Elizabeth Gaskell’s House

TL;DR — A great place to find out about Elizabeth Gaskell, but also a snapshot into Manchester’s past.
If I’m honest, this is a bit of a strange museum. It’s a beautifully restored house where you can learn lots about Mancunian author Elizabeth Gaskell… but for me, the real fascination is the house itself. It’s been restored to a very high standard and you genuinely feel like you’re in a home rather than a museum.
It’s a fascinating time capsule and gives a great insight into what this area of Manchester must have been like once upon a time. It’s a little bit off the tourist trail, and to be honest you can get around the whole place in under an hour (there’s a café in the basement to pad that out though!). But despite that it’s definitely worth a look because the restoration work which has been done is so good.

OK full disclosure, I’ve been volunteering here. With that off my chest I can go on to recommend this honestly.
This is the former home of Elizabeth Gaskell, one of the most important Victorian writers and an important person in Victorian Manchester. It’s also an interesting slice of 1860s middle class life. The dining table is set for a family luncheon and the drawing room looks like the lady of the house has just set down her sewing.
There is a tea room on the lower level and I can personally recommend the cakes!

The house of famous Manchester author Elizabeth Gaskell has just been recently opened to the public. The place has been lovingly restored and is definitely worth a visit if you fancy partaking in a slice of the city’s history. The restoration has taken 10 years and a lot of care has been taken to ensure that the fixtures and fittings are in keeping with the period that Elizabeth Gaskell lived there. Entry is only £5 and for that you have entry for a full year. You can tour around Mr Gaskell’s office, the drawing and dining rooms and see the writing desk where Elizabeth Gaskell wrote famous works such as Cranford and Wives and Daughters. Each room has a guide from the Elizabeth Gaskell society on hand to answer your questions and they are extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the house. Apparently a lot of famous guests came to visit the house so you can follow in the footsteps of Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte and John Ruskin.