My Nan always called it..

"Ben the hoose" is where i would be sent when something was needed from the scullery

We lived in an Edwardian terrace in London (and I live in a similar house now). Our kitchen at the back of the house, with sink and cooker, was called the scullery. It had a toilet off it, which had to be taken out when my parents sold it in 1971 as Health and Safety rules did not allow a toilet next to a kitchen. The room next to it we called the kitchen and it had table and chairs, dresser, kitchen cabinet and back boiler to heat the water, later becoming the central heating boiler. The larder led off it, later having the fridge in it.
We also had lounge and dining room. The lounge had the TV and was used in the evenings but the dining room was only used at Christmas and when we had guests.

My MIL had a back kitchen and 3 doors leading off to the coal hole, the pantry with a slab and a meat safe and a toilet. I was so disappointed when she had it knocked into one big kitchen without the pantry.

My Granma called the place under the stairs the Cwtch. No idea why

I forgot the flipping sideboard in Mt nans very overcrowded 'backroom'. It was so full of furniture that it was impossible to access even the cutlery drawer without moving my pop's chair and that meant moving the pouffe and the pile of papers and the coal box. It was a bit like one of those games where you tried to make words with 8 tiles in a square of plastic.

My nan and pop weren't poor by any means but my granny and grandpa were much more comfortable. They lived in a big Georgian house in the centre of Derby. I don't think I ever went into all the rooms and they had a fabulous drawing room but they still spent most of their time in the breakfast room. I presume it was mostly about keeping warm.

Aren't we lucky not to have to live like that.

In my mother's house we had a scullery and a kitchen and in our house we have a utility room and a kitchen.

According to google a Scullery is a small kitchen or room at the back of a house used for washing dishes and other dirty household work

Typically, a utility room will include a washing machine, tumble dryer, large sink, a place to store clothes dryers, the ironing board and iron, plus extra storage for coats or shoes and even additional larder space.

This thread has been so enjoyable, thank you everyone, lots of memories came back today.

Bugger, pressed post too soon!

There was, of course the "front room". Home to the china cabinet, the "best" 3 piece suite, and, in the run up to Christmas, the boxes of twiglets, Newberry fruits, eat me dates, and a limited selection of drink.

It was always freezing, and very rarely used, except for when my grandmother's relatives from Wales would come to visit.

Then of course, the women would settle themselves in there, with tea and cake, and the talk would start...

"You know Nerys, from (village/street)?"

"Yes, what about her?"

"Well, ............. then, just a stream of Welsh!

Another memory of my Nan and her house, the room next to the "back kitchen", which was probably meant to be a dining room, was home to the dining table, sofa, television and my grand! dads armchair

Yes Welshwife Though that was a bit random of me. ?

The first house I remember was a Victorian semi, where there was a large cooking range(unused) in the room we used as the dining room, the room the cooking was done in was referred to as the scullery. The front room was called the sitting room and only used in the summer because in winter we could only afford to have a fire in one room and it tended to be the dining room as the scullery was off it.

When my grandmother's moved back into her rebuilt 1930s semi (it had been destroyed in the blitz) she had a sitting room, dining room and a kitchen, not a scullery.

I think the difference was that originally, in the Victorian house the cooking would have been done on the range in what we treated as a dining room, and the scullery was where the sink was and where washing up and vegetable preparation and other mucky jobs took place.

My elderly aunt had an old 1940s built house in Lincolnshire and when we visited from the South we would all sit in the large kitchen around the table, the kitchen had a big Aga and after dinner she would open the doors of the aga and use it to dry her sons socks (she had six sons).She also had a large walk in pantry with the cement shelf to keep produce cold. Then in the evenings (only when she had guests) we were allowed into the front room to sit and watch TV. Also something I always wondered about, no one ever used there front doors in her Avenue they all just walked straight round to the back door, and yes the doors were always left open. Something my DDs find hard to undersatand.Memories thank you for starting this post.

My maternal grandparents had a front room, back room and a kitchen and scullery. The very small kitchen had a drop leaf table, three or four hard chairs and a kitchen range - which Grandma used for roasts, Yorkshire pud etc. We lived in this room as it was the only one with a fire apart from Christmas Day when there was a fire in the front room. The back room had French windows into the garden and the piano was in there but no-one ever used that room. The scullery had an electric oven and sink and probably a washing machine but I wasn't really allowed in the scullery because it was small, hot oven etc. I can't remember a separate pantry.

So glad I started this thread, loving reading these posts, thank you all!

Great to hear the word "press" again. It was in very common usage 50-60 years ago here in Scotland but haven't heard it in many years.

We had a back kitchen(the only one) then a larder (pantry), also the front room (sitting room), and at the top of the stairs was a lumber room (a glory hole) Havent thought about these things for ages, it feels quite reminiscent, takes me back a bit!

Yes, my Nan always called it the 'back kitchen'. She too had been in service so I'm sure this is where it originated from.

My husband's family lived in an old terraced house and they always called the tiny kitchen the scullery which to be honest I couldn't understand.x

Cousteau?

'50s - we must have been posh because we had a toilet off the back kitchen. The window was usually open, so I sometimes climbed in there when everyone was out and the house was locked.
There was also a coal cellar, pantry, and clothes stretcher across the ceiling. As well as a sink and gas cooker.
This was my grandparent's old house. Before that (WW2) we lived in an upstairs flat and I can't remember what the kitchen was like there.

Jacques for custard is among lots of family words Anyone guess why ?

My gran had a three storey near Victoria Park E3.It seemed huge to me when a child. It too had a scullery which fascinated me with a shallow sink that water splashed everywhere.She kept chickens and I loved to collect eggs.
She sold it in the sixties.I wonder what it would cost now to live in that area.

I've never heard of a "kist" in Ireland but we have one here in Scotland. I also only ever call the airing cupboard the "hot press".

My nan always called her kitchen The scullery think she was in service back in the day.

Damn that predictive text putting apostrophes where they're not wanted! ?