Lowerhouse Mile - 'Domestic Heating & Cooking'

Families of mill workers lived in very small houses with only a couple of rooms on each floor. Some houses were home to two, or three families, who would have to have shared toilets and water. As the houses were so small, there would only have been one living space and perhaps a separate bedroom which would have been divided into sections by a curtain. Very little furniture was owned as space was limited, and cooking was done on a fireplace or coal stove in the kitchen - this would also have provided the main source of heating for the house so the family would have spent a lot of time in this room.

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Typical family gathering in the living room by the fire.

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A family of 3 generations around the fireplace.

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Grandparents with grandchild sat around the coal stove,
possibly indicating a little more wealth.

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The typical coal stove in full use for cooking, baking, drying laundry, and heating.

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Coal fire stove with several irons on the top shelf,
all heating up for pressing creases out of clothes.

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A fully refurbished coal stove, illustrating
how warm it could keep the whole cottage.