Over the next few weeks, I will present my account of September 2022 visits to six stately homes in England: Shugborough, Harewood, Lyme Park, Castle Howard, Chatsworth, and Marble Hill House, starting below stairs.
The Shugborough Servants Quarter is the most comprehensive presentation of how and where the support staff worked of all the Stately Homes I have visited. The National Trust emphasizes more and more how these great estates operated, bringing the visitor downstairs to confront the lives and work of the servants as well as admiring the artistic treasures upstairs. Here in the staff hall, the dining table is set with plates identifying the servants, their ages, and their compensation as it was in 1871.
Sample Indoor Servants annual wages:
Under Butler William Richie, 26, £34
Housekeeper Sarah Bonham, 48, £52
Lady's Maid Eliza Shaw, 26, £25
Laundrymaid Sarah Walker, 21, £19
Housemaid Jane Thurme, 24, £18
Scullerymaid Sarah Willis, 19, £12
Butler John Crisp 30, £100
Porter John Wickerstaff, 70, £30
About twenty more worked in the gardens, with additional men in the stables, carriage house, etc., as well as home farm employees. Not indicated was the level of housing, clothing, and food provided. Below, scenes in the kitchens. Please click for larger versions.
Under Butler William Richie, 26, £34
Housekeeper Sarah Bonham, 48, £52
Lady's Maid Eliza Shaw, 26, £25
Laundrymaid Sarah Walker, 21, £19
Housemaid Jane Thurme, 24, £18
Scullerymaid Sarah Willis, 19, £12
Butler John Crisp 30, £100
Porter John Wickerstaff, 70, £30
About twenty more worked in the gardens, with additional men in the stables, carriage house, etc., as well as home farm employees. Not indicated was the level of housing, clothing, and food provided. Below, scenes in the kitchens. Please click for larger versions.
Feeding the family members, guests, and servants required round-the-clock labor. Everything started from 'scratch,' from plucking the feathers from fowl to gathering the eggs for custards. Then the scullerymaid went to work on the pots and pants...what an awful job. Do you polish copper pots?
The laundrymaids had equally damp and difficult work.
The magnificent contraption below is a stove to keep many irons hot so the maids don't take a break while they reheat one by one.
Below, a clock to keep the servants on schedule; baskets of sheets to be laundered using that scrub board; note the rug beater propped up by the window; a prize-winning sirloin of beef on the hoof.
Above, objects to decorate the table were stored carefully, and shelves of various jars waited to be filled. On the right, the early sewing machine awaits an ever-present mending basket. Below, the rules for greeting the Chef, assorted bottles, and a napkin press.
The outside features were clearly not designed for relaxing if one had a free moment. Servants provided a luxurious life above stairs, but their own existence was entirely different.
Next, the upstairs in all its splendor.
RSS Feed