This was originally a kitchen that served the Tudor Houseplace, but the layout you see here is down to Sir Richard Arkwright.
The ground floor of the Parsonage House was divided into five partitioned tenements, each with a stair to a bedroom on the first floor.
New cast iron windows were inserted into some of the rooms, and a sixth dwelling was built onto the southeast corner of the parlour.
There was no running water in any of the houses, which had to be fetched presumably from a well or pump. They probably had to go down into the town to collect their water.
The tenements continued to be occupied by various families through to the mid 20thC, but several of the tenements had become unfit for habitation.
Two however were still occupied: The Pitts lived in what is now the Victorian Kitchen, and the Harrisons lived in what was the extension built by Sir John Gell. The Pitts family had lived in the cottage since 1890: Firstly, William Pitt and Mary Pitt lived here until 1932 after which their daughter Fanny Pitt lived here until 1966. William Pitt worked as a night soil-man for Bakewell.
In the 360° photograph, look for the kitchen range which had an oven to the left and a water tank on the right.
In the corner is a reconstructed copper - used to heat up the water for washing clothes and people!
William and Mary Pitt.
