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THE    ENGLISH 

STAIRCASE 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/englishstaircaseOOgodfiala 


COLESHILL,  BERKSHIRE   (165O),  (INIGO  JONES,  ARCHITECT). 


THE  ENGLISH 
STAIRCASE 


AN  HISTORICAL  ACCOUNT  OF  ITS 
CHARACTERISTIC  TYPES  TO  THE 
END     OF     THE      XVIIIth      CENTURY 


BY 

WALTER  H.  GODFREY 

Architect,  Author  of 

"  THE  LIFE  AND  WORK  OF  GEORGE  DEVEY," 
and      "THE      PARISH      OF      CHELSEA." 


Illustrated  from  Photographs  by  Horace  Dan,  &c, 
and  from  Measured  Drawings  and  Sketches. 


LONDON 
B.  T.  BATSFORD,  94  HIGH   HOLBORN 

MCMXI 


BARNICOTT  AND  PEARCE 
PRINTERS 


SRLT 

URL 


PREFACE. 


NO  one  will  dispute  the  importance,  from  an  architectural  point 
of  view,  of  the  position  which  the  staircase  holds  in  the 
general  design  of  the  house.  Yet  it  is  curious  that  in  the  decline 
of  Domestic  Architecture  which  took  place  in  the  last  century,  the 
staircase  reached  perhaps  a  lower  level  than  any  other  individual 
feature.  Turned  mahogany  newels  of  fantastic  form  with  mean 
and  starved  balusters  of  varnished  pitchpine  became  the  constant 
companion  of  steep  flights  of  steps  which  turned  in  a  well,  care- 
fully excluded  from  the  light  !  Indeed  the  familiar  sight  of  these 
unlovely  stairways  had  all  but  banished  from  the  public  mind  any 
memory  of  the  broad  stairs  of  our  forefathers,  with  their  easy  rise, 
their  fine  proportions  and  well-lighted  situation. 

Whether  we  turn  to  the  wide  and  simple  well-stairs  of  Eliza- 
beth's reign,  or  to  the  richly  carved  examples  of  James  I,  or 
whether  we  consider  the  massive  balustrades  of  Charles  II,  the  dig- 
nified designs  of  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  or  the  graceful  lines  of  the 
Georgian  period,  we  cannot  fail  to  see  how  varied  and  yet  how  beau- 
tiful can  be  the  methods  of  treating  this  central  feature  of  the  house. 
The  distorted  products  of  the  modern  joiner's  shop  would,  one  is 
confident,  disappear  with  a  wider  knowledge  of  earlier  methods. 

It  is  the  object  of  this  book  to  place  before  the  reader  a  con- 
nected and  continuous  illustration  of  the  principal  types  used  in 
England  and  Scotland  until  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  irre- 
spective of  the  size  of  the  building  of  which  they  form  a  part. 
The  author  has  not  attempted  an  exhaustive  treatise,  and  many  of 
the  fine  and  well-known  examples  have  been  omitted  to  make  way 
for  subjects  taken  from  houses  that  are  not  readily  accessible  to  the 
student  or  the  public.  The  purpose  throughout  has  been  to  read, 
into  the  ancient  forms  of  the  models  still  left  to  us,  all  the  beauty 
and  interest  of  the  ideals  of  architecture  which  obtained  in  the  past 
centuries,  and  from  such  a  study  nothing  but  good  can  come. 


vi  PREFACE. 

In  the  series  of  which  this  book  is  one  the  interpretation  of  the 
broad  lessons  of  style  is  made  by  means  of  special  details,  and  in 
this  the  appeal  is  as  much  to  the  general  reader  as  to  the  trained 
architect.  To  borrow  a  mathematical  simile,  the  selection  of  a 
single  feature  like  the  staircase  as  the  "  constant "  in  the  archi- 
tectural formulae,  enables  the  variations  of  style  to  be  discovered 
all  the  more  readily. 

In  the  first  place  special  thanks  are  due  to  the  owners  of  various 
houses  mentioned  in  this  volume  for  allowing  the  photographs  and 
drawings  to  be  made,  the  reproductions  of  which  form  the  chief 
feature  of  the  book. 

Mention  must  next  be  made  of  Mr.  Dan's  important  share  in 
providing  the  greater  number  of  the  photographic  illustrations. 
Many  of  those  for  which  he  is  responsible  have  been  brought  to 
light  by  him. 

My  grateful  acknowledgments  are  due  to  the  following  ladies 
and  gentlemen  for  the  use  of  their  sketches  or  photographs  :  Mr. 
A.  Whitford  Anderson,  Mr.  J.  Starkie  Gardner,  f.s.a.,  Mrs.  Ernest 
Godman,  Mr.  Albert  Halliday,  Mr.  R.  S.  Lorimer,  Mr.  W.  G. 
MacDowell,  Mr.  Ernest  A.  Mann,  Mr.  J.  E.  Mowlem,  Mr.  Baily  S. 
Murphy,  Mr.  W.  Niven,  f.s.a.,  Mr.  C.  H.  Potter,  Mr.  A.  E. 
Richardson,  Mr.  Arthur  Stratton,  and  Mr.  S.  H.  Wratten.  I  am 
further  indebted  to  the  Marquis  of  Salisbury  for  leave  to  publish 
the  plan  from  the  Hatfield  papers  which  I  have  been  able  to  identify 
as  one  of  the  schemes  for  rebuilding  Chelsea  House  ;  to  Mr. 
A.  F.  G.  Leveson-Gower,  f.s.a.,  for  permission  to  use  the  drawing, 
in  his  possession,  of  8,  Grosvenor  Square,  and  to  the  proprietors  of 
the  Connoisseur,  for  the  loan  of  the  block  of  Stoke  Edith.  Messrs. 
W.  H.  Smith  and  Son  have  supplied  the  photograph  of  Hatfield. 
I  also  have  to  acknowledge  the  assistance  rendered  by  Mr.  Edmund 
L.  Wratten,  who  has  prepared  the  majority  of  the  drawings  found 
in  the  text. 

Lastly,  my  thanks  are  due  to  my  publishers,  who  have  been  more 
than  helpful  throughout  the  whole  production  of  the  volume. 

WALTER   H.  GODFREY. 

ii  Carteret  Street, 

Queen  Anne's  Gate,  s.w., 
December,  1910. 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION  .....         i 

MEDIEVAL  STAIRS       .....         5 

EARLY  RENAISSANCE  : 

Elizabethan  (Turned  Balusters)    .  .  .10 

Jacobean  (Arcaded  Balustrade)         .  .  .22 

CONTINUOUS  CARVED  BALUSTRADES  : 

James  1  to  Charles  II  .  .  36 

LATER  RENAISSANCE  : 

Middle    XVI    Century   to   Queen    Anne    (Turned 
and  Spiral  Balusters)  .  .  .  -45 

THE  GEORGIAN  PERIOD.     The  Stepped  String       .       54 

WROUGHT  IRON  BALUSTRADES     .  .  .61 

INDEX       .......      71 


LIST  OF  PLATES. 

Frontispiece    Coleshill,  Berkshire,  Inigo  Jones,  Architect. 

Photographed  by  Charles  Latham. 
Piatt 

II  DoWNHOLLAND   HaLL,   NEAR   OrMSKIRK. 

J.  A.  Waite. 

III  Oakwell  Hall. 

Showing  Dog-Gates.  H.  Dan. 

IV  Great  Kewlands,  Burham,  Kent. 

V  Restoration  House,  Rochester. 

>> 

VI  Great  Wigsell,  Sussex. 

W.  G.  Davie. 

VII  The  Commandery,  Worcester. 

H.  Dan. 

VIII  Great  Nast  Hyde,  Hertfordshire. 

A.  Whitford  Anderson. 

IX  Hatfield  House,  Hertfordshire. 

