Book sale at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House
Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor
Elizabeth Gaskell’s House has to be on the must-see list of every discerning literary tourist exploring the UNESCO City of Literature and was home to the famous Victorian writer and her husband from 1850 until her death in 1865, and is where Elizabeth wrote some of her most famous novels. A Grade II*-listed neoclassical Regency-style villa on Plymouth Grove in Ardwick, just one mile from Manchester City centre, the award-winning writer’s house museum has been lovingly restored, with renovations still taking place – Elizabeth’s bedroom is the most recent space to be revamped. Also be sure to check out the latest exhibition.
Elizabeth Gaskell’s House is also home to ‘possibly the best secondhand book sale in Manchester’, serving up cheap reads – and not just for copies of North & South – in the Servants Hall. There are always both new and secondhand books for sale in the tearoom but this monthly fair is a chance to come and browse a wider selection of tomes, including a variety of fiction and gardening, of course, plus art, photography, classics, biographies, history, OS maps and much more, and prices are as little as £1 for a paperback. New stock every month. The ‘legendary’ sales – which raise valuable funds – are scheduled for the remainder of 2023, 11am-4pm, on 10 December. For 2025, the dates are in: 12 January, 9 February, 9 March, 13 April, 11 May, 8 June, 13 July, 10 August, 14 September, 12 October and 9 November.
Elizabeth Gaskell’s House is also home to ‘possibly the best secondhand book sale in Manchester’, serving up cheap reads – and not just for copies of North & South – in the Servants Hall.
Aside from the house, there’s a wonderful garden, replanted and returned to its former glory by a dedicated group of volunteers. The purpose of the garden at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House has always been to give as much enjoyment today as it did in Elizabeth’s time, and this has recently been recognised with the presentation of a prestigious RHS Britain In Bloom Silver Gilt Award. The garden’s layout is based on a detailed map of Manchester in 1850 which shows the paths and planting areas, and the choice of plants has been informed by references in Elizabeth’s letters and novels, as well as by Victorian garden history. The garden was very important to Elizabeth, for both pleasure and practical reasons – this was where she could grow flowers that were a sensory delight and also vegetables for the kitchen – and plans are afoot to reinstate the conservatory outside the Drawing Room, which would provide additional enjoyment of the garden to visitors… watch this space.
Admission to the house costs £7/£6 concessions (students/NHS Staff/visitors with disabilities/registered unemployed)/under 16 free, and tickets are valid for 12 months. The monthly book sale is included in the admission fee – so once you have a ticket, you can keep coming back free for a year.
