I have had a few problems in tracking down a ‘past’ shot for this month’s past meets present but finally I found one on a Tweedland, and here it is.
I guess it isn’t surprising I have struggled to find one since the Royal Kitchens at Kew were abandoned for nearly 200 hundred years following the death of Queen Charlotte in 1818. They reopened in 2012 following a major conservation project, and amazingly it looks just the same. Well apart from the fact the harassed chef is not here to berate the servant for failing to take the roast partridges to the King’s table.
The kitchens were designed by William Kent, one of the leading Georgian architects, and the table in the main kitchen is the one he would have seen as it is the original kitchen table. These state of the art kitchens were purpose built in a separate building to the main palace, to reduce the risk of fire and to keep ensure that the kitchen smells and smoke were not intrusive. Not so great for keeping food warm though! Initially the Royal family only used Kew Palace for weekends or during the summer, and so the kitchens were rarely used. However as King George suffered increasing bouts of illness, their stays here became more frequent and prolonged.
Above the kitchens were the offices and lodging for the kitchen staff, including the Clerk of the Kitchen who had day to day responsibility for managing the kitchens and for feeding the Royal household.
And outside of course were the gardens. To discover more about the kitchens click here, and to discover more about this blogging challenge click here.
The life of B 
Lovely to see these pics. I volunteered at Kew Palace during the 2013 season and spent a lot of time discussing the Kitchen’s history to visitors.
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Oh wow. I’d love to sit down with you and discover more. Hope what I’ve written is accurate.
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This is such a difficult challenge, well done! Hope you’re having fun 🙂
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How clever to find this old drawing to match your photo. Spending some time working in that kitchen in those days would be enough to put anyone off being a cook!
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Looks dreadful doesn’t it – even if it was a state of the art kitchen!
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Too much hard work!
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Definitely – and by looks of it you’d have a very grumpy boss!
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Probably. 😦
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Such an industrious lady! 🙂 🙂 You’d have howled with laughter today. I turned up for an exercise class at the wrong time and place (I think it was for the elderly disabled 😦 ) Maybe just as well as we’d already walked to Quatro Aguas and back so I had a sneaky glass of white in the sun instead. 🙂 Be joining you at some point, when I get my lazy self motivated. Walking Luz to Fuseta tomorrow.
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Oh no…… the glass of wine though in sun sounds a much better way though to spend an afternoon 😀
Enjoy your stroll today, we’re heading to Marim I think after lunch then a concert this evening with friends. 😊
Really looking forward to our catch up next week xx
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