Three-seat privy gets historic listing
Fond memories of the two-holer at my
grandparent's farm.
A small addition will be made this week to
England’s treasury of listed buildings: a tiny oak weatherboarded
structure, which speaks of a rural past ignored by costume dramas, a time when
parents and child could sit down peacefully together and let nature take its
course.
The little shed will be declared a Grade II listed building this week, and it is far rarer than the handsome Georgian farmhouse in whose pretty garden it stands. The official report by English Heritage for the Department of Culture declares it “a rare surviving example of a late 18th century privy, even rarer because it is a three-seater”.
“It is the most glorious little building,” its proud owner, Mary Kellett, said. “It faces towards the evening sun, and it is the most delightful place to sit in the evening with a glass of wine and the door open, and just be peaceful and think.”
She adds hastily that it is no longer in practical use, though she suspects it was in her father-in-law’s day, as luxuries such as a bathroom were only installed in the main house in the 1960s.
A family that poops together - better eat the same root vegetables.
The little shed will be declared a Grade II listed building this week, and it is far rarer than the handsome Georgian farmhouse in whose pretty garden it stands. The official report by English Heritage for the Department of Culture declares it “a rare surviving example of a late 18th century privy, even rarer because it is a three-seater”.
“It is the most glorious little building,” its proud owner, Mary Kellett, said. “It faces towards the evening sun, and it is the most delightful place to sit in the evening with a glass of wine and the door open, and just be peaceful and think.”
She adds hastily that it is no longer in practical use, though she suspects it was in her father-in-law’s day, as luxuries such as a bathroom were only installed in the main house in the 1960s.
A family that poops together - better eat the same root vegetables.
Posted: Mon - February 18, 2008 at 10:59 AM