The Daily Meal Pattern

It’s easy to concentrate on the fact that Mrs Crocombe and her staff were cooking for the Braybrookes and forget the large number of other people that the kitchens needed to cater for. There were usually about 30–38 people to be fed on any one day, divided into three or four groups, each eating four meals a day.

The largest group of people were the servants. In 1881, when Mrs Crocombe was cook and Lord and Lady Braybrooke’s daughter Augusta had married and left home (reducing the household), the indoor servants numbered 18–20, plus seasonal or daily extras.