servants' hall
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The servants' hall is a common room for domestic workers in a great house, typically referring to the servants' dining room.{{Cite web|url=http://www.avictorian.com/servants/servants_hall.html|title=Household management and Servants of the Victorian Era|website=www.avictorian.com}}
If there is no separate sitting room, the servants' hall doubles as the place servants may spend their leisure hours and serves as both sitting room and dining room.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/servants-hall/|title=Servants' Hall|website=George Washington's Mount Vernon}}
Background
Meals in the servants' hall were sometimes very formal affairs, depending on the size and formality of the household. At dinner in a formal house, the butler and housekeeper presided over the table much as the master and lady of the house did 'above stairs' (i.e., in the rooms occupied by the employer). {{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/manorhouse/edwardianlife/servants_mealtimes.html|title=Manor House. Edwardian Life|website=www.pbs.org}}
In Victorian England, the strict rules of precedence were mirrored by the domestic staff in grand or formal homes in the seating arrangements of the Servants' Hall. A senior servant such as the lady's maid took the place of honour but would have to "go lower" (i.e. take a place further down the table) if the employer of a visiting servant outranked the mistress of the house.
See also
References
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