Holland Park Living

Bathrooms

Lavatory

In Georgian times lavatory was the word for a wash basin. What we now know as lavatories were not invented till rather later.

Washing

Wash stands, with a water jug, soap and a basin, were widespread by 1840.

Baths

Showers were a modern invention. Georgians and Victorian used baths. But they were not fixed or plumbed in to the water supply. Running hot and cold water to a tap was generally unknown. Instead, a moveable bath would be placed in front of a fire in one of the rooms when needed, and filled with water which had to be brought up from the kitchen range (just as in the hotels of countless 'westerns'). Georgian baths were usually made of painted wood. In Victorian times, enamelled cast iron baths came into fashion. Sanitation was not however a great feature of Georgian life. Having a bath twice a year was thought quite adequate.