Literary Warwickshire Elizabeth Gaskell
ALTHOUGH Elizabeth Stevenson, later known as Mrs Gaskell, was brought up by an aunt in Knutsford, Cheshire, she was sent far away to boarding school at the age of 11, probably on the recommendation of her stepmother’s sister-in-law who had run a school in Warwick with her sisters.
The school had by then moved just outside Warwick to Barford House, a neo-classical mansion in Barford village which is now a private residence. Pupils regularly attended the parish church of St Peter’s where the school rented pews.
In 1824, half-way through Elizabeth’s five-year school career, the school moved again a few miles to Avonbank, a large 18th century house next to Holy Trinity parish church in Stratford-upon-Avon, built on the ruins of an old priory and with lawns sloping down to the river. It no longer stands, but the gardens have become a public open space and in the centre is a brass-rubbing centre, a structure made up of two parts of the old house. One, which plans show as the former conservatory, now functions as a large porch; attached to it is a circular room which it has been suggested was the schoolroom during Elizabeth’s time there. It was preserved and moved when the rest of the house was demolished.
The school curriculum would have included what were then considered essential accomplishments for young ladies, such as dancing, music, drawing, languages, as well as English and arithmetic. Reading and composition were also listed in an advertisement for the school, and the Byerley sisters who ran it had literary friends. Katherine Byerley herself published a novel called Constance.
This literary environment might have been encouraging for a future novelist, but Elizabeth later revealed some frustrations with the limited life of school. She told her daughter that she “never drank tea out of the house once, let alone going to plays”. However, what she did see of
This literary environment might have been encouraging for a future novelist, but Elizabeth later revealed some frustrations with the limited life of school. She told her daughter that she “never drank tea out of the house once, let alone going to plays”. However, what she did see of
Warwickshire seems to have stayed with her. Her account of a school trip to Clopton Hall in Stratford (now flats) was published in 1840, in a book called Visits to Remarkable Places by William Howitt. Barford, features prominently in Lois the Witch, Gaskell’s novella published in 1859, and the same place-name is used in the story My Lady Ludlow.
Elizabeth left Avonbank aged 16 in 1826, and the Byerleys left in 1840, leasing it to another schoolmistress. It was demolished in 1866. Gaskell’s letters show she kept in touch with the Byerleys for at least 20 years.
Elizabeth left Avonbank aged 16 in 1826, and the Byerleys left in 1840, leasing it to another schoolmistress. It was demolished in 1866. Gaskell’s letters show she kept in touch with the Byerleys for at least 20 years.
Although contemporaries, Gaskell and George Eliot never met face-to-face. However, they corresponded by letter after Gaskell read Eliot’s Scenes of Clerical Life and was particularly struck by the descriptions of Warwickshire scenery which she was delighted to recognise as accurate from her memories of her schooldays.
Gaskell drew on her memories of Barford in her story Lois the Witch. Lois refers to the meadows and the “old low grey church” where her father preached. Lois’ suitor was Hugh Lucy, son of a wealthy miller - Lucy is the family name of the real owners of Charlecote, a stately home near Barford which has a mill.
St Peter’s Church, Barford
The remnants of Gaskell’s old school by the River Avon in Stratford.
