Internal door - Is it original?

[Sabee]

Good evening!

We are renovating our house and considering stripping our doors.

Can anyone identify the following door as original? Our house is Edwardian.

I would appreciate any help! I have googled and googled, but can’t see any doors which have the grooves that are on mine.

Thanks

It looks original to me.

Oh that’s great - thank you 😊

It looks original to me; the proportions make sense. I wonder whether at some later stage someone got a bit creative with a multi tool to try and make it look more contemporary. Is it a heavy solid wood door? From the 1960s onwards internal doors become much lighter (cheaper faster-growing wood) and eventually hollow core because it was supposedly more fire resistant.

HideRanger,

I’d say it’s a medium weight.

Coatofmanycolours,

Yes, you are right it does look similar.

The grooves certainly confuse me.
(And to be honest don’t like them!). There are two doors that are exactly the same downstairs- which are different to the internal doors rest of the house (which have that bulky lock thing around the door knob mostly)

Hmmm. The medium weight and the fact there are only two doors in this style are now making me wonder if they’re later replacements.

The other doors sound much more conventionally Edwardian and the locks you describe are rim locks - valuable and sought-after.

Agree it looks original to me.

The fact these doors don't match the rest isn't evidence they aren't original, to my mind.

IME it's pretty standard for the doors of the reception rooms to be a bit showier than those of the less "public" areas of the house. My 20s house has similar five-panel doors with mortice latches (but without the grooves) on the doors leading off the hall, and four-panel doors with surface-mounted rim locks on the kitchen and upstairs doors.

i am not sure about the horizontal panel...our last house had pine doors, 4 panels, simple quarter beading type mouldings, very hefty hinges and screws

door tops were not painted.

and they all had brass knobs and locks, similar sounding to the ones you describe.
like this if the link works

traditionalfrontdoors.co.uk/product/original-victorian-to-edwardian-4-panel-door/

Original doors with grooves

Madamsapple,

Those actually look nice - they seem to look like panels.

Mine look a bit far apart, and don’t seem to fit the look almost

Not an expert though

Are the doors on main reception rooms or 'below stairs'?

Some more photos

Two more

And to make things more interesting, I have noticed the door that leads into the kitchen has one side with the same grooves, but not on the other! With a chunky lock on the kitchen side of the door 😐

Madams Apple, they are on the ground floor, leading to the main reception rooms and kitchen.

A modest Edwardian semi detached property!

Ah, I’ve noticed that the sane grooves are on the stairs - apologies :-s

House detecting is a lot of fun :)
Enjoy your lovely house and all its surprises!

Definitely lots of fun!

I can’t believe I missed the detail on the stairs! I presume they must be original then, although I haven’t seen those exact widely spaced grooves on other doors, exactly.

Thank you all for your helpful replies much appreciated

No idea, but it looks like a very nice door to me, I love the grooves!

@coatofmanycolors

I would say it's original. It looks to be fairly similar in style to your bannister in the background which is a good indicator it's all original / at least from the same era

I was going to say exactly the same.

I've seen that style of beading on bead-and-butt doors, but not they design you have. It is cut with a plane before the door is made, not applied afterwards. Looking at the lock I think it is an original door.

A joiner could make you a copy if wanted

the ornamentation on the "good" side facing the hall or public rooms is typical. The face of the door inside servants quarters, childrens rooms or in a built-in cupboard, is often plain to save cost. In a smaller house this may just be the kitchen and perhaps one adjoining room. There may also be a servants bedroom.

You will also find that the servants quarters lack moulding and coving on the ceilings, picture rails, and have smaller skirting boards.

The lock you show is not a rimlock, it is a horizontal mortice sashlock. These are still made for restorers and people who like the style, in a few sizes. I bought a number when I had an Edwardian house, from a local man who inherited the family City locksmith and ironmongery business and was clearing the warehouse, and have retrofitted some to my current house though they are not historically correct. You could have it put back into working order and a key cut if you wanted. Yours is pretty certain to be insecure with maybe one lever and some wards, and the same key may fit all the locks in the house.

Super-informative, thanks 👍

Now I have seen your other photos of the panelling and locks I definitely think they are old, although hard to say whether they are as old as the house.

The locks are not rim locks, which stopped being used by the 1930s except as restoration. Can you see a name engraved onto the lock plates? I was able to date mine by tracing the company.

I grew up in a 17th century house with all sorts of later “period” additions which my father installed in the 1980s when there was a real mania for faux.