W.  H.  Smith  &  Son. 

X  Lymore,  Montgomery. 

T.  Lewis. 

XI  Lymore,  Montgomery — The  Landing. 

>> 

XII  The    Conservative    Club,    Hoddesdon,    Hertford- 

shire. 

H.  Dan. 

XIII  No.  9,  Great  St.  Helen's,  Bishopsgate. 

Now  in  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.       A.  E.  Walsham. 

XIV  Staircase  now  at  the  Talbot  Hotel,  Oundle. 

W.  G.  Davie. 

XV  Astonbury,  Hertfordshire — First  Stair. 

H.  Dan. 


X 

XVI 

XVII 
XVIII 
XIX 
XX 

XXI 

XXII 

XXIII 

XXIV 

XXV 

XXVI 

XXVII 

XXVIII 

XXIX 

XXX 

XXXI 

XXXII 

XXXIII 


LIST  OF  PLATES. 

Astonbury — Second  Stair. 

Photographed  by  H.  Dan. 

Castle  House,  Deddington,  Oxfordshire. 

W.  G.  Davie. 
New  Sampford  Hall,  Essex. 

H.  Dan. 
Aston  Hall,  Warwickshire. 

Harold  Baker. 
Rawdon  House,  Hoddesdon. 

H.  Dan. 

Carved    Panels    on    Staircase    at    Rawdon   House, 
Hoddesdon. 

H.  Dan. 
Cromwell  House,  Highgate. 

Three  Finials  to  Newels  with  Figures  of  Cromwell's 
Soldiers.  H.  Dan. 

Ham  House,  Richmond,  Surrey. 


Stratton  Park,  Biggleswade. 

Dunster  Castle,  Somerset. 

No.  25,  High  Street,  Guildford. 

No.  25,  High  Street,  Guildford. 
Two  Carved  Panels. 

The  Close,  Winchester, 
potheridge,  torrington,  devon. 
Cobham  Hall,  Kent. 
Cobham  Hall,  Kent.     Details. 
Dawtrey  Mansion,  Petworth. 
St.  George's,  Canterbury. 


J.  Phillips  &  Sons. 

T.  Lewis. 

W.  G.  Davie. 


H.  Dan. 

» 
H.  J.  Earle. 

H.  Dan. 


LIST  OF  PLATES.  xi 

XXXIV  The  Gordon  Hotel,  Rochester. 

Photographed  by  H.  Dan. 

XXXV  The  Gordon  Hotel,  Rochester.     The  Dog-Gate. 

>> 

XXXVI  No.  4,  Crosby  Square,  London,  e.c. 

(now  demolished).  „ 

XXXVII  No.  4,  Crosby  Square,  London. 

Detail  of  Newel  and  Balusters.        W.  G.  MacDowell. 

XXXVIII  Circular  Stair,  The  Friars,  Aylesford. 

H.  Dan. 

XXXIX  Hever  Court,  Ifield,  Gravesend. 

>> 
XL  No.  9,  St.  Margaret's  Street,  Canterbury. 

j> 
XLI  No.  9,  St.  Margaret's  Street,  Canterbury. 

Details  of  Carved  Newels.  „ 

XLII  Warden's  House,  New  College,  Oxford. 

A.  E.  Walsham. 

XLIII  House  in  Botolph  Lane,  e.c. 

»> 
XLIV  Bruce  Castle,  Tottenham. 

XLV  Hopetoun  House,  Scotland. 


H.  Dan. 


XLVI  Hopetoun  House,  Scotland. 

Detail  of  Balusters  and  String.  ,, 

XLV1I        The  Orthopaedic  Hospital,  Hatton 

Garden,  London  (now  demolished). 

u 

XLV1II      44,  Great  Ormond  Street,  London. 

j> 
XLIX         Harrington  House,  Craig's  Court,  London. 

»j 
L  The  Hook,  Northaw,  Hertfordshire. 

>> 
LI  Friends'  House,  Croydon,  Surrey — Upper  Landing. 

S.  H.  Wratten. 


xii  LIST  OF  PLATES. 

LII  Carved  Brackets  at 

(a)  Hatton  Garden,  London. 

( b )  Great  House,  Cheshunt. 

( c )  The  Hook,  Northaw. 

Photographed  by  H.  Dan. 

LI  1 1  No.  5  John  Street,  Bedford  Row,  London. 

»> 
L1V  The  King's  Staircase,  Hampton  Court. 

11 
LV  Chesterfield  House,  Mayfair,  London. 

Bedford  Lemere. 
LVI  Chesterfield  House,  London. 

Iron  Balustrade.  „ 

LVII  No.  25i  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  London. 

Lower  Stair  Rail.  T.  Lewis. 

LVIII  No.  25i  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  w.c. 

Panel  on  Landing.  „ 

L1X  Spiral  Stair,  Queen's  House,  Chelsea. 

LX  Whitehall  Gardens. 

ii 
LXI  Sheen  House,  Richmond. 

A.  E.  Walsham. 
LXII  Baddow  Hall,  Essex. 

H.  Dan. 
LXIII         Old  War  Office,  London. 

(now  demolished).  „ 


H.  Dan. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  TEXT. 


Fig. 

I 

2 

3 


9 
io 

1 1 

12 

13 

15 
16 


Stairs  to  Dormitory,  Hexham  Priory,  Northumberland. 
Photo  by  J.  P.  Gibson,  Hexham      . 

First  Floor  Plan,  Castle  Rising,  Norfolk.    • 

Norman  Stair,  Castle  Rising. 

Drawn  by  Edmund  L.  Wratten      . 

Newel  Stair,  Castle  Hedingham,  Essex. 

Drawn  by  Jessie  Godman  from  a  sketch  by  Cecil  C.  Brewer 

Vaulting  to  Newel  Stair,  Linlithgow  Palace. 

Plan  of  Eastbury  Manor  House,  Barking,  Essex. 

Chetham's  Hospital,  Manchester. 
Drawn  by  Edmund  L.  Wratten 

Goldsborough  Hall,  Yorkshire. 

Drawn  from  a  photograph  in  "  Country  Life  " 

Newel  and  Baluster  from  Great  Ellingham  Hall,  Norfolk 

Plan  of  Astonbury,  Herts. 

Original  Plan  for  re-building  Chelsea  House. 

Drawn  circa  1590.     From  the  Hatfield  Papers,  by  per 
mission  of  the  Marquis  of  Salisbury     . 

Finials  at  Langley,  Kent. 

From  sketches  by  Arthur  Stratton 

Newel  from  the  Archbishop's  Palace,  Maidstone. 
From  a  sketch  by  Arthur  Stratton 

Detail  of  Stair  at  Astonbury,  Herts. 

Photo,  by  Horace  Dan         .... 

Newel  Staircase,  Fyvie  Castle 

Knole  House,  Sevenoaks. 

Drawn  by  Walter  H.  Godfrey 


Page 

4 
5 


10 
11 

13 

H 

16 
J7 


20 
22 


XIV 

Fig. 

17 


ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  TEXT. 


Cranborne  Manor  House,  Dorset. 
From  a  drawing  by  J.  E.  Mowlem 

1 8  Plan  of  Cranborne  Manor  House. 

19  Detail  of  Staircase  formerly  at  Claverton,  Somerset 

20  Heraldic  Finials  from  the  "  Old  Palace,"  Rochester. 

Photos,  by  Horace  Dan       .... 

21  and  22     Details  of  Stair  at  Dorfold,  Cheshire. 

23  Holland  House,  Kensington. 

24  Letchworth  Hall,  Hertfordshire. 

Photo,  by  A.  Whitford  Anderson    . 

25  Detail  of  Stair   at   Charlton   House,  Kent   (1607-12) 

showing  Ionic  and  Corinthian  Pilasters. 

