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Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs

...acy. The basement rooms were where most of the staff spent much of their time.  The large kitchen with its open fireplace was surrounded by the scullery, larders for meat, game and fish, dairy products, and the cook’s own sitting room.  Along from the servants hall (where they all ate their meals) was the butler’s pantry and plate room and the butler’s bedroom.  The plate room was where all the silver plate was kept and it was the butler’s job to look after it, even having his bedroom next to the plate room so it was always under guard, especially at night.  There was also a wall safe to keep valuables in and next to the wine cellar was a Chubb walk...

Hoar Cross Hall - Life below stairs #39

...acy. The basement rooms were where most of the staff spent much of their time. The large kitchen with its open fireplace was surrounded by the scullery, larders for meat, game and fish, dairy products, and the cook’s own sitting room. Along from the servants hall (where they all ate their meals) was the butler’s pantry and plate room and the butler’s bedroom. The plate room was where all the silver plate was kept and it was the butler’s job to look after it, even having his bedroom next to the plate room so it was always under guard, especially at night. There was also a wall safe to keep valuables in and next to the wine cellar was a Chubb walk-in safe...

The Origins of the Stately Home #39

...ws:- The basement - kitchens and sculleries plus male servants' bedrooms The ground floor - dining room and morning room The first floor - drawing room/bedrooms The second floor - guest bedrooms Top floor/attic - nurseries and female servants bedrooms   A typical layout of basement rooms   Most houses had a 'still' room, something used since the Middle Ages. This was an area off the main kitchens used for distillery, food preserving, making medicines and herbal remedies and brewing beer. It was also used as a pantry. It had it's roots in Roman and Greek culture when they used a room to make medicines and distil oils from plants etc. In the 16th ce...

Things that go bump in the night #3

...wn in the basement there were about 15 rooms either side of a long corridor which ran the length of the house. This was where most of the male servants had lived and some of the higher level female servants. The rooms were all empty and quite dark on one side with just grills to let in the light. On the other side was a dry moat which let in more light through proper windows but it still seemed very gloomy and, although we liked to explore the rooms, we didn't hang about there much – especially when we found out that the old butler haunted these rooms! In fact, I actually saw him on one occasion a few years later. The gloomy basement corridor   Many pe...

A Bit Of Background #1

...about 15 basement rooms some of which had had the floors removed due to damp rot but the main passageway was made of flagstones so you could still walk through it – this was where a lot of the male servants had slept and it was also where the wine cellars were along with linen storage space. In the attic a similar number of rooms were bare and empty and had once housed all the female servants.  Two spiral staircases joined all the floors together, one at each end of the house.  All the bedrooms for the family were on the first floor and were named after whichever town they faced i.e. Derby, Lichfield, Needwood, etc.  It was fascinating stuff – there was...

Suits You Sir! #23

...ut in the basement, he found that he couldn’t carry on with the renovations and we never saw him again! When Kev saw the organ in pieces he offered to try and fix it and we spent many an hour in the chapel and basement trying to work out which pipe went where and how to make it play again.  But it was quite complicated and it was an ongoing project for some time – still, it kept us busy! The divorce was getting quite bad by now and I had to accompany my dad to the solicitors on more than one occasion, mainly for moral support but also to back up what was happening in the house between my parents as I witnessed quite a lot of arguments and fights.  The so...