Below Stairs

Below Stairs was where the service staff lived and worked – their sole aim to ensure that everything that happened upstairs happened effortlessly, elegantly, grandly, almost as if by magic. Discover how the great team of staff, from the scullery maids to the stewards and butlers worked efficiently to create banquets, parties, or just plain family meals for generations of the Lascelles family. Today there are many clues to the workings of Below Stairs – take a glimpse at the grooves in the floors and imagine the hundreds, even thousands of busy footsteps it would have taken to create them. Open cupboards to find them packed with original utensils and equipment. At times, this part of the house would have resounded with the sound of bells, as members of the family and their staff rang down for attention. Many stories of the lives of those who worked in this building have been recorded and can be discovered here. 

Nowadays, Below Stairs has a buzzing atmosphere once again, as it plays host to an array of activities. Look out for educational workshops in the Servants Hall and culinary demonstrations in the Old Kitchen as part of Great Yorkshire Food at Harewood.  Children should head to the Servants Hall to the Dress up Box which can be found there.

Below Stairs is a great unusual venue which can be booked for private or corporate events.