MAIDS and mistresses who worked in Yorkshire county houses during the last 300 years are to be the focus of a special exhibition next year.

Castle Howard, Burton Constable, in East Yorkshire, and Harewood House, near Leeds, are three of the seven places which will participate in highlighting the lives and roles of female occupants who lived their lives in the historic homes. Maintaining these huge households was never exclusively a male preserve.

In 2004, a series of interlinked exhibitions will give people the opportunity to relive the vital roles played by mistresses, cooks, scullery-maids and governesses in the daily routine of a great house.

Accompanying the exhibitions at each house will be a full educational programme aimed at schools, as well as various activities and events throughout the year.

The exhibitions will open on Saturday April 3, 2004, and run until the end of October.

The exhibitions, which have been pioneered through the Yorkshire Country House Partnership, have been supported by a £265,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The exhibitions will reveal everything from great art collections to items from everyday life, such as recipe books, linen and undergarments, as well as letters and journals that reveal the inner lives of the women.

Ray Taylor, Heritage Lottery Fund Manager for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: "This project will give a totally new perspective on life in Yorkshire's country houses. It will explore a side of them which isn't generally known, but will definitely have a wide appeal and attract new audiences."

Updated: 10:36 Tuesday, July 22, 2003