Harding House Gallery

Our Story

The Lower Gallery showcases original work by Gallery members plus a wide selection by 40 other local and national makers including ceramics, textiles, glass, watercolours, jewellery, metal sculpture,calligraphy and a fine array of original greetings cards.

The Upper gallery hosts a vibrant exhibition programme of contemporary work in all disciplines, both solo and group shows.

The Gallery is run as a self funding co-operative, and is managed by a supportive, friendly and hardworking group of visual artists which is responsible for staffing and running the venture on a daily basis.

Housed in a timbered sixteenth century building within the Cathedral Quarter, Harding House Gallery provides a unique and exciting space for artists and makers to exhibit their work.

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Harding House History...

This lovely old building was constructed in the fifteenth century, most probably as a merchant’s house, for records show evidence of use in the weaving trade.

The lower floor is built of stone, while the upper floor is timber framed.

The house is named after Canon N. S. Harding, a vicar of All Saints Church in Lincoln – he purchased it in 1930 rescuing it from certain demolition, then bequeathed it to the City of Lincoln on his death in 1952. Harding House is a Grade II listed building and merits a mention in Nikolaus Pevsner’s Lincolnshire (The Buildings of England).

The house has undergone some unsympathetic building and alteration work over the years, with one floor level being removed, plus doors and windows installed with little prior thought to the original context of the structure – nevertheless, we are indeed hugely privileged and love occupying such a charming old house in a unique situation.

From 1984 to 1992 the building was leased to The Harding House Art’s Trust (no connection to the current Co-operative) with the specific remit of promoting the visual arts in Lincoln. There were artist’s studios and gallery space plus a cafe where the Arbour is now, but when the lease expired and funding difficulties arose in 1992 the City Council decided on a different approach. So in 1994, Lincoln City Council collaborated with English Heritage on a programme of modernisation (a loo, kitchen, and staircase to the Upper Gallery no less!) and refurbishment - the building was closed for several months, there were countless meetings between the artists involved and the East Midlands Development Agency, and Harding House Gallery Co-operative officially opened its doors on Saturday June 18th 1994. And the rest is history...