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A servant bell or service bell is a bell used to call the attention of an in-house servant.
Did you ring, sir? Country house communication through the ages
(archived),
A servant bell or service bell is a bell used to call the attention of an in-house servant.
History
In the 18th century, British country houses grew in size and servants were moved to separate service wings. Servants were further moved out of sight with the use of service tunnels, basement walkways and utility rooms. With this followed a need for new methods of communication. Rooms were fitted withbell pull
A bell pull is a woven textile, pull cord, handle, knob, or other object that connects with a bell or bell wire, and which rings a service bell when pulled. Bell pulls may be used to summon workers in homes of people who employ butlers, housema ...
s or levers which a household member could pull. A system of wires connected the pull to a bell located in a service area; in stairwells, outside servants' quarters or inside servants' rooms.
The bells were fixed to a board and each bell was individually labelled so servants could see which room requested service.
Bells hung from coiled springs. A pendulum connected to the spring would continue so swing, giving servants time to see which bell had rung. Bells could be of different sizes and emit different sound, thus allowing servants to identify the bell by sound.
How quickly the bells were answered was often a matter of complaint.
Marilyn Palmer
Marilyn Palmer, ( Allum; born 30 April 1943) is a British historian, archaeologist and academic, who specialises in landscape history and industrial archaeology. Having been a school teacher, she moved into academia and taught at Loughborough Col ...
commented that "No object is more evocative of historic household communication than the sprung bell."
See also
*Call bell
A call bell is a bell
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strik ...
References
Marilyn Palmer
Marilyn Palmer, ( Allum; born 30 April 1943) is a British historian, archaeologist and academic, who specialises in landscape history and industrial archaeology. Having been a school teacher, she moved into academia and taught at Loughborough Col ...
.Did you ring, sir? Country house communication through the ages
(archived),
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
.
Further reading
* ''Technology in the Country House'' byMarilyn Palmer
Marilyn Palmer, ( Allum; born 30 April 1943) is a British historian, archaeologist and academic, who specialises in landscape history and industrial archaeology. Having been a school teacher, she moved into academia and taught at Loughborough Col ...
and Ian West
{{Bells
Bells (percussion)