Help us to re-imagine Elizabeth’s Bedroom
Posted
2nd January 2020
in news
As many will know it has always been our ambition to restore Elizabeth’s bedroom and we are excited to announce that plans are now in progress to make this happen.
The room that was previously the exhibition room has now been cleared, (don’t worry the exhibition room has been moved to one of the front rooms on the first floor) so that we can start to re-imagine what Elizabeth’s bedroom would have looked like.
We all have so many questions; where was the bed? what wallpaper did they have? what will be on the floor? how should we light the room when Elizabeth didn’t have gas lighting on the first floor? And many more. What we can tell you is that the bedroom will be just as hands-on as the rest of the House and it will bring alive the first floor in new and exciting ways.
Now on to the practical matters. The process of refurbishing the bedroom and redeveloping our first floor (we will also be installing a timeline and family tree) will see our incredible volunteer team contributing around 89 days of their time worth just over £9000. Our award-winning volunteers will lead and support; research, purchasing, installation, marketing, family activities, tour guiding and training for this project.
Having a bedroom will enhance the visitor experience for you, our wonderful visitors, and couples who hold their wedding ceremony at the House will also benefit from having a unique place to dress – just imagine getting ready for your big day in Elizabeth’s bedroom. (Wow!)
Our amazing volunteers will also benefit from being able to use, develop and learn skills including research, curatorial, interpretation and conservation cleaning. For many of our younger volunteers this would give them valuable skills for their careers. And of course, this new development will help generate income that will greatly contribute to the House’s future sustainability.
The Manchester company Little Greene, who specialise in historic wallpaper designs and paint colours, are our first project sponsor and will be supplying the wallpaper and paint for the room. Which gives us a fantastic start. We do however need your help to purchase items of furniture such a bed, a wardrobe and a Cheval mirror. We will need to buy and install a fireplace, change the electrics and purchase window drapes. And for all this we need money.
We will be sharing details soon about larger sponsorship opportunities for individual items but if you feel you would like to make a donation to support this project (however small) you can do so via this link
https://www.givey.com/manchesterhistoricbuildingstrust
We are so very excited to finally get started on this project and cannot thank our visitors and supporters enough!
Thank you
The Elizabeth Gaskell’s House Team
