UK One for the oldies

[littlespark]

Running a cable in the old stately home I work in sometimes. Due to a change in ceiling height, I’ve drilled through somewhere below the ceiling in the hallway.

Chipped away at the plaster and found these 3 pipes. Ok, they’re not electric for lights and sockets…. That’s in either steel conduit or MICC.

So that gives a choice between either old gas pipe for wall lamps, or a conduit for the room bell call down to the cellar…. Which is an elaborate system of handles, levers and a bell in the butlers pantry. (Never heard it ring) which in places has been replaced with bell wire and doorbell push buttons…. Which also doesn’t work.


Answers on a postcard

Edit: It helps if I attach the photo

 

[Moley]

Are they pipes? It looks to me as if there's a split all down the one side or was that you being a bit over enthusiastic with a multi tool?

 

[DefyG]

Agreed looks like a longitudinal split (by design) in the tubes but more intrigued by the what looks like a heat treatment to the joint of 2 tubes on LHS?

Call system.

 

[littlespark]

no multitool involved... but it might have had a slight knock with a hammer

I am tempted to say call system..... there is evidence of it elsewhere.... but ill have a good look when im in the attic.


The wall i drilled through was a full metre thick.... just short of the length of my longest drillbit... had to knock through with a metal spike to finish off. This is when i realised the ceiling heights were different AND the distance to side wall is different too.

Now ive got to go up, behind the mouldings and into the attic

 

[buzzlightyear]

Cracking piece of cornice and the walls.
Was measure drill once and twice to hit home.

 

[littlespark]

What’s “measure”?

I drilled tight to the wall, and tight up to the cornice on both sides of the wall… and couldn’t figure out why the holes didn’t meet.

Stupid old buildings. Nothings square, nothings in line.

 

[littlespark]

Crawling through the attic today, and I found the old servant call wires.



This is directly above one of these roses… which would have had a pull cord in the olden days.





Now, while I’m up here…. Can someone tell me what these troughs are for? It’s made of wood, roughly square cross section, filled with fine dust and rubble. It seems to run downhill from a midpoint.
The insulation would have been laid a long time after, so exposed fine dust in an attic?





Photo doesn’t really show you the structure of it.




I’m puzzled.

 

[brianmoooore]

Can't really make out your pics, but I've come across lead lined cisterns that were used to flush WCs and lead lined wooden boxes channelling water into them from the roof gutters outside.

 

[littlespark]

There’s no lead. Just wood. Unless the lead was taken out and weighed in as scrap…. Which makes sense having the downwards slopes. Maybe the dust was put in after??
I noticed some places have a wooden lid on top… just not the bit I photographed.

I’m not going back up there now to get better photos!

 

[Flanders]

I've seen cables in wooden type trunking before but much smaller about yt4 size . Could this be large wooden trunking

 

[littlespark]

I think Brian solved it. Seems the most likely suggestion.
It would be a bit big for trunking. 10” square, made from maybe inch thick planks, and very roughly knocked together. Possibly predates electric by some time.

I bet the current Earl doesn’t even know it’s up there.