My best guess for those copper windings is that this is the innards of some kind of bell box to communicate with the servants.
Actually, a quick google has confirmed this. It is the mechanism associated with an indicator box of this kind:-
Declaration: Edwardian Servants Bell Box Indicators has been declared an antique and was approved for sale on sellingantiques.co.uk.
www.sellingantiques.co.uk
The electromagnets would move an indicator card in the appropriate window for the room where service was required, as in this video. The rotten fragments of some of the old cards are visible in your picture:-