Following my recent post about Bayons Manor I thought it would be fun to add a some of the memories of a woman who lived there in the late 1800's. Mrs E Tennyson d'Eyncourt.
She came to Bayons Manor as a young bride in her early 20's having spent her earlier life in London where her life was one big social whirl, so the prospect of running a huge household like this must have been quite daunting at first.
There was a household staff of twelve, one man's time was entirely taken up with trimming and filling the 80 lamps in the house. He also had to bring in the wood and coal and keep all the fires going, including the enormous one in the kitchen which was used for cooking and roasting.
There were no bathrooms, so hip baths were taken to the bedrooms each morning and cans of hot water were carried up. On her first visit she was given a piece of tapestry to use for a bath mat. Many years later it was valued at several hundred pounds worth of tapestry!
One of the first things she did on moving in was to collect the lovely old furniture which had been pushed away into attics and passages and had them put back in the room to replace the imitation Gothic chairs and tables.
I have found a short film on youtube, it shows lots of different views of the exterior - taken from old photographs and postcards, but if you want to whizz through to about 1.40 mins there are some shots of the interior. (When I watched it there was an advertisement at the beginning, there is nothing I can do about that, sorry.)
Their London life was a round of parties, balls, dinners and banquets. They were busy, active people, but they still managed to have six children. They were both very keen on hunting and shooting and the hunt would often meet at the manor house for a stirrup cup, before setting off for a day of 'sport'.
The lawns around the Manor were kept as smooth as velvet by men with scythes; there were no ride-on lawn mowers then, of course.
According to reports, all the children loved growing up there and the place was enjoyed by visitors. Such a shame it all ended as it did.
0 Yorumlar