North HouseGallery

Penelope Hughes-Stanton established this gallery in 1999 in the former studio of her father, the painter and wood-engraver Blair Hughes-Stanton, in a Georgian house overlooking the River Stour estuary. Exhibitions of paintings, drawings, sculpture, original prints and books change through the year, featuring modern and contemporary artists. The building also houses a working letterpress workshop, with several generations of printing presses and type cabinets kept on site. The gallery stands on The Walls, close to Manningtree's quayside, in the same house where Blair Hughes-Stanton once worked. It opens on Saturdays, 10am to 5pm, with other days available by appointment for visitors who telephone ahead. Manningtree is often described as England's smallest town by population, and the gallery's exhibitions draw largely on artists working across East Anglia.