Five curious collection items at Coleton Fishacre

View of the Art Deco doorway in the Saloon at Coleton Fishacre, Devon — Art Deco doorway at Coleton Fishacre | © National Trust Images / Oskar Proctor

Coleton Fishacre is an accredited museum, which means that every item in the collection, every design feature and every material used in the house is cared for by the conservation team. Each piece tells a story about the D'Oyly Carte family, who called Coleton Fishacre their home, and gives an insight into their lifestyle during the 1920s. Here are just five items from the collection.

Limestone fireplace

The fireplace in the Sitting Room is made of limestone from Hopton Wood Hill in Derbyshire. It contains fossils of crinoids, or sea lilies.

Despite their plant-sounding nickname, these fossils were sea creatures, related to starfish and sea urchins. There are crinoids still in the sea today, but the ones in the fireplace lived millions of years ago.

See the fireplace in the collection

Servants’ bell board

On the wall just outside the Dining Room is the historic servants’ bell board. This was electrically operated using buttons in the rooms.

If pressed, a bell would ring and a disc would drop down in front of the room where the servant was required. Lady Dorothy had a second, more decorative button installed at the table in the Dining Room so that she didn’t have to move.

The bell board today

The button on the table doesn’t work any longer, but the one in the corner of the room does. Please ask a guide about having a go so that you can see the system working.

See the bell board in the collection

Art Deco treasures

There are a number of Art Deco collection items at Coleton Fishacre, including the Marion Dorn carpet in the Saloon.

Rupert D’Oyly Carte admired the large-scale patterns that leading textile designer Marion Dorn used, and also commissioned rugs and carpets for his hotels, such as Claridge's and The Savoy.

Detail of the Marion Dorn carpet in the Saloon at Coleton Fishacre, Devon — The Marion Dorn carpet is a feature point in the Saloon | © National Trust Images / Oskar Proctor

Tidal clock

The tidal clock, which can be found near the front door, told the D’Oyly Carte family when to expect the next high tide. This helped them to know when the lido at Pudcombe Cove could be used.

It was also used alongside the wind dial in the Library to forecast sailing conditions. The tidal clock had to be set by hand each day, as it has no mechanism.

A copy of this year’s tide tables is kept in the Flower Room so that the team can continue to do this each day.

See the wind dial in the collection

An oil painting on a panel showing a Kingswear Peninsula with a wind dial, found at Coleton Fishacre, Devon — The wind dial at Coleton Fishacre | © National Trust Images/John Hammond

Stoneware jar

A pale stoneware jar sits on the worktop to the right of the sink in the Butler's pantry. While it might look like a typical cider jar, it was actually something else entirely.

The three chamfered shoulders signify that the jar contained something poisonous, like the fluted edging on old glass pharmacy bottles. This was a way of telling everyone, including those who couldn’t read or were visually impaired, that the contents were not for drinking.

What did it contain?

This jar contained ‘spirits of salts’, an old name for hydrochloric acid. It was sent here by train in order to remove rust stains from linens in the laundry.

The train company labels for the fare paid from Paddington Station, London are still visible.

See the stoneware jar in the collection

Marmalade slicer

There are all sorts of interesting food preparation gadgets in the kitchen at Coleton Fishacre, including a marmalade slicer. This was a hand-operated machine used to cut fruit peel for making marmalade.

It has a screw fixing for attaching it to a tabletop, and a wooden block for pressing down the fruit.

See the marmalade slicer in the collection