Bringing the Servants to Life

When the service wing at Audley End House was renovated and reinterpreted in the spring of 2008, English Heritage decided to have a regular programme of costumed interpretation. I led the team of interpreters, usually playing the first kitchen maid, Mary Ann Bulmer. I was doing my PhD in food history at the time, and embraced the chance to use my research on the ground, while also learning a great deal about cooking Victorian food by simply doing it (clad, of course, in corsets and accurately reproduced gowns).