26  Park  Hall,  Oswestry. 

Drawn  from  a  photograph  in  "  Country  Life  " 

27  and  28      Details  of  Newels  and  Balusters,  etc. 

From  various  sources  .... 

(27)  1.     Newel,  Inn  at  Scole,  Norfolk. 

2.  Pendant,  Old  Manor  House,  Yatton  Kennell,  Wiltshire. 

3.  Newel,  etc.,  Audley  End,  Essex. 

4.  5,  6.     Newels  and  baluster,  Hall  i'  th'  Wood,  Bolton. 

7.  Newel  and  handrail,  Star  Inn,  Lewes. 

8.  Baluster,  Ightham  Mote,  Kent. 

9.  Handrail  and  baluster,  Manor  House,  Sussex  Place,  Bristol. 

(28)  1.     Newel  and  baluster,  etc.,  Bromley  Palace,  Bromley -by-Bow. 

2,  4,  8.     Balusters,  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum. 

3.  Balusters,  etc.,  Friends'  House,  Croydon. 

5.  Baluster,  Falstaff  Hotel,  Canterbury, 

6.  Handrail,  Great  St.  Helen's,  Bishopsgate. 

7.  Handrail,  Park  Hall,  Oswestry. 

9.     Newel   and   baluster,  Ashburnham  House,  Westminster. 
10.     Baluster,  etc.,  Cranborne  Manor,  Dorset. 


Plate 

24 
25 
26 

27 
28,  29 

30 

31 
32 

33 
34.35 


29  Clare  College,  Cambridge  (earlier  stair) 

30  Crewe  Hall,  Cheshire. 

From  a  drawing  before  the  fire  by  Win.  Twopeny 

31  Cromwell  House,  Highgate. 

Drawn  by  Ernest  A.  Mann 

32  and  32A     Cromwell  House,  Highgate. 

Measured  drawing  by  Wm.  Dean    . 


37 

38 

39 
40,  41 


ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  TEXT.  xv 

Fig.  Plate 

33  Portion  of  Balustrade  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.         42 

34  Staircase  in  Crowley  House,  Greenwich  (now  destroyed). 

From  a  drawing  by  A.  Ashdown     ....  43 

35  Clare  College,  Cambridge — Newel  of  Stair  dated  1688.  44 

36  Ashburnham  House,  Westminster. 

Drawn  by  Edmund  L.  Wratten       ....  46 

37  Wolseley  Hall,  Staffordshire. 

Drawn   by    Edmund    L.    Wratten    from    an    etching   by 

W.  Niven  in  his  "Old  Staffordshire  Houses"  .  47 

38  Castle  Bromwich,  Warwickshire. 

Measured  and  drawn  by  Edmund  L.  Wratten        .  .  48 

39  Staircase  at  Serjeants'  Inn. 

Drawn  by  J.  B.  Greenall,  from  measurements  by  A.  E. 

Richardson         .  .  .  .  .  .51 

40  Stoke  Edith,  Herefordshire. 

By  permission  of  "  The  Connoisseur  "  53 

41  The  Great  House,  Cheshunt. 

Photo,  by  Horace  Dan  55 

42  The  Great  House,  Cheshunt — Balusters. 

Photo,  by  Horace  Dan         .....  56 

43  Wandsworth  Manor  House  (now  demolished). 

From  various  sources  .  .  .  .  -57 

44  Carved  Bracket  at  Bruce  Castle,  Tottenham. 

Photo,  by  Horace  Dan         .....  58 

45  Iron  Stair  at  Caroline  Park,  Granton,  Scotland, 

Drawn  by  R.  S.  Lorimer     .....  59 

46  Iron  Stair  at  Hampton  Court. 

Measured  and  drawn  by  Albert  Halliday    ...  60 

47  Examples  of  Iron  Balusters  or  Panels. 

From  Bailey  S.  Murphy's  "  English  and  Scottish  Iron- 
work "    .  .  .  .  .  .  .61 

48  "  Geometrical  "  Stair,  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  .  .  62 

49  St.  Helen's  House,  Derby. 

Drawn  by  C.  H.  Potter       .....  63 


xvi  ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  TEXT. 

Fig.  Plate 

50  No.  8,  Grosvenor  Square,  W. 

Drawn  by  Edmund  L.  Wratten      ....  64 

51  Carved  Stair-ends,  Queen's  House,  Chelsea 

Photo,  by  Horace  Dan         .....  65 

52  Plan  of  Queen's  House,  Chelsea     ....  66 

53  and  54     Designs  by  Robert  Adam    •  •  •  .    67,  68 

S$     Circular  Ironwork  Newel,  Millerstain,  Scotland. 

Drawn  by  Edmund  L.  Wratten,  from  a  photo,  by  H.  Dan  69 


THE   ENGLISH 
STAIRCASE. 


'THHE  part  played  by  the  staircase  in  the  history  of  domestic 
architecture  is  a  very  prominent  one,  not  only  because  it  is 
necessarily  the  key  to  a  large  part  of  the  planning  of  a  house,  but 
because  it  performs  a  continual  and  public  function,  and  as  such,  is 
the  proper  subject  for  dignified  and  even  ambitious  treatment.  It 
was  not  until  the  renaissance  had  taken  a  firm  hold  upon  English 
life,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  that  there  occurred  a  development  in 
house  planning  and  building  in  any  way  comparable  with  the 
ecclesiastical  triumphs  of  the  four  preceding  centuries.  It  will  be 
found  therefore  that  the  main  body  of  the  examples  described  in 
this  book  belongs  to  the  period  between  the  years  1 500  and  1 800, 
during  which  domestic  architecture  in  England  discovered  a  very 
fine  and  thoroughly  native  expression,  despite  the  foreign  influences 
which  provided  a  strong  stimulus  from  time  to  time. 

It  must  not  be  thought,  however,  that  within  these  three  hundred 
years  any  continued  development  can  be  traced  from  some  early 
and  crude  form  to  the  polished  and  graceful  types  of  the  latter  part 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  Architecture,  being  the  most  closely 
allied,  among  the  arts,  to  man's  common  needs,  and  also  to  his 
greatest  ideals,  follows  his  psychological  moods,  and  is  too  dependent 

B 


2     THE  NATURE  OF  ARCHITECTURAL  DEVELOPMENT. 

upon  national  and  political  events  to  proceed  upon  the  even  path  of 
an  ordered  progress.  The  Greek  genius  for  beauty  was  succeeded 
by  the  Roman  virile  construction.  The  great  church  architecture 
of  France  and  England  rose  on  the  ruins  of  their  forerunners' 
achievement  with  but  a  lingering  reminiscence  of  the  glories  of 
either.  And  yet  again  the  builders  of  the  renaissance  learned  to 
scorn  the  sublime  structures  of  the  Gothic  artists.  And  even  if 
the  story  of  each  single  period  is  told,  we  still  find  that  architecture 
does  not  deign  to  lend  herself  to  the  vanity  of  those  who  believe 
that  each  age  is  an  advance  upon  its  predecessor,  but  choosing  the 
right  moment  and  the  right  place  she  springs  to  maturity  and 
beauty  only  to  languish  in  the  succeeding  years,  when  the  crafts- 
man is  most  confident  of  his  skill.  So  we  see  the  perfection  of  the 
Greek  ideal  in  the  fourth  century,  B.C.,  and  the  most  exquisite 
grace  of  the  Gothic  form  in  the  thirteenth  century  of  our  own  era. 

It  is  important  that  this  should  be  recognised  at  the  outset,  for 
in  the  study  of  a  single  feature  like  the  staircase,  we  may  see  mir- 
rored, as  it  were,  the  various  influences  that  were  at  work  in  the 
formation  of  successive  styles  of  architecture,  and  the  chief  interest 
in  such  a  study,  apart  from  the  intrinsic  beauty  of  each  example, 
lies  in  the  relationship  which  these  styles  bear  to  one  another.  For 
the  appeal  of  the  single  example  is  to  the  uncertain  taste  of  the 
chance  onlooker,  but  its  historical  interest  is  abiding,  and  from  this 
we  have  all  much  to  learn. 

