Britain's biggest collection of antique loos

WarwickshireWorld

Britain's biggest collection of antique loos is up for sale for £300,000 - including a potty with Hitler's face on the bottom.

Transcript

00:00We are here in South Warwickshire on an old 18th century country estate to come and see

00:06an extraordinary private museum which has never been open to the public.

00:14The Thomas Crapper Museum is being sold so this is a rare chance to explore its entirety

00:19as it's uncertain whether it can remain together or will be broken up.

00:25Solely in charge of the collection is Simon Kirby, the former owner and managing director

00:29of Thomas Crapper & Company and we're here to soak up some of his expertise with a tour

00:34of the collection.

00:35So what are these then?

00:38These are, there's no reason why you should know, these are stall urinals.

00:42Oh well, usually when I see one I run the other direction because I realise I'm in the

00:46wrong place.

00:47Quite so.

00:49What's particularly rare about these two is, can you see the little B?

00:54Yes, yeah.

00:55It's in a transfer on both of them.

00:59The Victorians realised that if they gave them something to aim at then the janitor

01:04would have less clearing up to do.

01:06Okay, right.

01:07They'd just be, you know, neater, if you know what I mean.

01:08Well this is something pretty to look at at least.

01:10Is there anything else behind that?

01:12Yes.

01:13Why did they choose a B?

01:14They chose a B because, well it's a very rare sanitary wear joke in that they knew that

01:20most of the gentlemen using these things would have been educated in Latin and Latin for

01:25B is apis.

01:28Okay, so what started your interest in antique bathroomalia?

01:31Well I think it was probably my mother who was a book dealer and I was a strange little

01:36child who liked old things and she gave me a copy of Lucinda Lambton's book, Temples

01:41of Convenience, when I was 11 years of age and this book is full of colour photographs

01:48of decorated Victorian lavatories and washbasins.

01:51So that might have started me off and certainly only a few years later when I was 17 I was

01:57dealing in architectural salvage and specialised in antique bathrooms and before long that's

02:02all we were doing is salvaging antique loos and basins and baths, restoring them and selling

02:08them to people who wanted period bathrooms.

02:11And I believe some of the pieces photographed in Lucinda's book are actually part of your

02:15collection now.

02:16As a child do you think that forms a bit of a wish list for the future?

02:20Well I've never actually thought of that before.

02:23Maybe you're right.

02:25Well there's at least one item in there that I definitely always wanted and that's a potty

02:30with Hitler's face in the bottom of it.

02:32It's a bit of fun like this, raised morale.

02:34It's a wonderful thing, it's the only one I've ever seen apart from the one that featured

02:40in Lucinda Lambton's book, Temples of Convenience.

02:44From unusual rare items to remarkably ornate WC pans and huge old fireclay baths, it is

02:50easy to neglect the pristine quality of Simon's collection as much of the pieces assembled

02:55over the last four decades could be plumbed in today ready for use.

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