Please help me understand my kitchen

[jocelyn plummer]

I have lived with it, it seemed to cope with most things, dirty dogs, cats etc, but not a spilt pan of fat!!
Google it.

Marley tiles are just like lino to look at, they were all the rage in the 40's '50's and '60's.

Not seriously thinking of keeping them!!
Really not sure yet, marmoleum is quite high on my list at the moment, but some form of cushion floor it will have to be, not at all comfortable with hard floors in the kitchen , let alone the cost of something decent!

 

[Penners]

I tried smoking meat once. But I found that I preferred Golden Virginia.

 

[worms]

I'm afraid I have difficulty with the juxtaposition of the two "kitchen" areas either side of the earlier partition. If the side with the brick arches was dairy/game larder or something (which seems sensible) you wouldn't want a fire of any sort through in the next room, as that would warm the whole place up and make it no longer suitable as dairy/game larder. Unless of course the two were seperated in time - either through the year or by date of construction/conversion. :?

 

[JoceAndChris]

I take your point Worms, it's hard to understand the place of a fire in a room for storing meat, and another fire just a little bit along (where my hob is)
The previous owner thought the brick arches were for ice, and it was a cold storage room. But the recess in this room surely indicates a fire was there? Fire and cold storage in the same room? :?

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Thanks Joce!!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Nothing more than you deserve Joss!

Anyway the previous owner came to see me this morning and kindly spent two hours answering my zillion questions. This plant pot unlocks the mystery of what was in the alcove (where the electric hob now is)

It's a copper, apparently, for washing clothes, and he took it out of that space. I found it in the bushes.

The other alcove (with the small stone door) he maintains is a priest hole. That doesn't make any sense to me as I understand priest holes were constructed in around 1600, about 200 years earlier. I'm hoping to put some kind of a stove into this "priest hole", but I wouldn't want to lose that small stone door.

 

[yamin]

I haven't looked back at the photos, but as well as your doubt re dates, wasn't the idea of a priest hole to be well hidden, as in its a matter of life and death? By which I mean so well hidden that it could often, and indeed was often only found by measuring the walls inside and out and making sure that the room sizes all tallied, i.e. no spaces hidden in the walls/false walls. I think you're right to doubt that one, though it does sound good! Interesting on the washing explanation - and love the use of it as a pot!

For interest

http://www.harvingtonhall.com/the-priest-holes.asp

What a great ex owner though - wish I could have got mine talking more, but suspect he couldn't tell me any more than which Hygena retail outlet they went to!!!!!! :roll:

 

[JoceAndChris]

I love the ex owner but suspect his imagination's even more vivid than my own! You're right, I'm sure a priest hole wouldn't appear as a bloody great alcove like that.

Yamin, what a great link - thanks. It must have been terrible being walled up in a priest hole.

 

[Penners]

It's a copper, apparently

Yup - that's a wash copper all right. Contrary to the nomenclature, they were usually made of cast iron. Light a fire underneath, and rub-a-dub-dub...

 

[JoceAndChris]

How contradictory- a cast iron copper. Thanks for the conformation Mr P! There are a lot of cast iron mysteries kicking around the sheds and the bushes - I'll know who to ask next time!

But by then,you'll be in your new house, and will be running to me with your questions. :wink:

 

[ilona73]

How contradictory- a cast iron copper. Thanks for the conformation Mr P! There are a lot of cast iron mysteries kicking around the sheds and the bushes - I'll know who to ask next time!

But by then,you'll be in your new house, and will be running to me with your questions. :wink:

We too have a huge wash copper...in the corner of our dining room.However we have so far failed to get the cast iron pot out of the surround. The small fire is still intact underneath and i am hoping to get it all restored and for it to be a "living " feature in my dining room. Although the kids think its funny and ancient and should be ripped out.. i say lets just wash their mouths out with soap and water! :roll: :roll: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Moo]

You will remember to drill some drainage holes in the copper before filling it with soil, won't you?

 

[JoceAndChris]

Next year's petunias will have to get the benefit of that.

 

[Penners]

You will remember to drill some drainage holes in the copper before filling it with soil, won't you?

I fear that drilling cast iron is rather easier said than done. It's very hard and brittle, and unless you know what you're doing, you can end up with holes/cracks rather larger than planned.

A bit of hardcore in the bottom and water sparingly is a safer recipe.

 

[Cloudscape]

The old wash copper, removed years ago by a previous owner from our utility room, lives outside under a tree. It's full of sludge and, when it rains, the copper fills up. Birds like bathing in it. There are some irises planted in it and they seem to do OK, despite standing in water (and sludge).

 

[philpjuk100]

I have a "copper" which looks the same as the one pictured and I think it is actually a pressing which points to it being some kind of steel rather than cast iron,sadly mine does not require drilling as it has holes rusted through.We found ours rounded side upwards sticking out of the ground in our coppice and I thought it might have been delivered by the luftwaffer! phil.

 

[Moo]

I fear that drilling cast iron is rather easier said than done. It's very hard and brittle, and unless you know what you're doing, you can end up with holes/cracks rather larger than planned.

Well, we have a cast iron copper and, with great care, me old man drilled holes in it and it's been a satisfactory plant pot for a couple of decades. The only problem was keeping it upright, so it has to sit in one of those saucer things.

A bit of hardcore in the bottom and water sparingly is a safer recipe.

We used to have shrubs in a pair of half-barrels and couldn't understand why, after a prolonged spell of wet weather, the plants in one of them looked distinctly unhappy. When we emptied it we discovered that, despite a hefty base layer of gravel, it had filled with water and the plants were drowning. We'd forgotten to drill any drainage holes.

 

[Penners]

we have a cast iron copper and, with great care, me old man drilled holes in it

Ah, but in the hands of a skilled technician....

 

[philpjuk100]

One installed,Must tidy up!phil.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Goodness me. That looks amazing! What's going on though? What are your plans? Could we have some more photos? What's to the left of it?

I was just looking at the whole set-up today and wondering about reinstating my copper and some kind of fire. I fancy a woodburning stove in the "priest hole" alcove: a bit scary to start hacking it up though, so I'm planning on the do-nothing approach for the next few years until I know more about what was there.