As can be seen in an inventory of 1601, it was actually Bess of Hardwick who began the first departure from dining in a Great Chamber (or the Great Hall of the Middle Ages). At Hardwick Hall there is a Low Great Chamber, and the Paved Room which adjoins it appears in the inventory as ‘The Little Dyning Chamber’. These were situated on the floor below the state rooms, the latter thus being able to be closed off during the cold Derbyshire winters or when there was no requirement for entertaining on a grand scale. The Little Dyning Room was situated above the great kitchen and reached by a flight of steps, so at least Bess’ food should have arrived hot, unlike the remote dining rooms in the great houses of the eighteenth century. But I digress.
In 1553, while domiciled in Wimbledon, Sir William Cecil noted that he and his family were accustomed to eat in a parlour. This could have been with upper servants, perhaps merely with those women who waited on his wife or purely en famille. On special occasions, he further said, they moved up to the Great Chamber. It is likely this was the most common arrangement during the seventeenth century where houses had a parlour. Nevertheless, in some establishments the parlour was considered an eating room for the upper servants. Indeed, in 1652, the Earl of Bridgewater decreed if any of his servants had been so prideful ‘...as to exalt themselves (without directions therein received from me...) from the table in the hall to the table in the parlour, I expect they should withdraw from that place.’
A gradual change from eating in state in the Great Chamber took place during the seventeenth century as gentlemen came to prefer a more informal atmosphere for meals. Where the parlour was set aside for the upper servants, the Great Chamber was sometimes supplemented or replaced by another room for dining on a lesser scale, situated on the first floor. In 1634, at Donnington Park in Leicestershire, the Earl of Huntingdon’s eating chamber was simply appointed, with no tapestry or rich furnishings, and his Great Chamber was refitted as a bedroom. However, it was more generally the case that the switch was made to the parlour. Thus dining rooms gradually became more important and often, by the early decades of the seventeenth century, one of the most important rooms in the house, with chimney-pieces and ceilings almost as elaborately decorated as those of the Great Chamber. By contrast, parlours were rarely decorated apart from plain panelling. They were certainly not part of the state room ‘circuit’ on the first floor. Folding, gateleg tables – usually oval in shape – were used rather than the large dining table left permanently in the centre of the floor of dining and great chambers, as they could be put away after use, facilitating the space for other occupations. At Knowle House, in the early sixteen hundreds, it is recorded that meals were taken simultaneously in three rooms: the family in the Great Chamber, the upper servants in the parlour and the servants in the hall. By contrast, the Countess of Dorset noted that she and her husband sometimes ate in the parlour, when not entertaining and during the winter.
Said to be the first recorded use of the term ‘dining room’, an inventory of 1677 at Ham House (Surrey) lists the ‘Marble Dining Room’, situated between the Duke and Duchess of Lauderdale’s private apartments and centrally placed on the ground floor. It was named for the original black and white marble floor and had practical, as well as gilt-decorated, leather wall hangings. Leather does not absorb food odours, unlike tapestries. Three cedar tables, oval in shape, were augmented by a dozen and a half walnut chairs; these had caned seats but no cushions – not very comfortable for a long dinner of several courses! Other furnishings include two cedar side-tables, a marble cistern and early examples of the sideboard, later to become an indispensable item of dining room furniture. The paintings of satyrs, goats, panpipes and putti were later reflected by Georgian architects and craftsmen.
Despite its name, and just to confuse scholars and authors of blog posts alike, the Marble Dining Room is, to all intents and purposes, a parlour since it was not included in the grand state circuit of rooms on the first floor. Sir Robert Walpole’s Houghton Hall, however, boasts a Marble Parlour, which is claimed as ‘the first proper dining room in an English country house’, being positioned above stairs among the public rooms. Walpole famously entertained local gentry and his Whig compatriots with (according to Lord Hervey) ‘...beef, venison, geese, turkeys etc...’ and ‘...claret, strong beer and punch...’ at Houghton twice a year. As passionate about his hunting as he was his politics, Sir Robert enjoyed a suite of rooms on the ground floor, containing a ‘hunting apartment’ which included his ‘supping parlour’ and a breakfast room. Doubtless though, the grand entertaining took place in William Kent’s magnificent Bacchic dining room on the first floor, where the ceiling is decorated in gilded bunches of grapes entwined with vine leaves, as are the cornice and above the doors, while fluted Ionic columns (marble on the inside wall) march to greet arched marble recesses on either side of the fireplace, itself ornamented with garlands of vines. Secreted directly behind the chimney-piece is a door giving access to the servants’ staircase, thus providing the most discreet service.
