Below stairs at Harewood House

I've recently been doing a fair bit of research on my family tree and have come across a couple of female ancestors who worked 'in service' as housemaids or nursemaids to wealthy families. It was one of few avenues open to young, unmarried women to earn a living, before the two World Wars began to change everything. The families they worked for were not nearly as well-to-do as the Lascelles of Harewood House. Nevertheless it was interesting to get a glimpse 'below stairs', at the kitchens with their huge ranges and gleaming copperware, the sculleries and the servants' hall, where the servants would have had their meals, men at one table presided over by the Butler and women at another, under the watchful eye of the Housekeeper.   

There are two call bell systems, one a Victorian system of wires and pulleys and an electronic one from the 1930s, which the gentry used to summon their servants. 

There are also cupboards of exquisite china and glassware on display. I just loved this delicate painted glass. 

There are a few costumes displayed too. This is Princess Mary's wedding dress (or at least a replica of it, since the original is too fragile to have on display), dating back to her wedding to Viscount Lascelles (later the 7th Earl) in Westminster Abbey in 1922. 

Harewood House is often used for TV and film productions, from Victoria to Mary Berry to Downton Abbey, as well as the long-running TV soap, Emmerdale, which has a permanent set on the estate. HRH Princess Mary and her husband actually featured in the Downton Abbey movie, along with the fictitious Crawleys of Downton. It was partly filmed here in 2018, so some of the costumes and a table setting are from that. You can see the place settings for Lady Mary Crawley and the Earl of Grantham: