1676 Inventory of Middleton Hall #16: The Bread Room and Kitchen
Updated: 6 days ago
This post, the sixteenth in the series detailing the rooms and contents of Middleton Hall as described in the 1676 inventory, focuses on the rooms titled as “The Bread Room” and “The Kitchen”. Of all the rooms listed in the inventory, the Kitchen contained the most items.
A bread room was a specialist production room traditionally known as the bakehouse. This was where bread was made and baked. It was normally situated in a separate building or away from the main house due to the very high fire risk from flour dust and the long-burning, high-temperature oven.
It is uncertain where the Bread Room was located. One suggestion was that it was the ground floor room of the South Wing Cottage, which was connected to and shared the hearth of the Old Kitchen. Another theory was that it was one of the separate buildings to the south of the Tudor Barn. In the inventory, it was listed after the Buttery, suggesting that it was located within the functional service area. The Kitchen was listed between the West Larder and New Larder and is believed to have been in the location of what is known as the Old Kitchen today.
Although the inventory is a useful illustration of the household at Middleton Hall, because the house was closed at the time, when considering the items a caveat must be taken into account. This is that many items listed in the inventory are not in their proper place and were simply being stored in the room. The sparse items in the Bread Room suggests that it was dormant at this time, although items that should have been in this room were confusingly in the Bottling House. Conversely, the Kitchen appears to have been in use for the remaining staff, functional production and, additionally, for the safekeeping of other items.
The inventory of the Bread Room listed two items present:
One bread chest. This was a large wooden bin used to keep baked loaves safe from dampness and pests.
One pair of yarn blades. As noted in the previous post on the Still Chamber, yarn blades were wooden devices used for winding spun yarn into balls or skeins. They should not have been in this room.
In the Kitchen, there were a number of items listed on the inventory that were used in food preparation. The items on the list that are still essentially the same today were: two colanders; two rolling pins; three cleavers; and two chopping knives. Other items listed were:
Two mortars and pestles, one brass and one iron. The design of these has been unchanged since antiquity, although the material used has changed over time. The iron one would have been for dry tough items such as roots and seeds. It could not be used for water-based items because the iron would rust nor could it be used for acidic items as it would turn them black. The brass one would have been used for finer and more general work but it also could not have been used with acidic items such as vinegar or citrus because it could react with them and create toxic verdigris.
Two trays. These were shallow wooden troughs used for food preparation, such as kneading, salting or chopping items, or to move the items around the kitchen. They were not used for serving in the same way as a modern tray is.
One sieve. The nature of this is essentially the same as today but the material has changed. In this era, it could have been made of either hair, wire or pierced leather.
One searce. A very fine sieve that would have been wrapped in a fine fabric, such as fine linen or sarcenet silk. It produced an extremely fine powder for high-status baking.
Two graters. In fundamental design these are the same as modern graters but, in this era, they would have been a simple metal plate punched with sharp holes.
Eight pastry peels. These were long-handled, flat wooden shovels that were used to slide pastries deep into a brick oven and back out safely. Eight is a significant number confirming the large scale of pastry baking that was historically undertaken at Middleton Hall.
The next set of items listed in the inventory were the iron, brass and copper hardware that directly interacted with the hearth and oven fires. The items listed that are almost exactly the same as today were: a brass pot lid; four iron pans; two frying pans; and one brass ladle. The other items listed were:
Six pottage pots. These were large, deep bulbous pots used to simmer pottage, a broth which almost constantly was being cooked in early-modern kitchens.
Four skellets. Known today as a skillet. A metal cooking pot with three short legs and a long straight handle. The legs meant they could sit directly in the hearth without tipping over or over a mound of embers raked out of the main fire.
Five kettles. As noted in the previous post on Lady Child’s Chamber, kettles were large open cooking pots. They normally had a movable arched handle.
Two fish kettles and plates, one copper, one brass. These were long pots specially designed for boiling fish. The plates were placed inside the kettles and were removable perforated trays for the cooks to safely lift the delicate fish out on when cooked. Essentially, the plates would be referred to as a fish drainer today.
Four iron dripping pans and an iron to lay before the dripping pan. These were large, shallow iron pans placed on the hearth floor directly beneath roasting meat in order to catch the fat. The iron to lay before it was a protective shield to keep ash out of the fat.
A pair of wafer irons. These were two flat, heavy iron plates connected by a hinge. Batter would be poured inside, closed and held directly over the fire to bake thin, crisp wafers.
