The Thunder-box

The former cross passage at Knowle Farm was converted into a splendid Victorian ‘gentlemen’s convenience’ comprising an Italianate marble washbasin and separate throne room, with blue floral pan again set in mahogany: all this & brass trimmings too. In the sale preceding ours, in 1923, the particulars dismissed this splendid apparatus as a “W.C. with lavatory”. However, it was later noted by English Heritage (then under the DoE) and described it detail in the Listing of the farmhouse.

We call it ‘The Thunder-box’ after the farcical episode of Apthorpe’s field toilet in ‘Men at Arms’ had caused Jemma some mirth as a teenager. Also the flush handle is a stylish brass and enamel detonator.

Although the Thunder-box looks sophisticated it has fairly primitive engineering under the hood. Flushing is not siphonic, working by gravity alone from a tank concealed next door in the kitchen. The operating mechanism is a rather Heath Robinson affair, comprising wires, levers & pulleys, running through the wall from it’s hiding place beneath the seat. To avoid damaging this, the detonator should be lifted, held up for the required duration and then gently returned before release: never just lifted & released.

ref: The Sword of Honour trilogy by Evelyn Waugh is his look at the Second World War. It consists of three novels, Men at Arms (1952), Officers and Gentlemen (1955) and Unconditional Surrender (1961), which loosely parallel his war time experiences.

: Jemma’s instructions can be found here