And it all begins before the crack of dawn, when Daisy the scullery maid wakes up first thing. Scurries upstairs to light the bedroom fires. So that when the family wakes up their rooms are warm and cozy. Then she's back downstairs to wake everyone up, set the servant's hall breakfast, fire up the kitchen oven/stove. To finally returning upstairs to light the fires in the library, drawing room and dinning hall. She must do this without ever being seen by a family member. The other servants go about their day hardly taking notice of her, but they can scold her IF she has not finished her tasks for the morning/day. As a scullery maid, Daisy is at the very bottom in the chain of command at Downton Abbey.
@@tawnie9204 I Love Daisy. 🌼 Her story arc is so sweet and enduring. She showed a real sense of growth throughout the entire series. She's a bit strong mind and sharp tongue, and she has a caring heart for those closet to her. Especially Mrs. Patimore, Mr. Mason, Andy and William.
It's slavery. Those people were slaves. They had no gas, refrigeration or electricity for many years. Not a single convenience in appliance large or small. Stoking fires in dark basement for people dressed in haute couture to eat. Taking trays up to peoples rooms--ughh. The Crawley's dont impress me much. I'd like to boot the lot of them.
@@taroman7100 Working as a servant at Downton Abbey, or any home during the Victorian/Edwardian era PALES in comparison to the harshness of slavery. The Downton Abbey staff had food, lodging, steady/hard work, a job for Life, and All without the Scarred Backs and Broken spirit that was (is) Slavery.
@@taroman7100 Working in the house increased their status in the county and everywhere else. It gave women a respectable occupation so they wouldn’t be dependents and burdens to their families. It’s why Mrs Hughes turns down marriage in the first season. It would have demoted her to a mere farmer’s wife. And while that was a respectable position, she had been able to experience much more independence and freedom working for the house. She had changed. Daisy had no family to speak of and this was a great opportunity for her to have a place to live, food, and money in her pocket.
I just love the small details. I can only imagine the amount of work that goes into making a series like Downton. It will be continue to be enjoyed by millions of people for a long, long, time. I just wish I could find something else comparable to watch!
It's almost revealed here, but in Series 1 the glass in the door that separated the male and female bedrooms was clear. From series 2 it was frosted, as it should have been during those times.
I think it was changed partway though or perhaps it was just the appearance of the glass at earlier points in season 1 because I definitely remember the glass being frosted when Mr Bates brought Anna a tray mid way through season 1.
I hope they make a compilation video of al the Downstairs prep work scenes - cleaning, arranging, cooking etc. - from all the Downton episodes, as a tribute to all the hardworking staff in this excellent series :)
Every cast member raved about this man’s huge contribution to why the show got the smallest details of the period so accurately-represented onscreen. Just invaluable. Like a walking encyclopedia.
Absolutely 💘 Everything about Downton Abbey ❤ From the moment the start of the story of each episode begins to the very end. 😃 I have the complete set of Downton Abbey & the movie. And I still can't get enough of Downton ❤ Can't wait for the next movie ❤ ❤
I always assumed the servants quarters were at the top of the house - I guess because that's what it was like in other houses at the time, and the windows sort of look like they are set into the roof.
They are, but at the studio, the set is only one level, so the servants' hallway set is off to the side of where the kitchen set is. The interiors of the bedrooms are upstairs at Highclere.
You're right. He's saying that the studio servant quarters are on the same level. The in-show quarters are on the top level. He's not as clear as he might have been.
The downstairs set is not part of Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey) because the downstairs portion of the castle had been sealed off or something like that. So they had to build the sets for downstairs & servants bedrooms in a separate location. But yes, the servants bedrooms would have been located in the attic.
I lived at Conishead Priory in Ulverston for two years. The downstairs was very similar, and the colors the same and as drab, but the corridors were wider, two could pass comfortably.
I mean can we get a series about the dowager countess… a memoir where she covers her transition and all things after … via part narration and new actors
@@flyboy152 yep your right,altho he had good intentions,bringing her that tray,he wasn't supposed to be there.Thats why he was sneaky and she was reluctant to come to the door.
The servants' rooms would be in the attic, or the very top floor of a big house like Downton/Highclere, accessed via a back servants stairs. The set was all made on the same level though because it had to be constructed in the studios and there is not enough room to make full scale there. This was due to the fact that the attic servants rooms at Highclere were sealed off a long time ago (some don't even exist anymore) and what is left of the old kitchens would not be of the Downton time frame. "Below stairs" is often the phrase used to describe a servant's work and living quarters but in reality, that wasn't very literal and more meant that servants were not to be seen unless you had a specific role that required you to be seen to carry out; such as a footman, a valet or a lady's maid. The philosophy of a smooth running household was that servants were out of sight and out of mind.
I’ve always been confused about how the downstairs rooms have windows. Aren’t they supposed to be in the basement, since it’s downstairs of the ground floor?
In Europe the “first floor” is called the ground floor. What we consider to be the “second floor” of a home in the States is actually referred to as the “first floor” as it is the first floor up stairs. Kitchens were almost always on the ground floor (or in a separate outside building) to allow for ventilation, it would get quite hot and Smokey (originally Medieval homes didn’t have chimneys). Delivery wagons pulled right up to the doors to off load their goods. If a kitchen was in the basement it would be hard to off load deliveries such as large kegs and crates of food.
The Kitchen would have been half under the ground so to speak, hence the very high windows in the kitchen and servants hall as well as the many steps up to most stately homes and the steps down to the courtyard and kitchen gardens. The servants' rooms would be in the attic, or the very top floor of a big house like Downton/Highclere reached by a back servants stairs. The ground floor is that on ground level, what to Americans would be the first floor, and then what Americans would know as the second floor is the first floor to us.
I believe when he says "they existed" he means "they existed in those roles/professions to look after their family" rather than "existed as people to look after the family", but essentially getting a job as a servant in a grand house like this meant that you were dedicating your career to serving the family. In return for working the harsh hours they were paid decently, given a free place to live, fed by food the house would have paid for, and when they left their jobs having a good reference could land them a job almost anywhere. Even if you don't work in a fancy house for a millionaire, wherever you work (unless you're self employed) your job exists to look after your boss/bosses company. Work as a cashier in a supermarket and your job is looking after handling of transactions for your employer, work on a farm and your job is harvesting or processing food for your employer. So no I don't find that statement to be abhorrent, perhaps a little confused in the connotations of the phrasing. If the suggestion was that they were mistreated, forced to work under hard conditions, or even taken as slaves then yes it would definitely be worse.
@@ellid0 I see your point. However I think it's equally possible to interpret that statement more literally. When a person accepts a position of employment, it is obvious that they are required to labour on behalf of the company or institution who has hired them. However, (unless it's indentured servitude) the employee enters into a contract with the employer, from which they derive benefit in recompense for their labour. You alluded to this in the first half of your statement. In this context, while the downstairs of Downton Abbey work to support the welfare of the Crawley family, it does not define their entire existence or their purpose for existing. Which I take it was the point of view of Mr. Bonneville.
