Common Threads - Discoveries from the Commonplace books of Cumbria
Tuesday 26 August 2025
This special two-hour talk with the National Trust team from Townend, Chantelle Dollimore and Carol Jamieson, who will introduce us to the life of Elizabeth Birkett, through the pages of her commonplace book.
Elizabeth was the wife of Old Ben Browne of Townend, the wonderful 17th century farmhouse in Troutbeck. She filled a 57-page commonplace book with 80 medicinal, cookery and household recipes in 1699, which Chantelle and Carol bring to life at Townend, preparing recipes from the book for their visitors.
After a short break, we are delighted to welcome renowned food historian Ivan Day, who will discuss the valuable role that commonplace books have in researching domestic life in the Lake Counties. He will chiefly be referring to the 1673 manuscript recipe collection of Barbara Fleming of Rydal Hall (copy in Kendal Records Office) and the commonplace book of William Hogarth of the White House, Clifton (private collection).
There will be an opportunity for questions and discussions at the end of the talk and we are excited to learn more about the wonderful discoveries stored in these fascinating commonplace books.
This talk is 2 hours with a short interlude.
Speakers: Chantelle Dollimore, Carol Jamieson, Ivan Day
Our monthly talks take place in the castle with the following program:
6:30pm: Arrival and refreshments in the Great Hall
7pm: Talk with introduction from a member of the Frost-Pennington Family
Followed by a Q & A and free time to explore the Castle State Rooms, with Curators on hand for questions.
Talks are approx. 45mins – 1 hour long and tickets are £15 (£7.50 for members) unless otherwise stated below.
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