Upstairs, downstairs at Trent Park

Guest Article by Lois Page

Lois Page’s grandmother, May Woodward, and grandfather, Fred Holman, worked in domestic service at Trent Park House in the 1920s, whilst the house was owned by Sir Philip Sassoon. Below are a selection of some of May’s stories which have become family lore.  

When Grandma May was first employed at Trent Park, she was ‘tested’ for honesty when a coin was left on the main staircase (the test being, of course, whether she would pocket it. Grandma May told us she was already wise to this one, and thought ‘huh, that old trick’: she shoved the coin further under the carpet to make a point about her trustworthiness as a house maid! 

The house was, unsurprisingly, full of high profile guests much of the time. Grandma May reported that one very high profile political guest, who had better remain anonymous, ‘had the manners of a pig’, although whether this was from first-hand experience is unclear. She also told a story about walking in to clean the room of one of Sir Philip’s famous guests, only to find him sat on the toilet reading his newspaper when grandma came into clean the room. She apparently ducked out of his way before he could put his paper down. May was also present for the sale of some of Trent Park’s contents in 1924.  

Grandad Fred grew up in Ightham, Kent, and served in the 12th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers in France during the First World War. After returning from the war, Fred worked as a gardener at Trent Park, where he met May, his future wife, who helped him through some of his post-war trauma. Fred lived in the bothy accommodation for outside staff. In 1923, a Punch cartoonist came to stay and drew several of Sir Philip’s staff enjoyed some rounds on his golf course – including Fred. Nonetheless, as a socialist, he had several choice opinions about Sir Philip and his friends: after his time at Trent Park, he went on to become a gardener at the new Welwyn Garden City, planting out lots of the gardens in the town centre.