Three gridirons. These were iron grates on short legs placed directly over the open hearth to grill meat or fish on.
One trivet. Although still used today, in this era it was used slightly differently. This three-legged iron stand was placed directly over the fire to support pots that did not have legs.
An iron oven lid. This was a heavy removable door used to seal the opening of a brick bread-oven built into the side of the chimney, which would trap the heat within the oven to bake bread.
Five spits. These were long sharp iron rods that would be pushed through a whole carcass in order to rotate it over an open fire to roast.
One jack and three chains for it. In the Georgian Renovation of Middleton Hall, a smoke jack replaced this device and it was still present when the Old Kitchen was restored by Middleton Hall Trust. This confirms that this Kitchen is highly likely to be the Old Kitchen. The chains indicate that this was probably a roasting jack. It was a mechanical, clockwork device mounted on the chimney, wound with chains and weights, and rotated the spits so that they did not have to be turned by hand.
Two pairs of pot hooks and five small pot hooks. These were s-shaped hooks used to hang cooking pots over the fire. The hooks would be at different heights so that moving an item to a different hook would change the cooking temperature depending on whether it was closer or further away from the fire.
One scummer. Also known as a skimmer. This was a flat, perforated metal disc on a long handle used to skim the fat, froth and scum off the top of boiling meat pots.
A grate with a plate hanging on. This was the main iron fire enclosure that held burning coal and was fitted with an adjustable metal plate to regulate draft or shield heat.
One fire shovel, a pair of tongs, creepers and a pair of bellows. Creepers were small low andirons placed inside the hearth to support smaller logs or charcoal burners.
A pair of racks. This has varied meanings. As noted in the previous post on the Spinning House, a rack can be an open frame to hang something from or hold something. However, it was also the term for a large iron structure placed either side of the hearth to support the spits at various heights to the fire.
The next set of items listed in the inventory of the Kitchen related to when the food or drinks were being served:
One pasty plate and one pie plate. These were normally flat metal plates specifically designed to present massive pasties and pies.
Three iron forks. These were large, long-handled carving forks used to spear, lift and carve meat.
Three tin ewers. These were tin pitchers or jugs used for holding and pouring liquids or sauces.
Seven pewter dishes and two pewter basins. High-quality metal serving platters and bowls. It is interesting to note that the remainder and majority of the pewter dining service was not here but in Lady Child’s Chamber. These may have been what the upper servants still present at the Hall were using.
45 trenchers. As described in the previous post on the Garret, trenchers were flat wooden plates used for eating. It is worth noting that there were 64 more in the Garret, suggesting that these 45 were in use and if so, it reveals the significant number of household staff and agricultural labourers still being fed from the Hall kitchen in a closed house.
There were also a number of items of furniture including: one leather stool; one stool with a back; one table; three good pails (buckets); and four more pails. The other items of furniture listed in this room were:
Four joint stools and two little joint stools. In the previous post on John Ray’s Chamber, a joint stool was described as a common type of stool that was jointed together, rather than nailed or glued.
A little spice cupboard. This would have been a wall-mounted wooden cabinet, fitted with a lock, to protect the highly valuable spices from theft.
A bacon chest. This would have been a massive, ventilated wooden chest specifically designed to store and cure bacon, keeping it safe from pests and dampness.
Finally, there were a few items that should not have been in a kitchen:
One smoothing iron and two more smoothing irons with two pairs of heaters. As noted in the previous post on The Parlour, these were laundry items used to press an item quickly. These are the first mention of heaters in the inventory. Heaters were removable iron cores that were placed in the hottest part of the fire. This means that these flat irons were not fully placed in the fire, only their removable core. They were possibly in the Kitchen for safekeeping or because that hearth was still in use.
One prayer handbell. This would have been a small bell used to signal the time to say prayers. It was either in the Kitchen for safekeeping or because the majority of the workers on site were based there.
Two suits of armour and two musket barrels. Armour and loose musket barrels would never, in a normal situation, be stored in a kitchen because the grease and steam would rust them.
One fowling piece. This was a very long-barrelled shotgun used for hunting birds. By law at this time, passed as a result of rising gun ownership amongst the peasantry, the ownership of guns of this type had been restricted to the wealthy gentry. However, the 1671 Game Act also enabled the lord of the manor to permit a professional gamekeeper or fowler to use the gun. It would not normally be kept in a kitchen.
Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.
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