• A close up of an orange marigold
    , ,

    Edible Flowers

    If you visit a fancy restaurant nowadays you may well get a sprinkling of flower petals on your food as ‘decoration’ but flowers are not a normal staple of the modern larder. However, long before the supermarkets sold bags of mixed salad, the use of flowers, picked from the garden or wayside was a common

    Read more

  • A collection of children's dolls
    , ,

    Spot the Difference

    Winterbourne’s Collections Officer, Henrietta, has been celebrating our 10th anniversary and keeping us amused by recreating some pictures on display around the house. These recreations are a bit different from what you might normally expect as they are done utilising Hen’s own personal collection…Barbie dolls! Greatly enjoyed by the team here at Winterbourne we had

    Read more

  • A maid scrubbing the floor
    ,

    ‘Housekeeping ain’t no joke’ pt 2 – The Spring Clean – Recipes and regimes

    Last month we looked at the origins of the great Spring Clean and the invention of the domestic vacuum cleaner. This piece of kit undoubtedly made life much easier, and homes much cleaner, as it evolved throughout the 20th century to the lightweight, dust-busting wands we use today. However, the Spring Clean has always been

    Read more

  • A young girl carrying cleaning equipment
    ,

    ‘Housekeeping ain’t no joke’ part 1 – The Spring Clean and Vacuum origins

    Outside spring has definitely sprung, with the daffodils nodding their dazzling heads and the trees producing buds hinting of splendour yet to come. However, indoors things are afoot too, as houses across the land begin the age old spring clean. The tradition of a ‘spring clean’ dates back millennia and is often linked to religious

    Read more

  • An illustration of an Edwardian christmas tree being set up by a family and maids
    ,

    What did the Nettlefolds do for Christmas?

    Christmas at Winterbourne   Margaret Nettlefold’s household diary provides fascinating insights into middle class life in late-Victorian and early-Edwardian England.  She clearly gave careful thought to Christmas presents and cards, and listed everything in the diary.   For example in 1904, Margaret gave a camera (referred to as a ‘Kodak’) to her husband John, a

    Read more