Please Note: Fishing will not be permitted on 23rd and 24th July
Running the House
When Mrs Meade became housekeeper in 1836, she joined a long line of senior domestic staff who kept Margam’s great house running smoothly. Large estates relied on a hierarchy of servants, upper domestics recruited from across Britain, and lower domestics usually hired locally. Around twenty indoor servants worked at Margam, with the housekeeper responsible for hiring, supervising and dismissing female staff, managing linen, china, storerooms, accounts, and even making preserves and pastries with the still‑room maid. Housemaids were divided into upper and lower roles, with the upper maids overseeing standards and ensuring every room was immaculate. Their days were long and physically demanding. A third housemaid in the 1930s, Kate Berry, described rising at 5am to light fires, scrub floors, polish rooms, clean grates, prepare bedrooms, carry hot water, tidy after guests, and finally turn down beds at night, often not finishing until after 10.30pm. Laundry maids, dairy maids, kitchen maids and scullery maids completed the female staff, while a skeleton team remained when the family travelled. Meals were taken in strict order of rank, with the butler presiding over the servants’ hall at midday and the senior staff taking tea in the housekeeper’s room.
The Staff Behind the Scenes
The butler oversaw the male servants, footmen, under‑butlers, pages and errand boys and managed the silver, wine cellar and plate safe. Footmen served meals, accompanied the family, cleaned plate, and performed countless daily tasks, dressed in formal livery of fawn or navy coats, white breeches and black shoes. The coachman managed the stables, feed and accounts, supported by grooms and stable helpers. Carriages were central to family life: in 1839 the groom, Job Townsend, travelled to London to collect a new carriage for Lady Charlotte, who later endured a brisk 25‑mile journey to Reading while expecting her first child. The Talbot children were raised by governesses and nurses, with long‑serving staff often rewarded with annuities in C.R.M. Talbot’s will. Servants received traditional perks - cooks kept fat and dripping, butlers kept candle ends and bottles, and coachmen claimed old carriage wheels. But rules were strict, hours were long, and movement in the house had to be discreet so as not to disturb the family. Despite the hard work, service offered training, stability and a clear social structure.
Moments of Celebration
Life at Margam also included grand occasions. In 1866 the estate buzzed with preparation for the wedding of Bertha Isabella Talbot. Windows were glazed, statues washed, weathercocks repaired, and the abbey ruins restored. The reception showcased the kitchen’s finest work, though the elaborate wedding cake was specially ordered from London. Servants marked the day with gifts - embroidered pincushions, carved penknives and photograph books, and kept up the old custom of throwing slippers after the departing carriage for good luck. Bertha Isabella gifted souvenirs to the Abbey staff, and children of the parish received hats, bonnets, tea and cakes.