In  approaching  the  subject  before  us  from  this  standpoint  we 
shall  feel  that  the  Elizabethan  period  gave  us  a  type  of  domestic 
architecture  which  must  live  for  all  time.  Freed  from  the  necessi- 
ties of  church  building,  not  only  by  the  number  of  the  churches 
but  by  the  silence  of  the  dissolved  monasteries,  which  until  then 
had  never  ceased  to  call  the  people  to  build  for  them,  and   filled 


ELIZABETHAN  DOMESTIC  ARCHITECTURE.  3 

with  enthusiasm  for  the  new  and  enticing  ideals  of  the  renaissance, 
the  builders  of  that  day  turned  their  thoughts  to  the  architecture 
of  the  home  and  to  buildings  for  the  accommodation  of  civic  and 
commercial  life.  In  this  they  were  amazingly  successful,  and  along 
with  the  invention  of  a  plan,  which  with  very  slight  modifications 
is  perfectly  suited  to  the  present  time,  they  designed  the  many 
domestic  features  which  are  indispensable  to  the  complete  dwelling- 
house,  and  set  an  enduring  quality  upon  their  artistic  treatment  of 
them.  Among  these  features  was  the  staircase.  The  new  move- 
ment, too,  found  fresh  and  amplified  uses  for  the  old  materials  of 
building.  The  Gothic  period  of  church  and  cathedral  design  was 
essentially  a  period  of  mason  craft,  it  produced  an  architecture 
planned,  wrought  and  adorned  by  the  mason.  Incidentally  the 
carpenter  did  great  things,  and  produced  the  roofs  of  Westminster 
and  Eltham  or  carved  the  screens  and  stalls  of  a  cathedral  choir. 
But  the  Elizabethan  period  was  to  produce  the  joiner  and  it  gave 
him  the  opportunity  and  incentive  to  carry  his  craft  to  perfection. 
With  the  advent  of  the  panelled  room,  the  carved  overmantel,  and 
the  beautiful  panelled  screens  and  roofs  came  the  triumph  of  the 
joiner — the  staircase,  which  donned  a  more  domestic  and  a  richer 
quality  by  the  change  of  its  material  from  stone  to  wood. 

We  do  not  think  too  much  emphasis  can  be  laid  upon  the  spon- 
taneity of  the  birth  of  a  new  style  in  any  department  of  art,  and 
upon  its  relative  superiority  when  in  its  nascent  state,  for  art  is  not 
a  product  of  evolution  but  is,  in  all  its  greatest  phases,  totally  op- 
posed to  it.  Yet  we  cannot  altogether  overlook  what  went  before, 
even  if  we  regard  it  as  rather  the  material  of  which  the  new  style 
makes  some  use,  than  as  the  direct  cause  of  the  change  itself.  The 
directing  force  that  turned  men's  thoughts  to  the  fuller  develop- 
ment  of  domestic  life,   was  without  doubt   that  great  European 


4  THE  PASSING  OF  GOTHIC  INFLUENCE. 

movement  which  we  know  as  the  renaissance.     But  the  movement 
had  begun  to   make  its  influence  known   many  a  year  before  it 

brought  to  flower,  in 
England,  the  arts  of 
architecture,  litera- 
ture, and  the  drama. 
The  fifteenth  cen- 
tury had  already  felt 
the  coming  change 
of  ideals,  the  essen- 
tial genius  of  the  art 
we  call  Gothic  was 
becoming  weaken- 
ed ;  but  the  new 
movement  was  not  at 
first  strong  enough 
to  create  its  own 
style,  and  as  yet 
wrapped  itself  round 
with  garments  of 
Gothic  form.  Thus, 
under  the  aegis  of 
Fig.  i.     stair  to  the  dormitory,  hexham  priory,    fag  church    a  by  no 

means  unimportant 
type  of  domestic  architecture  had  been  developed  before  the  middle 
of  the  sixteenth  century.  Monastic  life  required  a  large  establish- 
ment apart  from  the  church  buildings  proper,  and  the  royal  custom 
of  lodging  ambassadors  and  other  persons  of  eminence  in  the 
greater  monasteries,  was  either  the  effect  or  the  cause  of  the  most 
elaborate  domestic  arrangements,  both  in  the  communal  apartments 


EARLY  STONE  STAIRCASES.  5 

and  in  the  abbot's  rooms.  The  monasteries  became  the  hotels  of 
that  age,  and  as  they  were  the  schools  for  ecclesiastical  architecture, 
so  they  afforded  the  first  models  of  the  homes  that  sprang  up  im- 
mediately before  and  after  their  dissolution. 

At  this  time  there  were  two  strikingly  different  types  of  stair- 
case which  served  two  entirely  different  purposes.  The  one,  a  plain 
straight  flight  of  stone  steps  between  two  walls,  was  employed 
wherever  it  was  in  the  daily  use  of  a  large  number  of  people. 
The  other,  a  circular  or  "  newel  "  stair,  formed  generally  of  winding 
steps  of  stone  that  circled  about  the  centre  newel  within  a  small  well, 
was  placed  wherever  required  for  occasional  use,  or  where  economy 
of  space  was  specially  desired.  The  straight  flight  would  be  found 
leading  to  the  refectory  or  dining-hall  whenever  this  was  upon  the 
first  floor  as  may  be  seen  in  the  Vicars'  Close  at  Wells,  and  in  the 
south  transept  of 
Hexham  Priory, 
where  the  stairway 
to  the  canons'  dor- 
mitory anticipates 
the  later  balustrades 
with  its  fine  wall 
and  stepped  parapet 
(Figure  1).  Another 
well-known  monas- 
tic example  is  the 
Norman  stair  (circa 
1085)  to  the  Stran- 
gers' Hall  at  Canter- 
bury, which  is  protected  by  an  arcaded  porch  of  which  the  arches 
diminish   as   the   stairs   ascend.      In    the   Norman    military   archi- 


Entramce 


SCALE  UFi  1)  1  t  t  I  1  1 


Fig.    2.      CASTLE    RISING,    NORFOLK. 


STAIRCASES  IN  STRAIGHT  FLIGHTS. 


tecture  there  was  seldom  room  for  the  straight  internal  flight,  save  in 
very  narrow  tunnels  in  the  thickness  of  the  walls,  but  the  fine  ex- 
ample from  Castle  Rising  (Figures  2  and  3)  is  an  exception  to  the 
rule.     In  other  Norman  keeps  like  Castle  Hedingham  the  first  floor 

was  approached  by 
external  stairs  in  one 
flight,  and  this  cus- 
tom continued  for 
many  years.  At 
the  beautiful  moated 
house  at  Stokesay  in 
Shropshire,  built  in 
the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury the  room  at  the 
upper  end  of  the 
great  hall  is  reached 
by  an  external  stair, 
and  there  are  still  in- 
dications of  the  orig- 
inal roof  that  cover- 
ed it.  At  the  lower 
end  of  this  hall  is 
a  straight  flight  of 
solid  oak  stairs,  car- 
ried on  bold  wooden 
brackets  from  the 
wall.  This  may  well 
be  contemporary 
with  the  building, 
or  but  very  little  later,  and  represents  the  time  when  the  carpenter 
often  imitated  stone  construction  before  the  days  of  joinery. 


Fig.  3.      CASTLE  RISING,  NORFOLK. 
Drawn  by  E.  L.  Wratten. 


