1676 Inventory of Middleton Hall #3: The Garret
This post, the third in the series detailing the rooms and contents of Middleton Hall as described in the 1676 inventory, focuses on the room identified as “The Garret”. At this time, Middleton Hall had only one building with a garret. Today, it would be referred to as the attic of the John Ray Building.
When the John Ray Building was constructed in 1647, it included a new architectural feature that had only been introduced to England in the mid-17th century. This was the creation of garrets within domestic houses. Garrets were formed by a floor being inserted to close off the roof space. At the time of this inventory, the word attic did not yet exist. Thus, the term garret referred to a roof space used both for storage and habitation. Today, attic is the generally used term. Attic normally refers to when the roof space is used for storage, whilst garret specifically refers to when it is a habitable room. Historically, it was a common practice for garrets to be used as living quarters for servants, which is known to have happened at Middleton Hall in at least the Georgian and Victorian eras.
Although the inventory is a useful illustration of the household at Middleton Hall, a caveat must be taken into account when considering the items. This is that many items listed in the inventory are just being stored in rooms, rather than being in their proper place because the house was closed. Nevertheless, the Garret was one of the rooms to contain the most items.
The inventory listed in the Garret a number of items relating to hygiene, specifically:
Two little close stools, one with a pan in. Close stools refer to the type of wooden box-stool that enclosed a toilet pan.
16 pewter chamber pots. Interestingly, a previous blog post concerned the purchase of a pewter chamber pot for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526. In that post, it was noted how pewter chamber pots were preferable, although more expensive, because they were non-porous. This made them more durable and easier to clean.
Five pewter basins. This referred to a deep, round, narrow-rimmed metal bowl, which would likely have been used for personal hygiene.
One tin spitting pan. A spitting pan was a spittoon. It was normally a shallow, flat-bottomed vessel with a wide top used as a receptacle for spitting saliva and phlegm. They were commonly made of tin-glazed earthenware but could be made of other metals. In the 17th century, spitting in public was a common and socially acceptable habit. The introduction of the spittoon was considered an advance in public manners. Spittoons became a much more common item in England in the 17th century due to the introduction of tobacco. It was not until the late 19th century, due to discoveries about tuberculosis, that the spittoon and spitting were considered a health hazard.
There were also quite a number of items listed relating to lighting including many high brass candlesticks, nine brass hand candlesticks, ten pewter candlesticks and:
Four pewter sockets for candlesticks. Sockets were a cylindrical cup-like component in the top of a candlestick into which the candle was directly placed.
Two pairs of snuffers, one brass, the other iron. Unlike the modern cone-shaped candle extinguisher, snuffers in the 17th century referred to a scissor-like metal tool that was used to trim the charred, burnt portion of a candle’s wick whilst it was still burning.
An old heavy locked coffer supposedly having candles within. Intriguingly, this suggests that the key to open it had been misplaced. A coffer was a strong type of chest.
There were a few items relating to horse-riding equipment:
One pillion. This was a secondary cushion that was attached behind a horse’s saddle and allowed a second person to ride “pillion” behind the first.
One red pillion cloth and an old plush pillion cloth. Plush was a specific woven fabric that was normally made in expensive silk or a fine wool such as mohair. It had a long, thick, shaggy cut pile that was similar to velvet but the nap was significantly longer. This was an extremely expensive luxury fabric and any item adorned with it would have been a very high-status item.
Six horsecloths with a pad for each. The horsecloths were blankets for horses to keep them warm or protect from dirt or rain and the pad was a cushion that would protect the horses when carrying heavy loads.
There were also some items of furniture including:
One small joint stool and one joint footstool. In the previous post on John Ray’s Chamber, a joint stool was described as a common type of stool that was made by a joiner and jointed together.
One coven chair. It is uncertain what this refers to. There are two possibilities. First, coven was shorthand for Coventry and it could have referred to a chair made there or upholstered in Coventry cloth. Second, it might have been a coved chair, which would have had a high back with a hood or canopy.
There were also a number of iron items that had varied uses. These included:
One iron grate. A grate was a raised, free-standing iron basket on legs specifically for the burning of coal. Wood fires traditionally were burned on the flat hearth but coal had to be raised in order to allow air to circulate beneath and feed the flame. Hence, the grate was developed. It was in the 17th century that most domestic houses began to switch from burning wood to coal.
One firebox. A firebox later came to be defined as the chamber inside the fireplace where the coal was burned. However, in this era, it did not have that meaning. It is known to have definitely referred to a tinderbox, but there are suggestions that it could have referred to something else as well. A tinderbox would contain everything required to start a fire including: flint and an iron-loop to generate a spark; some tinder material that would easily catch a spark; some small splints of wood tipped with brimstone; and a damper, which was a flat metal disc used to smother the embers on the timber when finished.
One flat iron. This was used in this era for the same purpose as it is today, namely, ironing laundry. It was a heavy, solid triangular piece of cast iron. This type of iron was heated by being placed directly onto the hot coals of the fire. Once hot, the soot was wiped off the base and the fabric was quickly ironed whilst it was still warm.
Two irons that were “used for holed for the beds”. It is uncertain what this refers to. In this context, holed would mean pierced or hollowed out. It is thought that it might refer to bed curtain rods, which could have been custom punched with eyelet holes to hang the curtains from. Alternatively, they might have been bed-wrenches to keep the ropes for the beds tight.
An old ripple comb. This was a heavy wood and iron tool that was used in textile production. Raw flax or hemp stalks would be pulled through its long metal teeth to remove the seeds before they were then spun into linen.
Finally, some other miscellaneous items listed were one wooden bottle, a bowl for the chapel, one pair of staghorns and:
A box containing 64 trenchers. These were flat wooden plates.
A large fir box with a few white quarries in. The softwoods of fir and pine at this time were collectively known as deal and were almost entirely imported. They were a significantly cheaper timber than native hardwoods such as oak but they were also lighter in weight and resilient to moisture, which would be useful for a storage box.
Quarry referred to the diamond-shaped glass used before plated glass. It is known that, at this time, all of the windows at Middleton Hall that were glazed were of this leaded quarry style. When the Jettied Building was restored by Middleton Hall Trust, it was decided that the windows would be reconstructed in this style and volunteers went on a course to learn how to make it. White quarry meant that the glass was clear, which would have made it premium glass. This was because it was difficult to produce completely clear glass in this era due to natural impurities.
Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.
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