Rediscovered kitchen

"Shrouded in a thick layer of dust and hidden under piles of junk, a complete Victorian kitchen lay forgotten for more than a generation. Archie Graham-Palmer and his wife Philippa discovered the incredible time capsule when they began rummaging in the basement of the family home. They found an entire kitchen kitted out as if the cook had just stepped out for a breath of air."

That cook would have required a staff of 20, presumably including a scullery maid. Here are some of the items found in the period kitchen:

• a full cooking range (1st and 3rd images)
  
• kettles (5th image)
• pots and pans (2nd image)
  
• pastry cutters and jelly moulds
• a spit for roasting pigs
• bells used to summon the servants (4th image)
  
• fire extinguishers

Also found was a cookbook that would have put the entire kitchen staff to work. The intact room was rediscovered in the junk-filled basement of the current house at Cefn Lea Park near Wrexham, North Wales, U.K. The house had been built at the turn of the 19th c. to replace the previous house, which had burned down in 1794. It was sold at auction in 1830, but it too suffered a fire and required extensive renovations. Since then, the property has been passed down within the Palmer family. It was earlier this year that 41-year-old Graham-Palmer moved in to take over management of the estate from his father. He and Philippa, 37, began exploring all corners of Cefn Park, and that's when they discovered the kitchen: ‘The basement had been a dumping ground for years. We discovered that the room was as it would have been." It had not been used for 100 years, but for a brief stint as an air raid shelter during World War II. The owners plan to preserve the kitchen and redecorate it in colors from the era. I hope they replace the antique fire extinguishers...