When Lady Byron died in 1860, Mary Carpenter was given a legacy to outright purchase the Red Lodge, including a cottage to be used for training the girls in domestic service. Mary Carpenter's detailed diaries (Ref. 12693/1-2) (online catalogue) present the earliest days at the Red Lodge transforming it from deserted house into functional school, including the discovery of a human foot in an outhouse. Carpenter's diaries also reveal the use of 'the cells' located in the cellar of the Red Lodge for disciplining "violent, refractory and noisy girls". Other punishments included caning and having their hair cut very short.