There has been much written about the Edwardian and Victorian days of those ‘above and below stairs’….The privileged Master of his House and Family on the one hand and then, the servants from cook to butler to chambermaids that look after the family. There are indeed some grim stories of the life ‘below stairs’ but may be it wasn’t all bad. Hard work it certainly was, long hours and the need to respond without hesitation to demands by the Family. But by comparison with the life style of that period for the general populace, may be life below stairs wasn’t that bad. Food and shelter provided, and if this long abandoned Chambermaids bedroom is anything to go by it would be accommodation a cut above the norm for the general population.
13th July
© David Oakes 2014
DAVID OAKES - IMAGES. 