When we visited Coombe a few weeks ago our guide mentioned at the end of the tour that we could also take another tour of the Red Wing.
We met our guide at the entrance to the house and she took us next door into the Red Wing where we all donned hard hats.
Before proceeding further into the blog you will find it helpful to look at this website about the restoration of the Red Wing.
It is amazing how a building can decay so quickly if the roof is damaged.
Some of the original brick flooring.
I suspect the floor boards were removed during the restoration to see what lay underneath.
Magnificent fireplace.
Some photos of the damage and restoration.
This was the first time that our guide was leading a tour so she was not as sure of herself or informative as our guide in the main house.
The building was briefly used to house the Dutch Royal Family in WWII. The yellow paint indicates that the room was used to store weapons.
Peeling paint everywhere.
This was formerly the kitchen and the flooring above was installed later.
What the kitchen used to look like. At mealtimes, the food had to be carried quite some distance to the dining table in the main house. It arrived luke warm as you might expect.
It appears that some rooms in the Red Wing are currently used as storage rooms.
You just wonder what was going on in this building to cause damage like this.
Notice the reeds.
Some of this enormous beam needed to be replaced. They used a chain saw to carve the joint.
This restoration is obviously going to be a massive job. I suspect the condition of the Red Wing has been stabilized and when the restoration of the main house has been completed, attention will turn to this building.
If only the people who owned the building when the damage occurred had recognized the building's importance and had kept the roof intact.
Our guide took us back to the main house and I took the opportunity to walk another time along this magnificent room.
Our path back to the church and the exit.
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