The home of Victorian novelist Elizabeth Gaskell is to be given a grant of £260,000 to allow for the repair of the leaking roof, rotten windows and cracked walls.

The grant means the house will be weatherproofed aswell as preserved from decaying.

The Cranford writer moved into the house at 84 Plymouth Grove, Ardwick in 1850. She lived there with her husband and four children until her death in 1865. She wrote most of her novels there and had famous guests visit the house, including Charles Dickens, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Charlotte Bronte.

The house is today owned by Manchester Historic Buildings Trust. A patron of the trust Dame Judi Dench and star of the BBC adaptation of Cranford said: "I am delighted that English Heritage is offering a grant to carry out the work that is needed on Elizabeth Gaskell's house. This is a major historical building and it will be wonderful to see it restored to its former glory."   

Henry Owen-John, North West Planning and Development Director at English Heritage, said: "Mrs Gaskell chronicled the economic and social history of the industrial revolution in her novels. The house where she wrote much of her work is an integral part of the story of this dynamic period when Manchester's textile industry was at the forefront of world trade. It is vitally important that this building is saved from dereliction so it can help to tell the story of Manchester and the industrial north."

Heather Clancy