A Sheila Maid, sometimes Sheila's Maid, is a proprietary name for a ceiling mounted clothes and laundry

Laundry

Laundry is a noun that refers to the act of washing clothing and linens, the place where that washing is done, and/or that which needs to be, is being, or has been laundered...

 airer, made in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. In the United States, it is sold as the Kitchen Maid.

The unit is a multiple horizontal wooden railed device with two ends, originally cast iron

Cast iron

Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...

, both separating the rails and acting as points to secure the cords that raise and lower the unit. Cords go from the metal tether points to pulleys mounted on the ceiling, and then to a cleat

Cleat (nautical)

In nautical contexts, a cleat is a device for securing a rope. The traditional design is attached to a flat surface or a spar and features two “horns” extending parallel to the deck or the axis of the spar, resembling an anvil....

mounted on the wall.

It is lowered to be loaded or unloaded, then raised to move the items up into warmer air and as out of the way of room occupants as the ceiling height allows. Often known alternatively in the North of England as a creel.