This bank holiday I visited a National Trust property called The Treasurer's House. The oldest building was from the early 13th c. The ground floor was for storage and the upper floor for living, including a communal hall and a private bedroom, or solar, with access to a garderobe block with latrine and clothes storage. The smell supposed to have kept out the bugs!
In this early structure is found a nice surviving fresco, in the solar, of the Crucifixion.
By 1300 the Great Hall had been built and was a place of assembly separate from the private residence.
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| The main hall |
By 1500 the garderobe had gone and was replaced by a kitchen. The ground floor of the solar was now a parlour with a door to the kitchen. There was probably a gallery for musicians or spectators at meetings in the main hall. By the 17th c. the gallery had been covered and converted into rooms.
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| The house today |
If you are in Somerset it is well worth a visit, but it is only open Sunday, Monday & Tuesday during summer. It is a pity that more archaeology is not being done in the surrounding grounds, as I am sure it would add more to the story of the people who lived here.
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