The part of house in which the kitchen is situated dates from the 17th century, though the equipment seen in this photograph date from the late 19th century. The kitchen has a huge central table for food preparation, and three seperate cooking ranges, one of which can be seen on the left, behind the table. This is an old stone range with spaces beneath for the fires and lift-out iron cooking plates on the top. The colour scheme is that suggested as ideal for kitchens by Mrs. Beeton; it allegedly discourages flies from settling on it.