Transcript
The Garderobe Chamber
It was unusual for a house of this size to have an inside privy or toilet – but remember, this was a Gentleman’s residence in Elizabethan times.
Clothes made of wool, fur and silk were expensive and cherished items in Tudor times. One way to keep them in good condition, and discourage clothes moths was to hang them in the privy, known then as the garderobe.
Imagine keeping your clothes in a smelly toilet! Over the years, the word ‘garderobe’ changed to ‘wardrobe’; an item of bedroom furniture we’re familiar with today.
The garderobe was blocked off in Victorian times. Imagine the surprise when the Historical Society broke through in the 1950s, and found this very special room.
The privy was emptied from a hole in the outside wall, now downstairs in the cellar, next to the Victorian kitchen. This main room was the Pitts’ bedroom where the whole family slept. The children were convince it was haunted because sounds form downstairs echoed through the wall hiding the garderobe.
