Ickworth House – Below Stairs
One of the volunteer guides at Ickworth House told me that this favourite area of the property was the below stairs tunnels and rooms. These comments transpired to be very understandable having seen the whole building, there’s an element of rawness down here.
Located on the lower floor under the Rotunda, the opportunity to explore this hidden world is largely thanks to a significant initiative by the National Trust: the “Ickworth Lives” project. Launched in 2011, this project meticulously researched and restored the basement quarters to reflect their appearance and function during the 1930s.
The wine and craft beer storage area. I accept it was mostly the former.
Keeping track of who was staying in the rooms.
A lovely view of a brick wall, although at least there was some sun shining in. Anyway, I think it’s time for a table:
| Role | Key Responsibilities | Mentioned/Implied at Ickworth | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| Butler | Supervise male staff, manage wine cellar, oversee dining service, potentially valet duties | Yes (Mr. Dunning) | |
| Housekeeper | Supervise female staff, manage linens & stores, oversee house cleaning | Yes (Mrs. Seddons) | |
| Cook/Head Cook | Plan menus, order food, manage kitchen staff, prepare meals | Yes | |
| Valet | Gentleman’s personal servant: dressing, clothes care, shaving, boot polishing | Implied/General | |
| Lady’s Maid | Lady’s personal servant: dressing, hair, cosmetics, clothes care | Implied/General | |
| Footman | Assist butler, serve meals, answer door, run errands, polish silver | Yes (Laurence) | |
| Housemaid | Clean rooms, make beds, clean fires, dust, general household duties | Yes (Rose, Lily, Florence) | |
| Parlour Maid | Serve meals (often breakfast/lunch), clean reception rooms, answer door | Yes (Mary Brunning) | |
| Kitchen Maid | Assist cook with food preparation, kitchen cleaning | Yes (Ruth Mizen, Maggie) | |
| Scullery Maid | Wash dishes/pots/pans, heavy cleaning in kitchen/scullery, prepare vegetables, light fires | Yes (Arianna, Harriet Flack) | |
| Hall Boy | General errands, heavy lifting (coal/wood), cleaning boots, assisting footmen/butler | Yes (John Mayhew) |
That’s quite a selection of staff who were working in the warren of rooms downstairs. The job wasn’t the worst going, but it would require an early rise and shifts tended to be up to 16 hours a day, with minimal days off. Lady Theodora Hervey, the 4th Marchioness, had at least improved matters somewhat in her 1910 investment in the facilities which reduced the need to walk so far to serve food and it also introduced electric lighting and hot water boilers.
It seems that rather than the servants being housed in the attic of the building,some of their sleeping quarters were located in the maze of downstairs rooms.
I’ve seen far worse in terms of accommodation.
I can only imagine this was one of the rooms for a butler or valet, it’s quite decadent. It also has half a set of encyclopaedias.
Some of the industrial equipment in the cellars. Liam was more excited about all this engineering than I was. How someone can get excited by a piling rig is beyond me, but I don’t judge.
The finishing kitchen and this was installed after the dining room debacle meant the food was getting cold by the time it arrived.
I did note that the kitchen was bigger than my entire flat….
More engineering.
Liam understood this.
The pipes continue.
One of the toilets that the servants could use.
And, for the sake of completeness, the other one.
There’s been an increase in interest in this whole sort of thing since Downton Abbey, although I’ve personally always been more engaged with You Rang, M’Lord?, although I must admit to having never watched Downton Abbey…. It’s definitely an intriguing area of the house and they’ve restored this really to quite a high standard of authenticity which has humanised the rooms.
