On October twenty second, I had the opportunity to see excellent examples of the extremes of Victorian England. With the Suffolk Workhouse epitomizing the aristocratic solution to the "Victorian problem" and Belvoir (pronounced "Beaver") Castle epitomizing the opulence of the extravagant lifestyle of the upper class.
Because of the uninhibited drive to create a large amount of profit quickly through Britain's unique start into the Industrial Revolution. Unfortunately, the poor conditions and payment of the workers resulted in a large problem soon after. Not only were many families unable to support themselves with the meager money that they earned, but many of the workers were permanently disabled because of workplace accidents.
The solution to this problem came in the form of places such as the Suffolk Workhouse. At the workhouse, not only were families divided, children with children, men with men, and women with women, but the healthy were also divided from the infirm or disabled. Families were only allowed to see each other for an hour on Sundays and the smallest infraction against the rules could result in this privilege being revoked.
The building was not designed to remain warm during the winter and the working conditions in the cellar, where women would take care of the food preparation and storage. Just looking in the cellar, it is possible to see the erosion caused by the water that would have been freezing and up to the knees of the women working down their in the winter, with their dresses slowly soaking up the water the entire time. The men, however, were required to keep hard at working cracking large stones into smaller pieces to be used for pavement. These places were designed to discourage use and children were separated from their families because it was thought that the parents were stuck in such a low position because of their own faults.
Overall, this austere building revealed these attitudes toward the poor and the deplorable conditions that they were forced to live in. Just a short drive from this place is where one can find the ostentatious Belvoir Castle.
In the same way that all Victorian architecture tended to mimic a variety of classical styles, and even the Elizabethan copy of classical style. Because of this, the fourth iteration of Belvoir Castle was created in the image of a fairy tale castle at the request of the then current duke's wife. Even though the work was not completed until after her death, this castle remains an impressive monument to the aristocratic ideals of the day.
But, like all manors and castles created during this time, the area inhabited by the high society family was completely separated from the areas that the servants lived and worked in. Throughout the day, the only servants that should ever step foot in the state rooms would be the maids keeping it clean and the butler. All of the servants were supposed to be out of sight and out of mind.
However, this does not detract from the beautiful rooms of this castle, which is still inhabited by the Rutland family to this day, though the ornate state rooms are rarely used except for being exhibited through tours. Although, it is possible to rent the rooms for an evening, as long as one is willing to pay 3,000 dollars per person per night; after all, that's the price that one pays to spend the evening in the same room as royalty and some of the most famous figures of today, such as John Lennon.
All in all, it was a wonderful day and Belvoir Castle truly was like a fairy tale come to life with the richly ornate state rooms and the decorative use of the remaining old weaponry. I have the distinct impression that my time here will have an indelible effect on my design tendencies. Not that I will be inclined to be ornate when it comes time to design my own house, but some of the characteristics of Belvoir Castle and Harlaxton Manor will be making a reappearance.
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