Ever wanted to spend a night at the museum? Now you can in Manchester
26.04.2023 - 08:07
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Visitors to Manchester could very soon spend a real-life night at the museum.
That’s because the Science and Industry Museum, in Castlefield, is converting its Georgian Station Agent’s House into a holiday let. The property is so old that it actually pre-dates the museum’s Grade I listed 1830 Station.
Until recently, the building has been used as offices. However, it did have a residential use when it was built in 1808 for John Rothwell, partner in a nearby dyeworks.
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The house then provided accommodation for the Station Agent at Liverpool Road Station before being converted for shop use in the mid-20th century. Unsuitable for museum gallery use due to its size and layout as a former residential house, it has been used as offices since the Science and Industry Museum first opened on the site from 1983, when the shop frontage was removed, and a replica of the historic doorway reinstated.
The Liverpool Road Station was the Manchester terminus of the world’s first steam-powered, inter-city railway designed to carry both passengers and goods and its 1830 Station is the oldest surviving passenger railway station in the world.
Set to open next year as a holiday let, the museum has teamed up with The Landmark Trust to restore the building. It’s a project which heralds a wave of rejuvenation work at the museum, according to Sally MacDonald.
“We are delighted that the Landmark Trust will be bringing their expertise in sensitively restoring incredible heritage buildings to enable Station Agent’s House to be experienced by the public for the first time,” the Director of the museum said. “At the Science and Industry Museum we explore ideas that change the world