The Pankhurst Centre

The Pankhurst Centre occupies a Victorian villa at 60-62 Nelson Street in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, England, and is the only remaining building associated with the family of the suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst in the city. The house, built in the 1840s, was the Pankhurst family home from 1898. On 10 October 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst and a group of women met in the parlour and founded the Women's Social and Political Union, which adopted the motto Deeds not Words and used increasingly militant tactics in the campaign for votes for women. Her daughters Christabel and Sylvia, both active in the movement, grew up in the house. After the Pankhursts left, the building passed through other uses and was threatened with demolition in the 1970s, but a campaign by local women secured its preservation, and it opened as a women's centre and museum in 1987. The ground-floor parlour has been restored to the period with furniture, banners and objects relating to the suffrage campaign, and a small exhibition covers the history of the WSPU, imprisonment and hunger strikes of suffragettes, and the wider campaign. The adjoining house, no. 60, operates as a charitable women's centre offering support services, and part of the building is used by the Manchester Women's Aid. A garden commemorates the movement and contains plaques. A statue of Emmeline Pankhurst, unveiled in St Peter's Square in 2018, stands nearby, as part of a campaign to recognise women's contributions. The centre is small, run largely by volunteers and charitable funds, and opening days are limited, so visitors should check the website before travelling. Visits are typically self-guided or by short tours that explain the history of the rooms. The Pankhurst Centre is a Grade II* listed building and offers an intimate counterpart to the larger exhibitions at the People's History Museum.