Dairy at Downton

Country houses like Downton nearly all had dairies. Sometimes they were situated near the house, or in the service wing itself, but by the twentieth century, they were more often at the home farm (the farm most closely associated with the estate and from which fresh eggs and produce came directly, as opposed to the other farms on the estate that were tenant occupied and did not supply the house except through local butchers). Upper-class food relied on cream and butter, which was generally used salted, unless a recipe specified “sweet” butter, that is, unsalted. The cream would be left in settling pans overnight, and in the morning, the fat would be skimmed from the top and churned for butter. The remaining milk, now called skimmed milk, would be consumed by the servants or sold cheaply to local villagers. Meanwhile, it was unthinkable upstairs to drink tea without whole milk.