Houghton is a Palladian mansion on the grand scale. Of lesser proportions yet still magnificent, Berrington Hall, set in the picturesque Herefordshire countryside, gives the historical author a taste of the opulence and grandeur of eighteenth century living. Regular readers of this blog will already be familiar with my affection for this no-nonsense red sandstone residence and its glorious, undulating parkland. Owned and built by Thomas Harley, younger son of the 3rd Earl of Oxford, in about 1775, Berrington is a blend of prosaic practicality, comfort and ostentation. A banker, Harley was aware of the value of money, yet also wished (this being the Georgian age, after all) his house to impress. Stunning views may be had of the Black Mountains from the imposing front steps.
Unless otherwise stated all photographs © Heather King and may not be copied or reproduced without the expressed permission of the copyright holder.
Marble is to be found here as well, and greets you as you enter the house, into the magnificent Marble Hall. In keeping with the vogue in eighteenth century country houses, this is a formal and grand apartment in which important callers would have been received, and the floor, elegantly patterned from black, white and grey-green marble, reflects that.
The dining room, as we have already seen, was developing in importance, and at Berrington it is the largest room in the house. With a higher ceiling than other rooms, it was here that Harley hung the full-length portraits of Admiral Rodney, his daughter Anne’s father-in-law, and his other daughter Martha with her husband, banker George Drummond. Both portraits were commissioned from Gainsborough. To think that Thomas Harley retired in his mid-forties too—! The old saying is true – you never see a poor accountant or banker! Sadly, these paintings are long gone, although naval battle scenes celebrating Admiral Rodney’s greatest victories remain.
A former wine merchant, Thomas Harley no doubt kept a more than tolerable cellar, and yet, while the basement kitchen was immediately below the dining room, there was no convenient access as at Houghton or Hardwick. Food had to be brought by the servants from kitchen to table via the back stairs on the other side of the house – a roundabout route indeed. Cold chips – ugh! However, there is an urn-shaped plate-warmer, crafted by the famed furniture-maker, Gillow of Lancaster.
In 1774, the walls were flesh coloured, in the words of Lord Torrington who visited at that time. Subsequently, they were painted the current sage green during the Cawley era. Around this time the door-cases – previously trimmed in gilt – were painted white. The ceiling has a roundel, painted after the style of Baggio Rebecca, of a scene of a feast, said to be based on the Banquet of the Gods by Raphael. The two rectangular panels feature Ceres, goddess of corn, and Bacchus, god of wine.
The fireplace is surrounded by a marble chimney-piece, gifted to Harley by a school chum, Bell Lloyd, in gratitude for the former having saved him from financial ruin. The chimney-piece is described by the National Trust as the finest in the house. Dating from between 1801-4, the decoration is also naval in content, depicting a battleship in full sail, a man carrying a crane (a symbol of vigilance) with a stronghold at his feet, Britannia holding an olive branch plus a so-called Cap of Liberty and, lying at her feet, her shield and trident. Vine leaves add to the Bacchus theme.
Sadly, the dining table is ‘only’ Victorian and the dining chairs are probably Portuguese or from the Portuguese part of Goa. Those remaining chairs were brought to Berrington from Heaton Hall in Manchester which became Council offices. The large sideboard, of Grecian mahogany, dates from 1800-5 and is on loan from Finborough Hall in Suffolk. In addition, there is a large side-table with a mahogany and satinwood veneer, two matching ones of smaller stature and a cellaret, companion to the above-mentioned plate-warmer. Hot water was kept in the urn, in which the butler would rinse glasses. The urn contained a zinc-lined drawer which could be pulled out to form a sink. In the bottom drawer there was room for six decanters.
This Dresden service, c 1840, is decorated in hand-painted flowers. On the side-table is a Chinese porcelain punch bowl, which commemorates Admiral Rodney’s triumph at the Battle of the Saints in 1872. It was given to Berrington by ‘the late Lord Croft’ (of nearby Croft Castle), as of 1997. Dimly, at the right-hand top corner of the view of the table, can be seen the plate-warmer. My apologies for the quality of the photo.
During the eighteenth century, the sideboard or the main table would have been loaded with plate, as seen above, and the footmen, dressed in their finest livery, would have waited upon Thomas Harley’s influential guests. At larger establishments, there would have been many footmen to make a bigger impression on the diners. Each course was brought in by the footmen – and the more lavish the dinner, the greater variety of the dishes presented. Demonstration of wealth was everything to the Georgians. The main meat dish was placed in front of the host for him to carve. For individual requirements, the footmen then took the guests’ plates to the dishes to avoid the confusion of tureens and platters being passed about the table. The butler took up a prominent position by the sideboard, where he could oversee and superintend the smooth running of proceedings and fill or refill wine glasses brought to him by the footmen, washing them when required as already mentioned.
