THE HEARTH OF THE HOME

Visitor Experience Assistant, Emily Cowlishaw, shares her favourite object from Pickford’s House

The kitchen has always been the heart of every home, and at Pickford’s House this is no exception. Throughout the years, the kitchen has been the centre of domestic life at Pickford’s, and its beating heart is the cooking range. The current kitchen at Pickfords was built sometime between 1812 and 1831 by Joseph Pickford’s son, William Percival Pickford. Before this, it is likely that the original house had a separate kitchen block near the back of the property. This was common during the Georgian era to prevent kitchen fires from destroying the whole home. Towards the Victorian Era, the use of coal and the invention of more modern ranges meant that it became less of a risk to build kitchens as part of the main house.

The range at Pickfords House is described as a ‘Harrison’s cooking apparatus’ in a letting advertisement in 1831. Unfortunately, the original was removed at some point during the home’s multiple occupations and and functions, but today, a detailed reproduction sits in its place. This was directly cast from a surviving Harrison range from the Judge’s Lodgings in Nottingham.

The design for this type of cooking range was perfected by John Harrison, who founded Bridge Gate. He was a prolific engineer and architect, having designed the pump house for the gardens at Elvaston Castle.

Throughout the years, all manner of things would be cooked, heated and warmed by this hearthkeeping the whole home well-fed, warm and cosy. All at once, dinner could be cooked; ale would be heated in an ale slipper; plates could be kept warm; and mice-catching cats could snooze by the fire.

It is easy to imagine this evocative scene of life in the 1830s at Pickford’s. The kitchen would be smoky, with the fires in the range and the back kitchen roaring at all hours of the day. Servants would be back and forth clearing ashes and stoking the fires, whilst a cook would be busy at the scrubbed kitchen table, preparing meat and vegetables for the day ahead.

All the while, the servant’s bells would be chiming at regular intervals, causing cups of tea and little ditties to be fetched back and forth to the upstairs household.

As Pickford’s House was in the centre of Derby, bustling with trade and town life, there was no need for a bread oven in the kitchen, as fresh bread would be bought from the bakery daily. The loaves would then be kept high up in baskets, away from opportunistic mice.

The open range at Pickford’s was more than up to the job of cooking for the household. Hot plates on the top of the range allowed for food to be boiled and fried, and for water to be heated. Pots could also be hung from hooks over the range to warmed. A genius contraption above the range used the hot air from the fire to spin blades in the chimney, which in turn spun a turnspit. This allowed meat to be roasted without anyone needing to tend to it.

The kitchen range is still the heart of Pickford’s life today and, as many of you will know, it takes centre stage in our Christmas celebrations, adding a festive glow and helping us to make our delicious (secret recipe) mulled wine!

If you enjoyed Emily’s piece on the Harrison Range and want to share your favourite object from the Museums’ collection, please submit your writing to helena@derbymuseums.org.

Adopt an Object at Derby Museums

Did you know you can adopt the Harrison Range, along with any other object at Pickford’s House? By adopting one of our objects for a year, either for yourself or for someone else, as an unusual gift for any occasion, you can help Derby Museums to care for its unique collection. In exchange for your adoption you will receive:

1. An old-fashioned luggage tag with a name of your choice on your object.

2. The opportunity to visit your adopted object anytime that Pickford’s House is open.

3. A certificate celebrating your new adoption.

We currently have a selection of objects listed for adoption on our website ranging from a humble game pie dish to a mahogany cheese cradle; from the morning room piano to the Edwardian toilet! However, if you have a favourite object that’s not listed, please email helena@derbymuseums.org to organise your adoption.

Our Adopt an Object scheme is also available at the Museum of Making, where you can choose from 39, fascinating objects. For further details on both schemes and to purchase your adoption, please visit: bit.ly/DMAdoptanObject. Donations towards either scheme are hugely appreciated and enable Derby Museums to continue its work caring for collections and staying fantastic and free for everyone.