Bed
Category
Furniture
Date
Unknown
Materials
Wood
Measurements
2150 x 1590 mm
Order this imageCollection
Cherryburn, Northumberland
NT 529983
Summary
Folding bed, comprising a slatted wooden bed frame, which folds away into a cupboard.
Full description
Recovery of the bed from an abandoned farmhouse in West Allendale is described in The Cherryburn Times, 1986, by Nora Handcock: "Walking through the West Allendale countryside in 1986 I came across an old farmhouse, deserted and windowless and inaccessible except on foot. I was intrigued on looking through the door to find a bed frame as it had been left long ago, close to the fireplace, and complete with its wooden struts and hinges ready to fold away into a cupboard. The hens were using it as a fine roosting place. I knew the descendents of the family who emigrated to Canada in 1832, and who had once occupied this cottage. I was sure there couldn't be many of these beds left and even this one would be vandalised before very long, so I was grateful to the famer who gave me permission to retrieve it. "The ensuing expedition was quite a marathon, as the ground was snow-covered, the wind howling its worst as only it can on the Pennines, and volunteers had to carry the bed two miles to the nearest truck. However four strong men, including...[the] Secretary to the [Thomas Bewick Birthplace] Trust, were successful, and now the bed is in situ at Cherryburn…"
Provenance
Recovered from a farmhouse in West Allendale, Northumberland, in 1986 and gifted to the Thomas Bewick Birthplace Trust.