Exhibition: Spaces
Find out about the people who lived and worked as servants
The servants’ hall at Canons Ashby
Servants’ halls are commonplace in British country houses. The one at Canons Ashby in Northamptonshire, appears unusual in its decorative scheme, but was in fact entirely typical of servants’ halls which were carved out of existing space….
The hidden pathways of servants: circulation at Florence Court, co. Fermanagh
The clean, imposing façade at Florence Court in Northern Ireland conceals a complex arrangement of rooms, buildings, and courtyards tucked out of sight. This was the servants’ domain, required to run and sustain the country house. A key task for country house architects was to provide spaces for servants ….
Back stairs in the London suburban villa
The country house was only one within a larger network of residences that the wealthy British elite might own. It may have been the pièce de résistance as the largest house with a substantial estate, but they would also need a townhouse for the winter (parliamentary) season in London which could be owned, rented or borrowed. During the eighteenth-century, another house became desirable to possess: the suburban villa….
The Great Kitchen at Alnwick Castle
The Great Kitchen at Alnwick Castle, designed by architect Anthony Salvin for the 4th Duke of Northumberland, was opened in November 1859 for the annual Workmen’s Dinner. 640 guests were fed from the new Kitchen ….