The Stanleys, the earls of Derby, are one of the most significant families in Lancashire in the medieval, Tudor, and Georgian periods.
Their home, Lathom House, was ‘the Northern Court’, and Thomas Stanley, First Earl of Derby, was at Bosworth and he was also stepfather to Henry VII. The Stanleys’ material culture, still to be found in Manchester, resonates with the fashionable Royal court style around the turn of the sixteenth century.
This walking tour of Manchester Cathedral and Chetham’s Library examines a range of fascinating materials produced for them and to commemorate the family in the Tudor and Victorian periods, including: the choir stalls and heraldry in the Cathedral; a Tudor bed (now bookcase) and Victorian Gothic Revival sideboard at Chetham’s Library.
Lasting 1.5–2 hours, the tour starts at the South Porch of Manchester Cathedral (opposite the Crown and Anchor), before moving to the nearby Chetham’s Library.
