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Description
This is the second floor plan of Chesham Towers outside of Carlton in Yorkshire. It is the family seat of the Chesham Family, illustrated in this engraving:

These are the other floor plans:

Sewall Chesham did not enjoy his new-found social status for long, but died five years after arriving in Carlton. His descendents, however, continued as squires of Chesham Towers until Eustace Herbert Chesham met and fell in love with Lady Prudence Margaret "Margay" Mowbray, the daughter of the Duke of Anglin. Though she was well above his station, the Cheshams and the Mowbrays were good friends since a Chesham became a lady-in-waiting to the then-ducal matriarch. Both families were Catholic, both had Jacobite sympathies, and the Cheshams supported the Mowbrays politically and financially. Hence there was no objection to their marriage, and the Duke petitioned George II to have Eustace knighted to improve his dignity.

The King made no committment, but a year after they were married, Margay's two brothers joined "The 'Forty-Five", the 1745 uprising of Charles Edward Stuart. The older was killed at the Battle of Culloden, while the younger was caught by the Duke of Cumberland, a family enemy, and hung after a drumhead court-martial. Against the advice of Cumberland, however, the King spared the reigning Duke when he repudiated his own sons. Because the Duchy was inherited through heirs-male, Margay could not inherit, but her son, Cecil (named after her younger brother whom she loved), could, and he became Duke on the death of his grandfather in 1753. Thus the Duchy of Anglin passed to the Chesham family.

The second floor begins the first of the more private rooms in the house. Though the library and study can be used to entertain close friends who won't be spending the evening, they are meant to be for family use. The master bedroom is located in the west wing, with connections to a spare bedroom used by special guests, one or the other spouse, or the eldest child as needed. This was Margaret's bedroom as she was growing up. At one time the master bath was a separate room used by all family members, but in 1853 water closets were placed in the bedroom, with later tub additions, so the separate bath was made into a retreat, a combined study and boudoir for the patriarch and matriarch.

To increase privacy, the northern room bath walls were extended to the retreat wall, forming a grand passage. The old passage into that room was to be covered over, but the then patriarch decided on a whim to turn it into a secret passage.

Copyright (C) 2012 by Kevin L. O'Brien

Description
This is the second floor plan of Chesham Towers outside of Carlton in Yorkshire. It is the family seat of the Chesham Family, illustrated in this engraving:

These are the other floor plans:

Sewall Chesham did not enjoy his new-found social status for long, but died five years after arriving in Carlton. His descendents, however, continued as squires of Chesham Towers until Eustace Herbert Chesham met and fell in love with Lady Prudence Margaret "Margay" Mowbray, the daughter of the Duke of Anglin. Though she was well above his station, the Cheshams and the Mowbrays were good friends since a Chesham became a lady-in-waiting to the then-ducal matriarch. Both families were Catholic, both had Jacobite sympathies, and the Cheshams supported the Mowbrays politically and financially. Hence there was no objection to their marriage, and the Duke petitioned George II to have Eustace knighted to improve his dignity.

The King made no committment, but a year after they were married, Margay's two brothers joined "The 'Forty-Five", the 1745 uprising of Charles Edward Stuart. The older was killed at the Battle of Culloden, while the younger was caught by the Duke of Cumberland, a family enemy, and hung after a drumhead court-martial. Against the advice of Cumberland, however, the King spared the reigning Duke when he repudiated his own sons. Because the Duchy was inherited through heirs-male, Margay could not inherit, but her son, Cecil (named after her younger brother whom she loved), could, and he became Duke on the death of his grandfather in 1753. Thus the Duchy of Anglin passed to the Chesham family.

The second floor begins the first of the more private rooms in the house. Though the library and study can be used to entertain close friends who won't be spending the evening, they are meant to be for family use. The master bedroom is located in the west wing, with connections to a spare bedroom used by special guests, one or the other spouse, or the eldest child as needed. This was Margaret's bedroom as she was growing up. At one time the master bath was a separate room used by all family members, but in 1853 water closets were placed in the bedroom, with later tub additions, so the separate bath was made into a retreat, a combined study and boudoir for the patriarch and matriarch.

To increase privacy, the northern room bath walls were extended to the retreat wall, forming a grand passage. The old passage into that room was to be covered over, but the then patriarch decided on a whim to turn it into a secret passage.

Copyright (C) 2012 by Kevin L. O'Brien