Situated in the servant house/wing of the Vicarage, the Maid’s room is one of the smaller rooms in the property and one of two rooms that does not contain a fireplace. However, in a house with eleven fireplaces, this perhaps is not an issue.
Restoration
- Window – The original single glazed windows had been sheltered on this side of the house and were refurbished, stripped and repainted, with all sash weights being recorded and the window furniture being changes to a new hammered black pieces. Brushes were fitted to the frames to aid in draught proofing.
- Floor – The floor boards were original, though damage has occurred over the years these were cleaned and then linseed oiled.
Renovation:
- Ceiling – As can be seen in the pictures over the bed area, the slope of the roof can be seen. Although this is well above head height, there is no loft area in this part of the roof. To compensate for this, the entire ceiling was replaced with (and insulated), in this sloping part of the ceiling the areas was filled with celltex insulation blocks and then insulated plasterboard was used for this part of the roof.
- Walls – These were stripped back to bare brick and after battening, insulated board was applied and skimmed.
- Heating – A new reproduction radiator was sourced and painted in gun-metal. Valves are of a plain antiques copper look.
- Cabling – As with all other rooms the stripping back of the room allowed the concealing of the rewiring. This includes several electric sockets, satellite, digital and FM connections as well as telephone and cat 6 internet cabling.
Interior design
The theme colour for this room is brown and can be seen running through the rugs, curtains and duvet cover.
Door knobs and window furniture in iron, black painted. In the servants house, it could be observed, that the few artefacts that remained, indicated that the door and window furniture has been functional, black metal and not brass as in the main house. It was decided to uphold this differentiation in the refit.
The pictures on the wall are prints of York with the dominant picture being of York Minster. They have been framed in a light pine wood to compliment the Ducal pine furniture in the room.
The curtain poles throughout the house have the same finish, which is ivory with gold highlights. The difference between these and the main house are the finials which are bun ends to match the original servants staircase.
A plethora of white pressed steel radiators had found their way into the Vicarage over the years. These were visually unattractive and had been placed in what appeared to be the path of least resistance round the house. While the house was stripped back these were removed and a planned layout was installed. The radiators chosen are of a simple design in keeping with the arts and crafts heritage of the Vicarage and a similar styled radiators can be seen at the Red House in Bexleyheath.
Companies and trades people used in the commission of the room
Coventry Salvage – reproduction cast iron radiator and valves.
Glasswells – Bury St Edmunds – curtain pole.
BJ Waller – Little Thetford – Architectural ironmongery – Black window fittings and door knobs.
The Old Vicarage B&B, Little Ouse 