Following on from July’s Top Five Tips for Keeping Cool 18th Century Style, here’s our helpful winter guide

Layers layers and more layers: to avoid the “muslin disease” (deadly cold or pneumonia), bundle up in layers of wool, fur, cotton, flannel or linen. Gentleman, adorn your great coat, leather gloves and boots, and ladies, invest in a swans down muff to keep your delicate hands warm and protected.

Send your servants out to load up on firewood: firewood can be scarce in deforested regions so ensure they go far afield to search for good quality logs and kindling. FYI: to avoid headaches we recommend installing a state of the art Rumford fireplace, built with revolutionary technology that carries away smoke and reflects heat.

Banish chilly bed sheets: half an hour before you retire to bed, instruct a servant to warm the bed sheets with a warming pan filled with hot embers from the fire – toasty!

Invest in a trusty foot warmer: take the heat of your fireplace with you with a small, practical and transportable foot warmer. Placed in a carriage or taken to church, you’ll never have numb toes again! Style conscious? Have one made of brass, engraved with an elegant design or even your family crest.

Pay more for a high-sided church pew box: for just 54 shillings you can buy a high-sided pew, protecting you and your family from chilling winter drafts. With the addition of home-brought pillows, fabrics and foot warmers, you will never have to shiver through a service again.

Failing all that, a dram or two of whisky will do the trick!

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