As far as ceremony was concerned, it was generally provided by the assembled guests in the form of toasts. These could be either to the company as a whole or to individuals and as before, the glasses were taken to the sideboard. Occasionally, for a particularly sumptuous feast, an orchestra would be commissioned to play music. Sometimes this was in the dining room itself but more often the musicians were in another room beside the eating chamber. A dessert course usually completed the meal, after which the ladies retired, leaving the gentlemen to their port and tobacco. By the mid-eighteenth century, this custom was well established but its origins are unclear. While it was not mentioned by Samuel Pepys, in 1694 William Congreve wrote, in his The Double Dealer that the women were ‘...at the end of the gallery, retired to their tea and scandal, according to their ancient custom, after dinner.’ Tea and coffee drinking had possibly been made fashionable towards the end of the seventeenth century by Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II, who would have known tea in her native Portugal. Portuguese traders had brought tea back from the East Indies in the sixteenth century. In the eighteenth century, tea and coffee had long been drunk after dinner and supper, brewed by the lady of the house herself. An Indian furnace for tea garnished with silver was listed in an inventory of items at Ham House in the White closet of the Duchess of Lauderdale. Perhaps, Mark Girouard suggests, what became an aristocratic institution began with a practical purpose – a short space of time in which the ladies could brew the tea and coffee ready for the gentlemen to come and drink. Whatever the initial reason, the length of time gradually increased – even to a matter of several hours. Indeed, Robert Adam was mightily pleased, in 1778, to embrace the ladies’ retirement as the opportunity for the gentlemen to immerse themselves in political discussion. They did eventually join the ladies though – unless they were cup-shot!
Essentially, therefore, dining rooms were masculine apartments and drawing rooms the domain of the ladies.
The alcove permitting servant ingress at Houghton was further developed in the dining room at Holkham Hall. An arched recess, created for a sideboard, has small jib-doors to either side which lead to the servants’ stairs. In addition, there is a mirrored panel facilitating observance of the table by the butler and footmen even when standing beyond the doors. This recess also gave an opportunity to display to greater effect the gold and silver services arranged on the sideboard. Done in the French style, at Holkham this was known as the buffet. Formal arrangements of hot-house fruits, such as peaches, grapes and apricots, were also set out here.
The dining room at Holkham was a rather austere apartment, being set between the great Marble Hall and the statue gallery – wherein the latter there was room to walk off a gargantuan meal in inclement weather? 😉 The decoration is on a grand scale, in keeping with two huge busts of the Roman goddess Juno and Emperor Lucius Verus, set in two oval niches above the fireplaces. The chimney-pieces provide a touch of food-related light relief, being decorated with the Fox and the Wolf, and the Bear and the Bee-hive fables of Aesop. The dining chairs have leather seats, in a favoured style of the seventeen hundreds, yet the backs are plain; they were clearly intended to be placed against the wall except when in use.
A musical theme was quite often employed by craftsmen in their decoration of country houses. Hunting horns, lyres and panpipes were common motifs used, and in the dining room may have reflected the melodies played in the adjoining room. However, hunting horns combined with spears, muskets, bows and creeping foliage such as oak and ivy garlands rather suggest the forest and hunting – reference, perhaps, to the food served in the room.
Large pier-glasses are to be found in the dining rooms of many stately homes. These are the enormous mirrors, often hung between the windows and positioned with an elegant pier-table underneath. The purpose of these mirrors was to reflect the candlelight about the room. At Felbrigg Hall in Norfolk, eight small oval mirrors are set, two upon each wall in the manner of candle sconces, within plasterwork frames. The effect must have been very pretty, if perhaps, to a modern eye, impractical for seeing what one was eating! It certainly is a pretty room, the pelmet-style decoration above the ‘frames’ repeated over the various portraits, and bronze figures on various prominences, including the mantel-piece. Against the pale lilac walls and pastel flowered carpet, these sculptures (which were actually made of plaster especially for the room) lend a contrast that works perfectly. Beside the fireplace, it is fabulous to see a surviving bell-rope.
Hanbury Hall, in Worcestershire, has two pier-glasses and tables flanking a central window. The dining room is not huge but boasts some splendid Regency furniture, including mahogany sideboard, serving table and side-table, as well as an early nineteenth century porcelain dinner service. Made by Chamberlain Worcester (pre Royal Worcester), the service dates from 1827 and is composed of 84 plates in total, 14 oval plates (4 small, 4 medium, 5 large, one huge platter), 7 sauce dishes and 7 vegetable tureens.
The above serving table has a wine cooler beneath it. The table was adapted in the nineteenth century to hold the plate rack rather than the customary rail.
Unfortunately, I cannot use the photo I took of the sideboard, it is too poor. The mahogany dining table was made by Gillow of Lancaster, measures 4’ x 21’ and seats up to 26, yet will condense to merely four. There is also a server dating from the early nineteenth century which has detail in the style of Robert Adam.
