The House on Crutches Museum - Parlour
The Parlour
The House on Crutches Museum | Kitchen | Town Room | Agricultural Room | Parlour | Local Artists
The Parlour brings the visitor back to domesticity, but it is a domestic scene much changed by the centuries from the kitchen where our story of the town began. It now houses the museum's collection of children's toys and domestic pastimes from the 19th century.
This small room was remodelled in the early nineteenth century to create a more comfortable parlour. The reeding on the cupboard and fireplace is typical of this time, as are the decorative cornice and the dado rail. The larger window with its seat would be a pleasant place to sit on a summer’s evening, and the atmosphere of the room conjures up a scene of quiet concentration and a perfect place in which to address yourself to your sewing.
Somewhere in the museum you will find a little wooden rocking man. In common with many of the toys in the parlour, he was handmade at home to amuse the baby. Unfortunately over time he has lost both his arms, which would have moved as he rocked.
He was discovered embedded in a wall of a house in the town during renovations. Toys and small items, particularly shoes, belonging to the deceased infants were often hidden in this way. A quiet walk through the churchyard of Bishop's Castle will reveal the high rate of infant mortality in the town.
A number of small and miniature toys are displayed here. Of particular interest is the performing bare-back rider, which may have belonged to a circus set - popular at the time.
Less privileged children would have had simpler toys. Tops and whips, yoyos and kites, or a small boat to sail on the Wintle Pools, would have been more usual. Toys like these would have been home made.
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