Wood, Coals, Turves and Fires

In large households, the provision of fuel was the responsibility of the office of the woodyard. If the family’s estates included extensive woodland, firewood might be cut either by in-house staff or by hiring the labour required to fell, trim and chop the trees for fuel.¹ From an administrative point of view, it was often far more convenient for the controller and clerk of the kitchen to enter into contracts with independent suppliers at previously agreed rates. This enabled the coming year’s expenses to be predicted with accuracy and left the problems of acquisition, extraction and delivery in the hands of others.²