Thomas Vernon was a member of the Kit-Kat Club in London and perhaps, on occasion, he entertained some of his fellow members at Hanbury. The club members were wont to feast on mutton ‘pyes’, named ‘Kit-Kat pyes’ after the club and the pie man who made them, one Christopher Catt (more can be read about him in the articles on the Gentlemen’s Clubs). One day at Hanbury I took this picture of some Kit-Kat pies. I wish my pastry came out as neat as this!
The ceiling in the dining room at Hanbury is interesting because if you look carefully, it is in two sections. This is because it was originally the Lobby and Withdrawing Room of the state apartments which occupied the East wing. Beyond the withdrawing room was the Best Bedchamber with Dressing Room, and at the front of the house was the Great Parlour, now the Drawing Room. Originally, the bedroom was used by Thomas Vernon, the owner of Hanbury, which was an unusual arrangement for the master did not generally have a suite on the ground floor. A wall was removed and the ceiling realigned. The alterations were instituted circa 1830 and kept the two separate ceiling paintings (probably by Sir James Thornhill). The first (the lobby) is of the North Wind abducting Oreithyia, and that of the former withdrawing room appears to show Apollo in his chariot, saying goodbye to Clymene. The plaster panels are carved with oak, laurel and acanthus leaves, and the repositioned, original fireplace is ornamented with beautiful wooden carving dated about 1760.
When it is safe again to do so, I will visit Hanbury and try to take a better picture!
Note the leaves on the carved wooden ornamentation of the fireplace.
At Syon House in Middlesex, Robert Adam designed the Great Dining Room to equal its name. A long, thin chamber, he added screens of Corinthian columns at each end, fronting a pair of alcoves, to make the proportions of the room less intimidating. The central area thus becomes almost a three-way cube, measuring a mere 66’ x 21’ x 21’. Created circa 1763 and classically decorated in white and gold, the dining room does not have a permanent full-length dining table since, at this date, as discussed above, footmen would have brought in folding tables when required. The room was a deliberate nod to Classical Rome, with the ceiling a vista of elegant splendour, being composed of panels enclosing complicated circular patterns, and a domed section with a triple fan of swirling vine-like design. Removed at some point to the drawing room, there was originally an exquisite Moorfields carpet, dated 1769, which reflected the ceiling. The Great Dining Room was the third in the public circuit, contrasting to glorious effect with the stone-hued Entrance Hall and blue-green scagliola in the ante chamber before, then the crimson damask in the Drawing Room, followed by the pinks and greens of the Gallery afterwards. Palladian glory at its best!
As befitting the probable conversation, especially following the ladies’ withdrawal after dinner, many country house dining rooms were decorated with a sporting theme. The finest animal painters of the day were commissioned to produce portraits of favourite hunters – such as at Deene Park in Northamptonshire – soldiers with their famous chargers and, as at Croome Park in Worcestershire, the owner’s favourite hounds and racehorses. At Uppark in Sussex, where the Prince Regent was a frequent guest at the races held in front of the house, the Lewes (Prince's) Cup stands in pride of place on the dining table.
http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/137858
By the early nineteenth century, dinner was usually served at 6.30 – 7.00 pm rather than the 4.30 – 5.00 pm of the late eighteenth century or the 2.00 pm of an earlier age. To bridge the increasing gap, luncheon began to be served, often only to the ladies at house parties for the gentlemen were generally off shooting, fishing or hunting. Dinner was the one formal meal of the day; one could even call it a ritual. The guests and family assembled in the drawing room prior to the dinner hour, attired formally or in semi-formal dress. They made a procession in order of rank to the dining room, where the various courses were served with some pomp, involving the best plate and footman service and followed by the ladies withdrawing to leave the gentlemen to their port and brandy. Some distance between drawing and dining rooms was incorporated into house design by architects to permit some procession and so the gentlemen did not disturb the ladies with their smoking and – doubtless – ribald discourse. This sometimes can be seen in the organization of rooms, where matching drawing and dining rooms are placed on opposite sides of either a hall or saloon, the outside façade then made symmetrical in order to maintain a measure of formality. This approach is often seen in those houses of a generally sprawling, irregular plan, and was a system much admired by those owners and architects who preferred symmetry.
While large houses often had a breakfast parlour and morning room which, like the drawing room, were used for informal daytime activities, the dining room remained aloof as a room for dining with some ceremony. It would be many more decades before the dining room became a more general room, yet even in these days of rampant informality, most houses, no matter how modest, have a dining room or designated dining area. Have we almost turned full circle, where the household once again dines in the parlour or Great Hall, otherwise known as the open-plan living room?
© Heather King
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