It's Friday so I'm joining in with Amy
at Love Made my Home for this week's Five on Friday. Click on the link at
the bottom of this post to find others who are joining in too.
Firstly thank you for all your comments on my last Five on Friday post which I managed to quickly put on line whilst we were away in Wales. I have finally caught up with reading and leaving comments on as many other 'Friday' posts as I can and I apologise if I have missed you as I know I haven't got around to everyone who joined in.
On our way back home from Tremadog - we were staying nearby - we stopped off at Erddig, a National Trust Property, for a break and walk around. It had been a few years since we visited this property but I do remember being fascinated by it.
This is the place where you visit 'below stairs' first and it is here that the family of the house chose to honour the hard work of their servants by placing their photographs and painted portraits on the walls. It was very dark inside so I didn't take many photos and I took none of the actual portraits but there is much information on all the servants and what a superb resource all the gathered information is and how wonderful it must be if one of your ancestors worked there. You could find out so much about them. Here is a - link - to some of the portraits.
I also find this set up fascinating as I'm always drawn to the kitchens, laundries and working areas below stairs much more than the more grand apartments above stairs.
Firstly thank you for all your comments on my last Five on Friday post which I managed to quickly put on line whilst we were away in Wales. I have finally caught up with reading and leaving comments on as many other 'Friday' posts as I can and I apologise if I have missed you as I know I haven't got around to everyone who joined in.
On our way back home from Tremadog - we were staying nearby - we stopped off at Erddig, a National Trust Property, for a break and walk around. It had been a few years since we visited this property but I do remember being fascinated by it.
As the light was so dismal I found myself drawn to the windows and the things in and around them so below are five photos of things I spotted near windows.
1. Plants and Flowers - Pelargoniums inside one of the glass houses, taken from the outside through glass. Such a rich colour.
2. Food Preparation. I liked the textures in all the different objects in the window area.
3. Pots and Pans. I loved the big white jug, the tin bowls and the washing up mops in the stoneware jug.
4. Cloches - not sure if they were for the garden or for protecting food but I thought they looked lovely in the light from the window.
5. Decorative - one photo from the family rooms. I liked the tassel and the view of the formal garden.
Above five more eye catching things I spotted as we wandered around.
Have a lovely weekend everyone.
Have a lovely weekend everyone.
Erddig a fascinating place. I remember visiting many years ago. Like you it was a dismal day. I loved all the different stories of the servants. Thank you for the atmospheric photos Rosie. Have a great weekend. B x
ReplyDeleteIt was a drizzly, rainy day - it was Bank Holiday after all but also dark inside as they didn't use electricty so as all the light was from the windows I was drawn to them:)
DeleteWhat a great post I've not visited Errdig so this was especially good for me. Next I'm that way I will try thanks for the share
ReplyDeleteIt is a good visit and of course Chirk Castle is just down the road too:)
DeleteA great set of photos - a lovely idea to photograph those fascinating items in the below stairs rooms and plants in the greenhouse. It looks like an attractive building with all those windows. Interesting gardens and grounds too. I like the quote. The owners of Erddig sound like nice people since they thought so much about their servants they had portraits done and verses written about them.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Linda. Because it was dark inside as there was no electricity used and also very busy, it being Bank Holiday, the windows were where the light was for photos. It was lighter downstairs in the servants quarters than in the best rooms I suppose because of the protection of the fabrics and wall covers:)
DeleteSuch great photos, a place that I have never visited so all the more interesting. Such beautiful gardens and I was fascinated by the kitchen paraphernalia, lovely post.
ReplyDeleteI'm always drawn to kitchens and working areas and all the wonderful items they had there. You can imagine people working in the rooms:)
DeleteYour photos of the ancient kitchen pleased me too. Such tranquility. And the garden outside the tassel window looks magnificient.
ReplyDeleteThe gardens were lovely and full of colourful tulips at the moment. I can imagine that the kitchens would alternate between quiet and noisy activity at different times of the day:)
DeleteI always prefer the downstairs to the upstairs. I figure that's where my family would have worked.
ReplyDeleteMe too. Both my grandmothers were in service before they married but not in such grand homes as this one:)
DeleteIt makes such a change for the NT to acknowledge servants at one of their houses. I remember a friend and I discussing it more than 20 years ago when we were both studying archaeology. The NT, and particularly how it portrayed history, was one the topics on our anthropology course and we compared notes. She was particularly annoyed about a diorama she'd seen in Cheshire (Lyme Park possibly) where full biographical details were given for all but one of the figures. That one simply said "and a servant".
ReplyDeletePerhaps because they hadn't any details about the servant? Who knows. It does seem a shame that details are lost. I think attitudes have changed a litle as most people who visit the properties are fascinated by the working life of the servants sometimes more than the family who lived there. I know I am:)
DeleteErddig looks a fascinating place to visit. I too am drawn towards the working areas of somewhere like this and love all the kitchenalia that the servants used. The gardens look wonderful too. xx
ReplyDeleteThere was so much to see in the kitchens and also the housekeeper's parlour with its new fangled gadets like vacumn cleaners and sewing machines:)
DeleteWhat a great place to visit. I also like looking at the kitchens and the 'workings' of old house. Perhaps it's just because that's where I would have been not topside lol.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week and thanks for sharing!
Yes, it would have been my station in life too. Glad you enjoyed the visit:)
DeleteI love the cloches on the windowsill. I quite fancy one of them actually. I find the working parts of any place more interesting than the drawing rooms where the ladies leisured their day away. There is so much more life in a battered pan or a surface scrubbed so many times it is almost shiny. Have a lovely weekend.
ReplyDeleteThey are lovely aren't they? I wasn't sure how strong they would be in the garden so thought that they may be food protectors perhaps, either way they were very decorative. I agree if only those battered pans could speak:)
DeleteThis is our local NT property being only about thirty minutes away so we visit frequently.Isn't being a member of the National Trust great?
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed! I love just being able to pop to these places when I want to and it is also useful when you are on holiday as you can visit several places at a time. Do you visit Chirk Castle often too, it isn't very far away from Erdigg is it?:)
DeleteA lovely post with such atmospheric and interesting photos. I've never been to Erdigg so it was lovely to share your visit. I always enjoy looking round the kitchens and servant room especially when they have old kitchen utensils etc., on display. One of the NT properties round here has a lovely set up (think its Charlecote from memory).
ReplyDeleteWouldn't mind some of those colourful pelargoniums for my garden!
Have a lovely weekend.
Glad you enjoyed the post. I seem to remember kitchens and dairy etc at Charlecote, a brewery too. It was a long time ago when we visited though and these places change and different things are made available to see. I loved the colour of the pelargoniums, there were loads in the glass house. I wonder if they would all go to the plant sales area or if they were destined for somewhere in the garden:)
DeleteI had a look at the servants' pictures, that's so unusual isn't it but adds a different dimension to the house and family. Very interesting, thanks Rosie :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, I found the portraits fascinating and the way the employers had captured the characters of their servants in both paint and verse:)
DeleteA beautiful place to visit! I know what you mean about the below stairs parts of properties I always find those fascinating too, perhaps it is because we feel as though we have more connection with that life I wonder. Thank you for taking us along! Thank you for joining Five On Friday this week, hope you have an enjoyable weekend!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure we do feel more comfortable in those areas of the houses even though we are in awe of the grand rooms we can relate to the downstairs areas more. Glad you enjoyed the photos:)
DeleteA lovely selection of photos from Erddig. I always prefer visiting the below stairs areas too, in these properties. They're so much more interesting. I love the red of the pelargonium as well - it does look a rich, velvety colour.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much of interest in the downstairs areas and you can get closer to the objects so it always seems more accesible than the roped off, darkened, grander rooms. Yes, it is a lovely rich and velvety red isn't it?:)
DeleteI'm so glad the house honours those from below stairs. Without them upstairs would not have existed. Your photos are lovely glimpses into the life lived in the home.
ReplyDeleteThis is so true the upstairs would have struggled without those downstairs making life easy for them. I love the little display areas when they make them as if one of the family or servants has just left the room:)
DeleteYou have a good eye for texture and light. I enjoyed the photos, especially the cloches in the window.
ReplyDeleteThank you, I'm always drawn to doors and windows and I love windowsills and the objects that people place in them:)
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