[Sca-cooks] "All the King's Cooks"

[Ron Carnegie]

Here is the reply I received from Marc Meltonville at Hampton Court,
with the personal stuff removed...


-- The lady who saw the kitchens remembers the boiling house, one of
several, although only two remain. There is a large, (72 gallon) copper
pot built into a brick surround. Underneath is a small fireplace that
heats the pot. A set of steps take you up to the pot, where the
contents, usually meat being par-boiled for pies, was stirred or removed
using a flesh hook. It could be cleaned by placing a small boy in it.
(Probably when it was no longer hot!)
The pot is near the pastry department, so probably served that.
They needed pots this big, as the task of the kitchens was to feed 600
twice a day. Most traditional pots are too small.

The other thing she mentioned is the charcoal range. It is indeed a 17th
century addition to that room, although Tudor ranges look the same.
Along the top are six holes with fire bars set into them. Here is placed
lit charcoal and the whole thing used as a stove. The thing that
confuses people are the arches below, they think the fire went in them.
In fact they are alternately for charcoal, or ash. Flues connecting the
pits to the arches allow ash to drop down into them. With the charcoal
bins, you have to shovel it out of and place it in the top. All this
means that you do not have to 'service' the ranges more than once a day,
bringing in fresh charcoal at the start of the day, and removing the old
ash.
I have seen a transition piece similar to this in France, it dates from
the mid 18th century, has all the elements of the above, but with a
large metal top, covers for the fire holes and tiled back. Half way to
the 19th Century cast iron range. I think we have pictures if anyone is
interested, that or take yourself to the Loire Valley.

Thanks for the enquiry, keep in touch.
See you next time we get a chance to wander over.

  They also gave me the following email address that is specifically for
questions such as this team at historia.org.uk

Cheers,
Ranald de Balinhard,
Ron Carnegie <r.carnegie at verizon.net>
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	"The poetry of history lies in the quasi-miraculous fact that
	 once on this earth, on this familiar spot of ground walked
	 other men and women as actual as we are today, thinking
	 their own thoughts, swayed by their own passions but now
	 all gone, vanishing after another, gone as utterly as we 
	 ourselves shall be gone like ghosts at cockcrow."
				G.M. Trevelyan
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