THE   "NEWEL"   OR   CIRCULAR   STAIR.  7 

Of  the  other  type — the  newel  stair,  there  still  exist  innumerable 
examples,  and  there  is  nothing  more  striking  in  the  plan  of  a 
mediaeval  building  than  the  number  of  these  small  stairs  dispersed 
in  all  directions.  For  churches  and  military  buildings  they  were 
admirably  fitted,  for  they  occupied  the  minimum  of  space,  and 
often  by  projecting  from  the  face  of  the  building,  formed  a  conve- 
nient buttress  or  place  of  observation,  the  artistic  possibilities  of 
which  were  quickly  seen  by  the  Gothic  and  later  builders.  Thus 
we  have  the  four  angle  turrets  to  the  Norman  keeps,  the  flanking 
turrets  to  the  Tudor  gate-houses,  the  picturesque  staircase  pro- 
jection to  many  a  church  tower,  and  finally  the  constant  display  of 
these  same  features  in  the  Elizabethan  house.  The  reason  for  the 
retention  of  the  small  newel  stair,  and  for  its  frequency  in  the  last 
named  building  is  a  very  simple  one.  The  Elizabethan  designers 
were  unaccustomed  to  the  passage  or  corridor,  and  not  till  the  be- 
ginning of  the  seventeenth  century  do  we  see  in  one  of  John 
Thorpe's  plans,  a  passage  which  he  calls  a  "  longe  entry  throughe 
all."  In  place  of  the  passage,  the  rooms  were  all  made  to  commu- 
nicate with  one  another,  as  is  usual  on  the  continent  to-day  ;  and 
this  necessitated  a  number  of  small  stairs  for  access  to  various  parts 
of  the  upper  floor,  when  any  of  the  doors  between  the  apartments 
were  locked,  and  approach  from  the  main  staircase  prevented.  This 
solution  of  the  problem  was  no  doubt  in  favour  with  designers  who 
seemed  never  to  lose  an  opportunity  of  traversing  the  low  propor- 
tions of  their  main  facades  with  the  bold  but  grace-giving  vertical 
lines  of  the  oriel  or  bay  window  and  the  external  stacks  of  chimneys. 

The  newel  stair  had  no  development  in  England  at  all  com- 
parable with  that  which  took  place  in  France,  where  it  attained 
magnificent  proportions  and  required  the  most  elaborate  stone- 
vaulting  for  its  construction.     With  a  very  few  exceptions  it  re- 


THE  MATERIALS  OF  CIRCULAR  STAIRCASES. 


mained  here  a  stair  of  secondary  importance,  save  in  small  buildings, 
and  where  the  exigencies  of  space  forbade  a  more  liberal  provision. 
The  circular  stair  at  Hedingham  Castle  (Figure  4)  was  over  eleven 

feet  in  diameter,  and  this, 


though  unusually  large  is 
fairly  typical  in  its  form. 
The  steps  were  generally  of 
stone  and  in  one  length, 
tapering  towards  the  centre, 
where  they  were  shaped  in- 
to the  circular  projections 
which,  placed  one  over  the 
other,  formed  the  newel. 
Sometimes  the  steps  were 
solid  blocks  of  wood  (like 
the  stair  already  described 
at  Stokesay),  and  were  either 
built  up  in  the  same  manner 
as  the  stone  ones,  or  tenon- 
ed into  a  long  central  post. 
Others  were  of  brick,  as  at 
Kirby  Muxloe  Castle,  Lei- 
cestershire (circa  1480),  car- 
ried on  a  continuous  spiral 
brick  vault.  These  turret 
staircases  were  generally  car- 
ried above  the  roof  to  form 
a  feature  on  the  sky-line,  and  occasionally  they  were  vaulted  with 
the  help  of  the  newel  as  in  the  charming  example  at  Linlithgow 
Palace,  Scotland  (Figure  5). 


Fig.  4.      CASTLE  HEDINGHAM,  ESSEX. 
Drawn  by  Mrs,  E.  Godman,  from  a  sketch  by  C.  C.  Brewer 


THE  RETICENCE  OF  GOTHIC  BUILDERS. 


A  reference  to  the  plan  of  Eastbury  Manor  House  at  Barking 
(Figure  6),  built  in  1572,  will  show  how  a  small  house  sometimes 
depended  entirely  on  the  circular  staircase.  This  little  plan  is  a 
model  of  convenience  in 
a  small  compass,  and  is 
charmingly  devised  for  ex- 
ternal effect,  the  two  stair- 
cases rising  in  bold  turrets 
each  side  of  the  great 
chimney  stack.  The  stairs 
are  housed  into  centre 
posts,  and  in  one  a  hand- 
rail is  ingeniously  carved 
in  the  brickwork,  as  in 
another  example  at  Tatter- 
shall  Castle  in  Lincolnshire 
(circa  1440)  where  it  is 
carved  in  stones  built  into 
the  brick  wall. 

In  reviewing  the  Gothic 
period,  including  the  Nor- 
man that  went  before  it 
and  the  Tudor  work  that 
followed  it,  we  may  say 
that  as  a  rule  the  staircase 
took  a  simple  form,  almost 

invariably  in  stone,  and  that  the  English  builders  did  not  choose  it 
as  the  subject  for  the  elaborate  adornment  which  they  bestowed  so 
generously  upon  other  features.  That  they  were  ignorant  of  its 
possibilities  is  not  conceivable,  and  we  have  only  to  turn  to  Rouen 


Fig.    5.       LINLITHGOW   PALACE. 


IO 


WOOD  STAIRCASES  INTRODUCED. 


to  see  two  exquisite  examples  of  what  our  neighbours  could  do,  in 
the  Cathedral  and  in  the  Church  of  St.  Maclou  where  the  delicately 
pierced  and  panelled  balustrade,  the  double  flight  of  steps,  and  the 
spiral  stone  casing,  show  how  well  the  later  forms  might  have  been 
employed  in  Gothic  building.  One  curious  piece  of  wooden  balus- 
trading,  pierced  with  trefoiled  openings  is  to  be  found  in  England 
at  Downholland  Hall  near  Ormskirk  (Plate  ii). 

The  second  half  of  the  sixteenth  century  saw  the  introduction  of 
the  new  wooden  type  of  staircase  into  all  houses  of  importance  in 
the  country.  The  use  of  thin  boards  (the  "  treads  "  and  "  risers  ") 
for  the  formation  of  the  steps,  in  place  of  the  solid  blocks  of  stone 

and  wood,  allowed  a  lighter 
construction  and  dispensed 
with  the  necessity  for  the 
support  of  two  parallel  walls. 
The  stairs  themselves  were 
let  into  long  wooden  bearers, 
called  "  strings,"  set  to  the 
slope  of  the  stairway  on 
both  sides.  The  strings  were 
framed  into  posts  called 
"  newels,"  which  supported 
the  whole  framework,  and 
allowed  the  designer  to  break 
the  staircase  into  as  many 
flights  as  he  desired,  to  interpose  landings,  and  to  lead  the  steps 
round  an  open  "  well,"  or  to  double  them  back  alongside  the  lower 
flight  in  the  manner  known  as  the  "dog-legged"  stair.  It  was 
then  necessary  to  provide  a  handrail  and  some  form  of  balustrade 
between  the  newels,  for  safety,  and  this  completed  the  material  for 


Fig.  6. 


EASTBURY  MANOR   HOUSE, 
BARKING. 


THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THE  BALUSTRADE. 


the  design.  It  is  in  the  forms  of  these  several  features  that  the 
changes  of  style  described  in  the  succeeding  pages  will  be  noticed. 
No  portion  of  the  staircase  escaped  the  influence  of  these  changes 
in  style,  but  their  characteristics  are  most  faithfully  and  consistently 
shown  in  the  method  of  filling  the  balustrade,  and  this  provides  the 
simplest  basis  for 
classification.  In 
Elizabeth's  reign 
two  fashions  were  in 
vogue,  and  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  say  whether 
they  were  simulta- 
neously introduced 
or  not.  The  one, 
which  was  most  pop- 
ular, was  effected  by 
turned  balusters ;  the 
other,  almost  exclu- 
sively followed  in 
the  later  Jacobean 
work,  made  use  of 
dwarf  pilasters,  of 
flat  section  that  tap- 
ered towards  their 
base,  a  type  of  or- 
nament seen  in  ex- 
traordinary profu- 
sion and  in  every 
kind  of  design  of 
the      early      seven-  Fig.  7.     chetham's  hospital,  Manchester. 


12        THE  VARIOUS  FORMS  OF  TURNED  BALUSTERS. 

teenth  century.  Another  form,  sparingly  used,  is  apparently  found 
as  early  as  either.  It  partakes  somewhat  of  the  nature  of  both 
kinds  and  might,  conceivably,  be  a  link  between  them,  indicating 
that  one  had  developed  from  the  other.  It  is  shown  in  the 
stair  at  Oakwell  Hall — built  in  1583 — (Plate  iii)  where  it  is  the 
silhouette  of  a  baluster  cut  from  a  flat  board,  and  in  that  at  Chet- 
ham's  Hospital,  Manchester  (Figure  7)  where  it  is  a  similar  outline 
of  a  pilaster.  In  all  such  cases  this  flat  baluster  is  pierced,  a  form 
of  ornamentation  that  occurs  in  the  pilaster  proper,  at  Claverton, 
Dorfold  (Figures  19,  22)  and  elsewhere.  There  is  a  good  ex- 
ample of  the  Chetham  type  at  Boleyn  Castle,  East  Ham. 

The  turned  baluster,  once  introduced,  has  held  its  own,  with 
varying  popularity  until  the  present  day,  but  it  is  not  difficult  to 
differentiate  the  examples  of  the  various  periods.  The  Elizabethan 
baluster  is  large,  from  2^  to  3^  inches  in  diameter,  and  is  not  much 
cut  away,  thus  giving  a  certain  uniformity  of  substance  throughout 
the  length.  On  the  other  hand,  no  opportunity  is  lost  to  give  it 
interest,  and  it  is  not  only  "  busy  "  with  features,  but  is  further 
adorned  with  incised  lines  or  grooves  cut  round  its  main  parts. 
The  examples  given  in  this  book  will  show  what  is  meant  if  the 
reader  will  turn  to  the  stairs  at  Goldsborough  Hall  (Figure  8), 
Great  Kewlands,  1599  (Plate  iv),  Restoration  House,  Rochester 
(Plate  v),  Bromley  Palace*  (Fig.  28),  Ightham  Mote  and  Hall  i' 
th'  Wood  (Fig.  27).  The  drum-shaped  base  to  the  balusters  from 
Hall  i'  th'  Wood  and  Bromley,  is  of  very  frequent  occurrence,  and 
the  chamfered  or  notched  angles  where  the  square  ends  adjoin  the 
part  that  is  "  turned  "  are  an  almost  invariable  sign  of  early  date. 

The  newly  discovered  art  of  turning  was  evidently  dear  to  the 
heart  of  the  Elizabethan  joiner,  and  he  began  to  turn  his  newels  as 

*     Practically  the  same  detail  as  at  Boleyn  Castle. 


Fig.  8. 


i4        THE  PLANNING  OF  THE  ELIZABETHAN  STAIR. 

well  as  his  balusters  ;  but  soon,  guided  by  his  better  judgment,  he 
confined  the  work  of  his  lathe  to  the  finials  and  pendants,  which 
form  so  important  a  part  of  the  general  design,  giving  point  to 
every  rise  and  fall  in  the  varying  flights  of  the  steps.  Turned 
newels  are  to  be  seen  at  Holland  House  (2nd  stair),  Ordsall  Hall, 
Salford  (which  has  in  the  principal  newel  an  elaborately  carved  and 
turned  column  with  an  Ionic  cap),  Hall  i'  th'  Wood,  Bolton  (Figure 
27),  and  Great  Ellingham  Hall,  Norfolk  (Figure  9).  Staircases 
with  pierced  balusters  seem  often  to  have  had  newels  framed  on  the 
same  model,  as  at  Chetham's  Hospital,  where  the  outline — rather 
awkwardly — follows  the  rake  of  the  stair  (Figure 
7).  With  this  should  be  compared  the  newel  at 
Claverton  which  has  the  pierced  pilaster  applied 
to  each  face  (Figure  19).  With  these  and  a  few 
other*  exceptions  newels  will  be  found  invariably 


square  until  the  entirely  new  fashions  introduced 
after  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne. 

The  Elizabethan  stair  was  a  stair  of  many 
flights.  We  have  already  remarked  that  the  long 
succession  of  stone  steps  found  in  the  Gothic 
period  had  been  abandoned,  and  the  sweeping 
staircase  of  the  later  years  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury was  the  first  to  try  a  somewhat  similar  effect 
with  wood.  The  John  Thorpe,  and  the  Smithson 
collection  of  contemporary  plans  (covering  a  period 
some  twenty-five  years  before  and  after  1600) 
show  the  stairs  designed  as  "dog-legged,"  and 
"well"  staircases  arranged  in  short  flights  divided  by  many  land- 
ings.     This    involved   a    large   number    of  stout    square    newels, 

*     Godinton  has  its  upper  newels  carved  in  the  shape  of  a  square  column  or  pilaster. 


Fig.  9. 

GREAT 

ELLINGHAM  HALL, 

NORFOLK. 


SIR  ROBERT  CECIL'S  PLAN  FOR  CHELSEA  HOUSE.     15 

the  effect  of  which  can  be  seen  in  the  views  of  Goldsborough 
Hall  (Figure  8),  Park  Hall,  Oswestry  (Figure  26),  Aston  Hall 
(Plate  xix),  Crewe  Hall  (Figure  30),  and  indeed  in  most  of  the 
examples  given.  The  Great  Hall  was  still,  during  this  period,  the 
chief  living  room,  and  a  position  for  the  staircase  had  to  be  found 
elsewhere.  There  were  exceptions  to  this,  chiefly  it  seems  in 
Yorkshire,  where  many  houses  have  the  main  stair  leading  from  the 
Hall  to  a  passage  over  the  Screen,*  as  at  Methley  Hall,  but  the 


Fig.   IO.       ASTONBURY,  HERTFORDSHIRE. 

more  usual  method  is  shown  in  the  plan  of  Astonbury,  Herts 
(Figure  10)  and  the  interesting  plan  of  Chelsea  House  (Figure  1 1), 
which  shows  one  of  Sir  Robert  Cecil's  schemes  for  rebuilding  the 
old  mansion  of  Sir  Thomas  More.  Here  the  confined  spaces 
allotted  to  the  stairs  made  it  impossible  to  arrange  the  steps  in  one 
long  flight,  and  to  the  many  flights  thus  occasioned  is  due  much  of 

*  For  the  information  of  readers  who  are  not  acquainted  with  the  mediaeval  plan  it 
may  be  noted  that  the  invariable  arrangement  of  the  principal  apartment  or  Hall  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  thirteenth,  fourteenth,  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  was  to  have 
the  main  entrance  in  the  side  wall  at  the  lower  end,  close  by  the  doors  leading  to  the  kitchen, 
etc.,  all  of  which  were  veiled  from  the  upper  end  (with  its  dais,  oriel,  etc  )  by  an  elaborate 
screen  that  stretched  across  the  entire  width  of  the  Hall.     (See  Fig.  6.) 


i6 


ELIZABETHAN  FINIALS  TO  NEWELS. 


the  impressive  character  which  the  Elizabethan  designers  were  able 
to  effect  by  means  of  the  elaborate  finials  and  sculptured  figures 
with  which  they  adorned  the  newels. 

The  earliest  finials  were  of  very  simple  form,  a  circular*  or  acorn- 
shapedf  ball  being  used  with  a  small  moulded  base,  and  one  or  more 


Fig.    II.       SIR    ROBERT    CECIL'S    PLAN    FOR    THE    REBUILDING    OF 
CHELSEA    HOUSE    (c.   I590).       FIRST  FLOOR. 

lines  incised  around  its  surface.  The  turned  ball-finial,  on  account 
of  its  simplicity  is  to  be  found  in  staircases  of  all  periods,  but  the 
earlier  examples  can  be  recognised  by  their  small  circular  base,  in- 
cised lines,  and  the  fact  that  they  are  often  not  a  perfect  sphere  (as  at 


*     Laindon  Hall,  Essex,  and  Holland  House  (second  stair), 
f     Eastgate  House,  Rochester,  1595. 


OCTAGONAL  AND  "SQUARE-TURNED"  FINIALS.         17 

Great  Ellingham  Hall  (Figure  9),  and  Castle  House,  Deddington 
(Plate  xvii).  Curious  finials  elaborately  turned  are  used  at  Ightham 
Mote,  and  Hall  i'  th'  Wood  (Figure  27),  where  they  form  part  of 
the  turned  newels  already  mentioned.  The  best  finials  approximate 
to  vases  in  shape,  and  indeed  this  was  clearly  the  underlying  idea  in 
many  an  exercise  in  turning,  as  at 
Scole  Inn  (Fig.  27).  The  theory 
of  the  vase-motif  is  strengthened, 
too,  by  the  subsequent  general  use 
of  elaborately  carved  vases  as  finials 
in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  Great  Kewlands  (Plate 
iv)  shows  a  very  effective  octagonal 
top  to  the  newel,  and  a  house  at 
Langley,  in  Kent,  furnishes  another 
example  of  this  picturesque  type 
(Figure  12).  From  this  to  the 
square  was  not  a  long  step,  and  the 
"  square-turned  "  finial,  shown  in 
its  infancy  on  the  upper  stair  at 
Restoration  House,  Rochester 
(Plate  v),  and  in  a  more  elaborate 
form  at  Maidstone  (Figure  13),  be- 
came the  standard  type,  as  most  in 
harmony  with  the  square  solidity 
of  the  newel  itself.  The  somewhat  clumsy  repetition  of  features  on 
what  is  really  a  square-turned  newel  at  the  Commandery,  Worcester 
(Plate  vii)  is  in  marked  contrast  to  the  two  beautiful  and  simple 
shapes  that  cap  the  newels  at  Goldsborough  Hall  (Figure  8). 

The  existence  of  a  finial  presupposes  a  pendant  beneath  the  newel, 


Fig.    12.       LANGLEY,    KENT. 


i8 


PENDANTS,  STRINGS  AND  HANDRAILS. 


and  the  two  followed  much  the  same  lines,  as  at  Yatton  Kennell  (Fig. 
27)  and  at  Bromley  (Fig.  28).  The  pendant  or  drop  was  not  un- 
known before  its  introduction  into  the 
staircase,  for  it  had  been  used  in  the  gables 
of  timber-built  houses  where  it  was  often 
most  elaborate.  Between  each  newel  the 
early  strings  were  generally  quite  plain, 
with  perhaps  a  simple  moulded  capping 
on  which  the  balusters  could  rest.  At 
Rothamsted  the  string  is  moulded  some- 
thing in  the  same  manner  as  the  fascia- 
board  to  a  Gothic  gable,  and  at  Aston- 
bury  (Figure  14)  it  was,  till  lately,  en- 
riched with  painting  which  may  well  have 
been  a  copy  of  the  original  design.  Above 
the  balusters,  the  Elizabethan  handrail 
was  formed  out  of  a  stout  oak  beam,  of 
a  section  deeper  than  its  width,  well 
moulded  or  grooved,  and  either  flat  at 
the  top  as  at  Goldsborough  Hall,  or  more 
usually  finished  with  a  bold  roll  for  the 
hand  to  grasp  as  at  the  Star  Inn,  Lewes 
(Fig.  27),  and  Park  Hall,  Oswestry 
(Fig.  28).  Much  variety  was  possible  in 
the  design  of  the  handrail  which  gradu- 
ally assumed  the  flat  broad  section  in  use 
at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
and  even  as  early  a  witness  as  one  of  the 
John  Thorpe  drawings  gives  us  a  "  rayle  for  a  stayre  "  which  ap- 
proximates to  that  in  vogue  at  the  later  date. 


Fig-  i3- 

THE    ARCHBISHOP'S    PALACE, 
MAIDSTONE. 


FRENCH  TYPES  FOUND  IN   SCOTLAND. 


19 


Throughout  the  sixteenth  century,  while  the  changes  which  we 
have  related  were  taking  place,  there  were  remarkably  few  excep- 
tions to  the  general  adoption  of  the  wood-framed  staircase.  At 
Burghley  House,  Northamptonshire,  there  is  a  stone-vaulted  staircase 
(circa  1556)  of  considerable  size,  which  runs  either  side  of  a  solid 
block  of  masonry,  of  a  width  sufficient  to  take  the  five  treads  which 


Fig.    14.      ASTONBURY,    HERTFORDSHIRE. 

join  the  two  flights.  At  Hardwick  (1576)  there  is  a  very  severe 
but  imposing  stone  stair  the  walls  of  which  are  hung  with  tapestry, 
and  a  stone  staircase  is  to  be  found  at  Montacute.  In  Scotland, 
which  has  often  been  in  so  much  closer  touch  with  the  architectural 
influence  of  France,  than  of  England,  there  is  the  finest  example  of 
the  stone  "  newel "  stair,  brought  to  a  considerable  pitch  of  dignity 


20 


A  STAIRCASE  VAULTED  IN  STONE. 


Fig.    15.       FYVIE    CASTLE. 


BACON'S  TASTE  IN  STAIRCASES.  21 

and  beauty  at  Fyvie  Castle  (Figure  15).  In  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury a  solitary  attempt  was  made  at  Christ's  Church  College,  Oxford, 
to  revive  the  vaulted  staircase,  in  which  the  centre  newel  carries  an 
interesting  roof  of  fan  tracery. 

All  through  Elizabeth's  reign  the  small  spiral  stair  was  in  general 
request  for  its  own  special  purpose  of  providing  direct  communi- 
cation between  two  floors  where  there  was  not  much  traffic.  Cecil's 
Chelsea  plan  (Figure  11)  shows  this  in  a  striking  way,  and  we  may 
recall  the  passage  in  Bacon's  essay  "  of  Building  "  in  which  he  does 
not  forget  either  kind  of  staircase  :  "  The  stairs  likewise  to  the 
upper  rooms,  let  them  be  upon  a  fair  open  newel,  and  finely  railed 
in  with  images  of  wood,  cast  into  a  brass  colour  ;  and  a  very  fair 
landing  place  at  the  top.  .  .  Beyond  this  is  to  be  a  fair  court,  but 
three  sides  of  it  of  a  far  lower  building  than  the  front.  And  in  all 
the  four  corners  of  that  court  fair  staircases,  cast  into  turrets  on  the 
outside,  and  not  within  the  row  of  buildings  themselves." 

