Dunham Massey Hall opens for the new season: It’s 1913 – the heydey of the country house in England, and the last great chance for indulgence on the eve of the First World War.

At Dunham Massey, the 9th Earl of Stamford has died in 1910, leaving his widow Penelope to continue with tradition and host a glittering social calendar – including regular shooting parties.

As part of celebrations marking 30 years of Dunham Massey being open to the public, an exciting project is underway to show how a great country house such as Dunham prepared for a shooting dinner.

Margaret Stone, Dunham’s Collections’ Manager explains:: “Over the past three decades, we have learnt an enormous amount about life at Dunham during the Edwardian era. By showing how a few of the servants prepared for events – such as shooting dinners – we hope to give some sense of what the atmosphere would have been like at a large social event at the time, and really bring the stories of Dunham to life for today’s visitors”.

“Preparation work would have been exhausting – from sourcing food from the estate and preparing and cooking extravagant menus to the presentation of the dining room itself. The whole process involved a plethora of servants – who also had to ensure the day to day running of the house continued smoothly and without interruption”. Dr Pam Sambrook, the project's consulting historian comments: “1913 is a fascinating date – it was a time when the ‘establishment’ was looking back to the traditional life and times of Victorian England, and at the same time forward to a new and more stressful world”.

“For example, many of the servants in great houses like Dunham were still recruited from respectable working-class country families. However, mobility seems to have been on the increase. Whilst country house servants had always been mobile and were recruited from all over the country, the records for the indoor servants for the years just before 1914 show that, with the exception of two individuals, the trend for moving on frequently was certainly true at Dunham. This probably was less marked in the outdoor servants, but for those indoors, restlessness seemed to be rife. The National Insurance records also point the way to the new world of the future. The whole scenario is of course made more poignant by our expectations of the upheavals to come with war.”

When Dunham Massey Hall opens for the new season on 26 February, and during every weekend throughout the season, visitors will be able to meet one of the Stamford family’s Edwardian cooks working in the kitchen – the hub of preparations for the shooting dinner. Meanwhile, a footman will be found in the Butler’s Pantry busy polishing and napkin folding in preparation for the all important laying of the dining room table.

Helen Appleyard, Dunham’s Visitor Experience Officer, says: “By Easter, the footman will move to the dining room and will be talking to visitors whilst he lays the table for the shooting dinner – and asking for their help as it took a considerable amount of time. Everything had to be set exactly in its proper place on the table – from cutlery to glassware to table decorations."

“This season for the first time, visitors will be able to walk in to Dunham’s Edwardian dining room and take a look around it – rather than just standing and viewing it from the doorway. This will enable them to have a much better sense of the room, its importance and what took place there”.

Dunham Massey Hall opens for the new season on Saturday 26 February and is then open Sat – Weds, 11am – 5pm. Please note that access to the house between 11am and 12 noon is by guided taster tour only. The Winter Garden, park, shop and Stables’ Restaurant are open daily. For further information go to www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dunhammassey or call 0161 941 1025.

The Edwardian shooting dinner preparations can be seen on weekends from 26 February.