives, loans and volunteer development projects.
In 2019, the volunteer team received the Queen’s Award for voluntary service, the garden has won several Britain in Bloom accolades, and in August 2024, the House was awarded official accredited museum status.
The House will be holding several in-person and online events to mark the 10-year milestone over the next year, including a brand-new exhibition ‘The story of Elizabeth Gaskell’s House from dereliction to delight’ which will explore the building’s restoration and launch as a cultural attraction. It delves into the personal stories and memories of the passionate volunteers who came together to fight, against the odds, for the House’s survival, taking visitors on a journey from the building’s close brush with dereliction to its rebirth as a visitor attraction and museum.
The House is also set to launch its inaugural residency for North West-based young writers later this year and will work with Manchester Metropolitan University on a student filmmaking project.
For those further afield, a season of online events themed around house and home will enable the museum’s online audience of more than 3,000 people to join in the celebrations.
Visit the Elizabeth Gaskell's House website (opens in a new tab)