The dining room had a typical Victorian Mahogany table and leather chairs. The chairs had been patched up by the last person that lived there Sylvia Grant-Dalton which made it fell and look more modern I got the feel in the dining room that it wasn’t a typical Victorian dining room it had many objects that were Georgian in it such as a side table which was a Georgian piece because it had s scroll legs which wasn’t the style of the Victorian period.
The Billiard room’s main difference was the introduction to Electricity as it had electric lights and extra air vents that were added in to the room at the beginning of the 20th century. Apart from that part of the 20th century the billiard room had the feeling of a Victorian room this made the room an excellent example. This room had a typical Victorian Gentlemen’s room layout it had the table with original Ivory balls and a special score board for gambling in Guineas.
The Drawing room also known as the ladies room is the most highly decorated room in the house. Unlike the Billiard room the ladies didn’t smoke until they couldn’t see one another so it was a well decorated room. The ceiling was decorated with the four seasons and cherubs, the cherubs indicated a late Georgian influence, the room had a large lead crystal chandelier and if it was looked at in a mirror the chandelier would go on forever, this was another Victorian fashion which was to have symmetry, the room was decked out with chairs and settees which were not of the Victorian period. The walls were originally silk but later additions of cotton were made there was a bell which was added in the 20th century which was to celebrate the silver jubilee of Queen Elizabeth 2nd. The room had many influences from the 2oth century such as chintz which was on the chairs and the curtains would have originally been made out of velvet or wool and would have been of a rich crimson colour the original curtains were not present in the room as Sylvia Grant-Dalton cut a meter off the bottom which meant that the curtains in the room were not original. The room had gilt chairs and a grand piano. The fire screen and the fire were original to the Victorian period.
The bedrooms had a lot of original features such as the beds and some radiators and fire places. There were many things that were not original such as sinks, electric fires and insect traps. The house was lived in until the late 1980’s which means that many objects had nothing to do with the Victorian or Georgian period but some things were from the 1960’s such as a record player and records.
Most of the kitchen’s objects were original for example all the pots and pans were original and most of the utensils. The main range was not original and neither were a set of black out blinds which were put there during the Second World War. The house was inhabited by some soldiers the only window in the kitchen was a sky light and that is why there are some black out blinds. Most Victorian kitchens were on a different floor to the dinning room which meant that they had a Dumb-Waiter but the kitchen at Brodsworth hall was different and in stead of being on a different floor it was on the same floor and there was a hatch. This made a big difference because the food would have arrived in the dinning room hot.
The servants rooms were used as storage rooms by Sylvia Grant-Dalton and had many different non-Victorian features most of the rooms had Victorian wash stands and beds. The floorboards would have been original to the period as well. The rooms had many objects rather than features such as a Hoover, electric fire, an iron and a television all the windows in the servant’s wing were in the Georgian style.
The male servant’s quarters were turned into a shop and tea rooms this could be argued that it was a bad move by English heritage as we do not get the chance to see what the difference was between the Male and Female servants rooms but a tearoom brings more visitors to the house if they know that there is somewhere to eat, although this does not make it a good example of a Victorian country house.
Victorians mainly had big windows but the Georgian windows were small and there were lots of them.
The gardens were very Victorian as there were flower beds and symmetrical trees and flower beds. If you look at the house from the garden you would notice that the windows were symmetrical but if you went up close you could see that some of the windows were fake. That is a Victorian trait as it was the fashionable thing to have symmetrical windows and gardens. The gardens had many different parts to it such as the flower garden the archery course and the croquet lawn. This was definitely a Victorian fashion because Georgians had great open lawns but when botanists came back from exotic countries they would bring plants which were used in the gardens to create exotic gardens.
Brodsworth Hall was a good example of a Victorian house but there were many other factors which made it a bad example. The children’s play room was made into an education centre so we couldn’t tell if the children had a good environment for playing or how the room was laid out.
In conclusion I don’t completely agree with the statement: “An outstanding example of a Victorian Country house” but I do think that Brodsworth Hall was a good example of a Victorian country house I do think that there were many things that could have been changed to make it better. To completely understand how well Brodsworth Hall you have to see it for yourself. I think that Brodsworth hall was good but not as good as it could be.
