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Azzabuv
This message was updated on 9/10/2005 7:58:46 PM by Azzabuv |
Leche Family of Shipley Hall
replied on: 12/31/2004 1:18:29 PM c.1600, Shipley Hall was described as consisting of part stone, part timber and plaster, situated in a good position and dry. The 1670 Hearth Tax listed 11 fireplaces in the Hall. In 1701, the ground floor consisted of - The Great Parlour, with a closet adjoning it. The Small Parlour. The Kitchen. The Brewhouse. The Wash-house. The Pantry and a cellar. The first floor consisted of - The Parlour Chamber, with a closet and a passage adjoining it. The Red Room, with an old closet next door. The Chequer Chamber. The Green Chamber. The top floor consisted of - The Maids room. The Presse Room. The Yellow Chamber. The Men's Room (Servants), with an included napkin press. The standard of furnishings was very high. The Great Parlour and the Old Closet had gilt and leather hangings on the walls. The Red and Chequer Chambers (Bedrooms) had linen hangings and similar in the Green and Yellow Chambers. What was meant by the name of 'Chequer', is not quite understood. A Closet could mean anything from a Store-room where china and glass were kept (Great Parlour), to a dressing or sitting room as were connected to the Little Parlour and the Red Chamber. The household linen was stored in the Presse Room. The linen was valued at £18, or around £850 in this day's finances. The silver plate value was £180, or about the mid-£8000 today. Kitchen and cooking pots were made of iron, brass, copper, tin or wood. The plates and dishes for general use were of pewter. The brewhouse utensils - coppers, saucepans and a stewpan were made of copper. The spirit Still was of pewter. Bowls, washing tubs and bread-making tubs were wooden. There was also 'Parcel of earthenware' and 30 dozen glass bottles. The kitchen fireplace was huge in size, consisting of a pulley and weights, iron roaster, 6 spits, an iron fender, iron poker, iron peele, - (unknown object, with 8 others in the Hall), iron grate, firepan, tongs, bellows and an iron sifter (for the cinders). There were NO flat-irons for clothes pressing. Tea for the Hall (1701) retailed at £1 per pound and was kept in a padlocked, lead-lined, wooden tea caddy. A servant boy's wages of those times was £1 per year - if 'lucky'? with a man earning £5! In the Great Parlour was Ornamental china (mostly Delph) displayed on a shelf near the fireplace. There was also an exquisite bird cage. The furniture in the 'Little' Parlour consisted of - 3 tables, 18 chairs and other assorted furniture. There was also a collection of firearms - 5 fowling pieces; 3 blunderbusses; 2 pairs of horse pistols; 2 carbines and 5 cases of horse pistols. In the room above, was an 'old hanger' and a silver sword. This room may have well been John Leche's own bedroom. The Stableyard consisted of two horse-drawn carriages and four geldings, saddles and bridles and 20 loads of hay. The TOTAL value of the contents of the Hall and its outhouses was £321/18/7d which equals approximately £14000/15000 to day. Does anyone know what an 'Iron Peele' may really have been - or what it was actually used for? Azzabuv. |
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