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Science and Industry Museum partners with Landmark Trust to create heritage holiday home

Image: Station Agent's House (David Oates)

Once redeveloped, the Station Agent’s House in Manchester will sleep eight and will be available for open to the public for free

One of Manchester’s oldest surviving Georgian houses, adjoined to Science and Industry Museum’s Grade I listed 1830 Station, is to be redeveloped as a holiday property.

The project is the result of a partnership between the museum and the Landmark Trust, which will see the Station Agent’s House made available for overnight stay for up to eight people, alongside free public open days.

The Station Agent’s House will be the Landmark Trust’s first property in the region, and will join a collection of 200 historic buildings once completed. A final £118,000 is now sought to meet the costs of the repair and conversion work, which will include an improved environmental performance through the installation of heat pumps.

The building, on the corner of Liverpool Road and Water Street in Castlefield, was built in 1808 for John Rothwell, partner in a nearby dyeworks. The house then provided accommodation for the Station Agent at Liverpool Road Station before being converted for shop use in the mid 20th century.

More recently, the former residential house was used as offices when the Science and Industry Museum opened on the site in 1983. The shop frontage was removed, and a replica of the historic doorway was reinstated.

The adjacent 1830 Station is currently being repaired ahead of re-opening to the public in future years as part of the museum’s major conservation and redevelopment plans.

Sally MacDonald, Director of the Science and Industry Museum said “’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.”

Anna Keay, Director of The Landmark Trust, said the Station Agent’s House “is an outstanding piece of industrial heritage. The building will be sensitively repaired and made available to all through self-catering stays and free public open days. As a charity, the Landmark Trust is committed to saving and sustaining outstanding heritage, and is thrilled to be playing a role in Manchester.’