Knob next to fireplace

It would ring a bell in the servants quarters. Usually wire operated via 'bell cranks' . Bell would be mounted on a snail shaped spring so that it rang for a few seconds.

Andrew

We actually bought some years ago but never got round to using them. I still have two brand new bells, pulleys and a 'pull'. From CH Byron, who now seem to have been subsumed into 'Smartwares' and don't do much of that any more.

Instead, we now use a conventional doorbell push which pulls an input on an Arduino, which in turn sends a signal to a daemon on the Asterisk box, which then queues immediate calls to ring all the phones in the house with a special cadence. Optionally, it can ring a bell in the garden (controlled by a star code). It's also possible to limit doorbell calls to the two teenagers' rooms for a fixed time (default 30 minutes) so that the 2 a.m. pizza deliveries don't wake us up.

I wouldn't have dreamed of this when we bought the mechanical bells in a fit of enthusiasm.

I'm tempted to suggest that you try pulling your knob to see what happens, but such a suggestion might be misconstrued...

a bell pull (wire operated) to call for a servant.

But be gentle! Some of them only respond when *turned*.

Maybe some kind of spoof cupboards were fitted in some houses to look like the place is bigger?

Brian

I think these are mostly dummies though.

I wonder if there was a speaking tube as well? Brian

used to be for summoning the servants IIRC

To summon your man servant. Or the maid. Might be electrical or mechanical in operation. Before WW2 even quite small houses had some sort of servant.

Sadly, it no longer has any moving parts.

-- Richard

Thanks for everyone's replies.

Now I know what it is, I can find photos of more complete examples, e.g.

On my wall only the fixed central knobs survive.

-- Richard

my parents' 1939 house had electric bells installed

Probably, although having two of them, only a few feet apart, seems like serious overkill.

no, a "his" beel and a "her" bell.

That'll be Harry pointing out how inefficient it is at attracting subsidies...

Tim

If sufficiently grand, they might be separate bells for Footman or Parlour-Maid.

In a bedroom Valet or Lady's-Maid, although that would be more common in hotels.

Owain

Tim+ wrote in news:npsr49$bc9$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

Is it just possible they could be controls for a damper device in the flue?

In message , at 20:35:42 on Sat,

One is on the "normal" side of the fireplace, the other on the "mirror image" side.

Why does he have a beel and she a bell :)