Basement, corridor, servants' bells, detail

Description Basement, corridor, servants' bells, detail

Date 12/5/1998

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number D 30803

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 757505

Scope and Content Detail of servants' bells in basement corridor, Cluny Castle, Highland This shows two of a series of servants' bells which were connected by wires and bell-pulls (levers) to different rooms in the castle. If the bell-pull was rung in the boudoir the bell on the right would move and sound showing that a servant was needed. The boudoir was a private room for the lady of the house. Country houses could easily be fitted with a wire and lever bell-pull system by the end of the 18th century. Electric servant bell systems were developed in the late 19th century and were a vast improvement on the old system which was liable to become clogged with dust and needed regular servicing. Cluny Castle was built in 1805 for the Macphersons of Cluny and stands on the site of an earlier castle which was destroyed by fire in 1746. William Laidlaw Carruthers, Inverness, designed the north-west wing and the Queen Anne Revival-style porch c.1890. Many of the estate buildings were also built when the castle was rebuilt, including gate lodges, stables, meal mill, saw mill and walled gardens. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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