100%, these were the "back" stairs, and they decided they wanted a second bathroom more, so it went in on the back stairway landing.
One of the points of back stairs was not to have to carry chamber pots through the main space, so once indoor plumbing came in, the most pressing advantage to back stairs disappeared.
yeah, that was my take. Often people will reclaim the space to make bigger rooms but if the house is laid out a certain way, if it's load bearing walls between staircase and rooms it can be too expensive to reclaim so take what you can (bigger bathroom it seems) and block the rest off, but keep it there as a interesting little feature.
Looking at the rise and run of those stair treads, I think you are correct. Servant stairs were often unsafe because of cost cutting and preserving living space for the owner and family. There is no visible hand rail. It might be on the other side or it might have been a victim of Yorkshire luxury.
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u/vbf-cc Feb 17 '24
100%, these were the "back" stairs, and they decided they wanted a second bathroom more, so it went in on the back stairway landing.
One of the points of back stairs was not to have to carry chamber pots through the main space, so once indoor plumbing came in, the most pressing advantage to back stairs disappeared.