A history of Didsbury in just 20 objects number 3 ........... the advert ..... 1824

Now, in the November of 1824 Parrs Wood House was not the only fine residence in Didsbury, but it was the only one up for sale, which made it a talking point in the elegant dinning rooms of the township and the less elegant pubs and beer houses.

Parrs Wood House, 1970

Those with a heap of money might well have wondered if the property was for them, while the curious and less well off might just have wanted to know how many rooms there were in the house.

And how “extensive”  were “the offices, and out buildings” how productive, “the hot houses, gardens, orchard, plantations, and rich meadow and pasture land” along with just how pleasant was “the lawn and pleasure ground”.

Parrs Wood House, 1824

Parrs Wood House, 1980

According to the advert of sale, “Tickets maybe had for viewing the premises, on Fridays only, between the hours of ten and three”.

Not that I would have been vouched safe a passport into a viewing.

We come from a long line of agricultural labourers and I have no reason to think that had I lived in Didsbury in 1824, I would have been anything other than a lowly farm worker.

So, I would have had to content myself with reading this advert, providing of course that I could read.

But that is another story for another time.

Location; Didsbury

Pictures; the Parrs Wood House notice of sale, Manchester Guardian, November 6th 1824, Parrs Wood House, 1970, m21314, and the interior, 1980, m0604, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass