Manor House

Manor House

Properties

Plumbing and Sanitation

Contrary to popular belief, plumbing and being sanitary didn't die out with the Ancient Romans. Soap making was actually started in the Early Middle Ages. Chamber pots were not disposed of out windows, either. Bathing didn't fall out of practice until shortly after the Renaissance, and slowly came back in the 19th century.

Bathrooms were not common in Regency homes. They were owned by the very wealthy and elite forward thinkers of society. More common would be the chamber pot, stored under a bed or in a privy/outside located somewhere outside, away from the home. Normally, they'd plant lilacs around the privy so as to hide the smell, at least while the lilacs were in bloom.

Gardens

By means of terraces planted with flowers, including steps, and balustrades created a welcoming environment to any garden. They were created, mostly, by Sir Humphry Repton during 1800-1818. Gardens were sort of plain under the tutelage of Repton. There was also Richard Payne Knight, who fancied more picturesque gardens. He used plenty of trees, flowing grounds, flowers, plants, all to create his idea of a picturesque garden. Normally, gardens went as follows: a formal garden surrounding the house, followed by a landscape garden surrounding the formal garden, and everything else was left wild.

Houses

Court: A residence constructed around some sort of courtyard. For the house itself to be formed, two sides of a quadrangle, which was completed on the other side by another wall.
Example: Hampton Court

Abbey: Most often, a Christian church or convent. An English home could be named with Abbey at the end of its title.
Example: Rothgar Abbey

Hall: More often than not, this is the name of the long corridor in your home, but in this case, the term Hall is used as part of the name of the home.
Example: Thornton Hall

Manor: This is the principal house of a manor. For instance; the Duke of Norfolk owns a piece of land, called a manor, or a system of land tenure. He calls it Norfolk Manor, and he is the lord and master of that manor.
Example: Roxburghshire Manor

Cottage: A traditionally built home, located on property in rural areas. Most of the time, these are built in the country, not in the city.
Example: Lilac Cottage

Domestic Services

Cooking

While modern cooking is a breeze, back in the 19th century, it wasn't so easy. Cast iron stoves were used, and rather than gas or electricity, were lit by coal or wood. A tray held the ashes and had to be dumped periodically, and the stove went through an average of 50 pounds of coal and wood. The fire had to be checked, ashes dumped, and wax rubbed over the stove to prevent rusting - and that wasn't even considering food preparation.

Preparing food was tedious. When cooking foul, for example, one would buy the whole chicken, kill it, and pluck it oneself. Then one had to take out the innards and prepare it with seasonings for cooking. Some things were bought pre-butchered - such as cow parts - but those were often left out in the open with flies crawling over them in the stalls before being bought. Nothing was thought of that at the time; germs and general sanitation was not popular or discovered at this point in time.

Cleaning

Smoke and soot from the coal and wood burning stoves blackened walls, drapes and carpets - not to mention made them smell as well. Each day, rugs had to be beaten, lamp glasses wiped, wicks trimmed or replaced, floors scrubbed, dishes cleaned, chamber pots emptied, dirty laundry collected and cleaned (though laundering was a weekly occurrence rather than daily), water brought in from a well or other source of water, etc.

Just retrieving water could be a herculean task - wealthy estates may have a well on the property, but others would have to walk much farther to retrieve the needed water. And you never realize just how much water is needed in a household - water to cook with, to wash dishes, to clean chamber pots, to provide the lord, lady, and members of the household with water for baths, for laundry, etc. Generally, two pales would be carried back to the manor, and much of the time, boiled on the stove to warm it up.

Laundering

Laundry was a nightmare. Up to 36 gallons of water were needed, and the task was long, hard, and back-breaking. The laundry would have to be collected, separated by fabric type, and then taken apart (as in taking the buttons and lace off since those could be damaged while washing). The clothes would then be dunked in water and rubbed with lye soap (which severely irritated the hands). The clothing would then be put in hot boiling water, moved with a stick, and then transferred to another tub with bluing in it. Finally, the clothing would be rinsed, once in plain water, another in bluing. The clothes would be wrung and hung up to dry. Once dry, they would be pressed with flatirons, and collars would be starched.

In winter, the biggest trouble was getting clothing to dry. Much of the time, clothing would hang for as long as a week or two, damp; there was no way to speed up the drying process during the cold season.

Article written by: [URL=]Jenny[/URL]

Manor House

Properties

Plumbing and Sanitation

Contrary to popular belief, plumbing and being sanitary didn't die out with the Ancient Romans. Soap making was actually started in the Early Middle Ages. Chamber pots were not disposed of out windows, either. Bathing didn't fall out of practice until shortly after the Renaissance, and slowly came back in the 19th century.

Bathrooms were not common in Regency homes. They were owned by the very wealthy and elite forward thinkers of society. More common would be the chamber pot, stored under a bed or in a privy/outside located somewhere outside, away from the home. Normally, they'd plant lilacs around the privy so as to hide the smell, at least while the lilacs were in bloom.

Gardens

By means of terraces planted with flowers, including steps, and balustrades created a welcoming environment to any garden. They were created, mostly, by Sir Humphry Repton during 1800-1818. Gardens were sort of plain under the tutelage of Repton. There was also Richard Payne Knight, who fancied more picturesque gardens. He used plenty of trees, flowing grounds, flowers, plants, all to create his idea of a picturesque garden. Normally, gardens went as follows: a formal garden surrounding the house, followed by a landscape garden surrounding the formal garden, and everything else was left wild.

Houses

Court: A residence constructed around some sort of courtyard. For the house itself to be formed, two sides of a quadrangle, which was completed on the other side by another wall.
Example: Hampton Court

Abbey: Most often, a Christian church or convent. An English home could be named with Abbey at the end of its title.
Example: Rothgar Abbey

Hall: More often than not, this is the name of the long corridor in your home, but in this case, the term Hall is used as part of the name of the home.
Example: Thornton Hall

Manor: This is the principal house of a manor. For instance; the Duke of Norfolk owns a piece of land, called a manor, or a system of land tenure. He calls it Norfolk Manor, and he is the lord and master of that manor.
Example: Roxburghshire Manor

Cottage: A traditionally built home, located on property in rural areas. Most of the time, these are built in the country, not in the city.
Example: Lilac Cottage

Domestic Services

Cooking

While modern cooking is a breeze, back in the 19th century, it wasn't so easy. Cast iron stoves were used, and rather than gas or electricity, were lit by coal or wood. A tray held the ashes and had to be dumped periodically, and the stove went through an average of 50 pounds of coal and wood. The fire had to be checked, ashes dumped, and wax rubbed over the stove to prevent rusting - and that wasn't even considering food preparation.

Preparing food was tedious. When cooking foul, for example, one would buy the whole chicken, kill it, and pluck it oneself. Then one had to take out the innards and prepare it with seasonings for cooking. Some things were bought pre-butchered - such as cow parts - but those were often left out in the open with flies crawling over them in the stalls before being bought. Nothing was thought of that at the time; germs and general sanitation was not popular or discovered at this point in time.

Cleaning

Smoke and soot from the coal and wood burning stoves blackened walls, drapes and carpets - not to mention made them smell as well. Each day, rugs had to be beaten, lamp glasses wiped, wicks trimmed or replaced, floors scrubbed, dishes cleaned, chamber pots emptied, dirty laundry collected and cleaned (though laundering was a weekly occurrence rather than daily), water brought in from a well or other source of water, etc.

Just retrieving water could be a herculean task - wealthy estates may have a well on the property, but others would have to walk much farther to retrieve the needed water. And you never realize just how much water is needed in a household - water to cook with, to wash dishes, to clean chamber pots, to provide the lord, lady, and members of the household with water for baths, for laundry, etc. Generally, two pales would be carried back to the manor, and much of the time, boiled on the stove to warm it up.

Laundering

Laundry was a nightmare. Up to 36 gallons of water were needed, and the task was long, hard, and back-breaking. The laundry would have to be collected, separated by fabric type, and then taken apart (as in taking the buttons and lace off since those could be damaged while washing). The clothes would then be dunked in water and rubbed with lye soap (which severely irritated the hands). The clothing would then be put in hot boiling water, moved with a stick, and then transferred to another tub with bluing in it. Finally, the clothing would be rinsed, once in plain water, another in bluing. The clothes would be wrung and hung up to dry. Once dry, they would be pressed with flatirons, and collars would be starched.

In winter, the biggest trouble was getting clothing to dry. Much of the time, clothing would hang for as long as a week or two, damp; there was no way to speed up the drying process during the cold season.

Article written by: [url=]Jenny[/url]