Download - Haddon Hall

18 PART II DESCRIPTION OF HADDON HALL BY S. RAYNER
In the passage, opposite to the screen of the Hall, are four large door-ways, with high
pointed arches, extending in a row corresponding with the breadth of the hall. The first
of these, near the entrance from the lower court, still retains its ancient oak door, with a
wicket in the middle, just large enough to hand out a trencher; and within the room are a
great oaken chest for bread, a spacious cupboard for cheese, and a number of shelves for
butter. Here was the Buttery, or station of the Butler. From this apartment are steps
leading to a large room with stone vaulting, supported by pillars like the crypt of a
church, which was manifestly designed for the Beer Cellar; for around it are still remains
of a low bench of stone-work, sufficient to hold a considerable number of casks; and
before it, is a drain to carry away the droppings. Through this great vaulted room a
passage leads to a Brewhouse and a Bakehouse; and adjoining are store-rooms for corn
and malt, with an entrance from the outside of the building, but having no communication
with the other parts of the mansion except through the Buttery.
The second pointed door-way leads to the Great Kitchen (see Plate 31) through a
sloping passage, in the middle of which is a half-door, or hatch, with a broad shelf on the
top of it, whereon to place dishes, and so far only the servants in waiting were permitted
to have access. In the Kitchen are two vast fire-places, with irons for a multitude of spits;
stoves; double ranges of dressers; large chopping blocks; with a massive wooden table,
hollowed out into basins by way of kneading troughs. Adjacent to the Kitchen are
numerous larders, pantries, and store-rooms belonging to it.
The third of the pointed door-ways affords an entrance into a small detached vaulted
room, which has every appearance of having been a wine cellar. And the fourth and last
great vaulted arch is at the bottom of a steep stair-case, quite distinct from the ground
stair-case of the house, and leading to abundance of small apartments [not available to
present day visitors], supposed to have been lodging rooms for guests and retainers. [A
Norman Fireplace, possibly from one of these apartments, is shown in Plate 11.]
DINING ROOM. The doorway at the upper end of the Banquetting Hall, shown in Plate
20, leads into a passage, at the end of which is a door opening into the Garden, on a level
with the house; and a side door from this passage gives entrance to the Dining Room. A
view of this apartment, with its window of eight lights at the upper end, in shown in Plate
19. It is comparatively of modern date, having been fitted up, and perhaps built, by Sir
George Vernon, at a time when, through the progress of refinement, it was no longer
customary for the lord of the mansion to dine in the great hall, together with his
dependants. The ceiling of the Dining Room is divided into bays, by five beams, the
mouldings of which were once ornamented with painting and gilding, some traces of
which are still perceptible.