In  Bacon's  own  house  formerly  standing  at  Gorhambury,  near  St. 
Albans,  Aubrey  tells  us,  "was  a  delicate  staircase  of  wood  which 
was  curiously  carved  ;  and  on  the  post  of  every  interstice  was  some 
pretty  figure,  as  a  grave  divine  with  his  book  and  spectacles,  a 
mendicant  friar,  and  not  one  twice."  His  essay  "of  building"  was 
written  when  James  I  had  already  reigned  some  years,  and  when 
the  Jacobean  culmination  of  Elizabethan  architecture  had  been 
reached.  The  luxuriance  of  the  ornamentation,  the  crude  magnifi- 
cence of  the  carving  and  the  unrestrained  adaptation  of  structural 
forms  in  the  service  of  pure  decoration,  have  often  been  criticised, 
but  it  cannot  be  denied  that  beneath  all  this  show  there  were  some 
very  fine  elements  of  design.  The  refreshing  abandon  of  the  de- 
signers of  this  time  should  be  welcomed  when  we  see  them  capable 
also  of  the  finely  restrained  proportions  of  the  staircases  at  Rotham- 
sted,  Great  Wigsell  (Plate  vi),  or  New  Sampford  Hall  (Plate  xviii). 


22  A  FINE  EXAMPLE  OF  JACOBEAN  WORK. 

At  Hatfield  (1612),  (Plate  ix),  Blickling  (1620),  Rushton  Hall 
(1626),  and  Temple  Newsam  (1630),  can  be  seen  the  rich  combina- 
tion of  all  the  finest  Jacobean  details.  The  square  newels  are 
covered  with  carving  in  low  relief ;  the  square-turned  finials  (formed 
so  that  each  face  is  the  proportion  of  a  short  pilaster,  and  carved  with 
a  lion's  head  or  shield),  support  heraldic  animals  and  sculptured 


Fig.    l6.       KNOLE    HOUSE,    SEVENOAKS. 
Drawn  by  Walter  H.  Godfrey. 


figures  ;  the  pendants  are  beautifully  shaped,  pierced  and  enriched  ; 
and  the  dwarf  pilasters  which  form  the  balustrade  are  of  the  most 
elaborate  workmanship,  and  being  connected  to  one  another  beneath 
the  handrail  by  light  keyed  arches,  they  make  a  long  line  of  arcading 
of  great  beauty.     Other  features  go  to  produce  even  a  greater  and 


JACOBEAN  SCREENS  AND  CONTINUOUS  NEWELS.      23 

richer  effect.  At  Hatfield  the  entrance  to  the  stair  is  overhung  with 
elaborate  scroll-work,  an  idea  which  was  carried  out  more  fully  at 
Wakehurst,  Sussex,  where  the  surmount  has  almost  the  proportions 
of  a  screen  without  the  lower  supports.  At  Blickling,  after  the 
first  flight,  the  staircase  divides,  and  going  left  and  right,  becomes 
two  stairs  which  balance  one  another, — a  device  that  is  very  frequent 
in  the  large  houses  of  the  eighteenth  century.  At  Rushton  Hall 
and  Temple  Newsam  the  effect  is  heightened  by  the  beautiful 
screens  which  partly  shelter  the  stair  from  the  Hall  and  upper  land- 
ing, and  at  the  same  time  reveal  and  frame  its  beauty  beneath  their 
luxurious  arches.  This  arcaded  screen  is  to  be  found  indicated  on 
many  of  the  Thorpe  drawings.  Two  of  the  best  examples  are  at 
Dorton  House,  Bucks,  and  at  Knole  House,  Sevenoaks,  built  in 
1605  (Figure  16),  where  the  arcade  is  repeated  on  the  first  floor 
and  adds  great  dignity  to  the  stair.  It  also  occurs  in  a  most 
charming  form  at  Great  Wigsell  (Plate  vi)  which  we  have  already 
mentioned.  The  strength  and  yet  the  simplicity  of  its  two  square 
columns  with  Ionic  caps,  the  graceful  arches,  the  well-modelled 
finials  to  the  other  newels,  and  perhaps  above  all  the  quiet  reserve 
in  the  use  of  the  carving, — a  simple  guilloche  ornament  being  the 
sole  enrichment  to  the  most  effective  string — are  all  much  to  be 
admired.  This  method  of  carrying  up  certain  newels  in  the  form 
of  columns  to  support  the  landing  above  added  of  course  great 
strength  to  the  stair,  and  the  practice  was  not  confined  by  any  means 
to  the  Jacobean  period.  A  less  frequent  arrangement  but  based  on 
very  sound  ideas  of  construction,  is  met  with  in  those  stairs  of  which 
all  the  newels  are  continuous  and  run  from  floor  to  floor.  Arches 
were  often  placed  between  them,  and  they  formed  in  effect  an 
arcaded  screen  to  the  well.  The  idea  (if  any  prompting  were 
necessary  to  so  simple  and  desirable  a  form),  may  have  been  derived 


24  POSSIBLE  ORIGIN  OF  FRAMED  STAIRCASES. 

from  the  old  well 
staircases  sometimes 
found  in  square 
towers,  where  the  well 
is  enclosed  by  timber 
framing,  plastered  be- 
tween the  beams.  At 
Canonbury  Tower, 
Islington  (circa  1520) 
this  well  is  divided 
into  a  series  of  large 
cupboards,  and  it 
would  require  little 
ingenuity  to  open  the 
framing  and  insert  a 
balustrade.  Indeed 
we  find  that  the  space 
below  the  handrail,  at 
places  like  Boughton 
Malherbe  and  Leeds 
Castle,  has  retained 
the  old  plaster  filling, 
the  upper  portion 
being  open.  How- 
ever this  may  be,  an 
example  of  the  con- 
tinuous newels  is 
found  as  early  as  1523 
at  Layer  Marney  in 
Fig.  17.    cranborne  manor  house,  Dorset.        Essex,  and  later  ones 


CARVED  FIGURES  AND  HERALDIC  FINIALS. 


25 


at  Burton  Agnes  (1602-10),  Audley  End  (1603-16),  and  Cran- 
borne  Manor,  Dorset  (Figures  17,  18  and  28).  The  last-named  is 
a  very  simple  and  effective  design,  while  the  first  is  peculiar  in  that 
the  well  is  long  and  narrow,  and  the  arches  are  thrown  across  the 
well  at  various  heights.  At  Audley  End  the  well  is  of  similar  pro- 
portion to  that  at  Burton  Agnes  and  the  number  of  newels  is  the 
same,   but  the   arches   follow  the  direction  of  the  handrail.     The 


CAR   DEN 
Fig.  l8.   CRANBORNE  MANOR  HOUSE. 

newels  here  are  decorated  with  very  delicate  pilasters  and  strap- 
ornament,  and  the  balustrade  adheres  to  the  model  of  Hatfield  and 
Blickling  but  is  of  a  rather  more  refined  type.  The  upper  part 
of  the  newels  is  shown  in  Figure  27. 

It  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  use  of  figures  and  heraldic  animals 
upon  the  newel  has  been  associated,  in  the  four  chief  examples  men- 
tioned on  page  22,  with  the  arched  balustrade,  as  being  perhaps  the 
finest  form  so  far  designed.  To  these  we  must  add  Charterhouse  and 
Claverton  (Figure  19).     At  the  former  of  these  the  heraldic  finials 


26 


ELABORATE  CARVING. 


are  placed  upon  pedestals  of  which  the  ornament  differs  in  each  case, 
while  the  latter  is  quite  an  unusual  type,  bold  and  well  modelled, 
relying  less  upon  superficial  carving,  than  upon  the 
simple  lines  of  its  pierced  pilasters  and  the  restful 
severity  of  its  statues.  Knole  (1605)  and  Godinton 
(1628),  both  in  Kent,  form  important  exceptions,  in 
that  they  combine  heraldic  finials  with  a  balustrade  of 
finely  turned  balusters  of  the  Elizabethan  type.  We 
have  already  mentioned  the  screen  at  Knole  (Figure 
16),  and  the  stair  is  covered  with  the  usual  carving  on 
newels  and  string.  Godinton,  which  bears  its  date  in 
scribed  on  a  panel,  resembles  Knole  in  the  form  of  its 

heraldic  animals  and 
their  shields,  as  well  as 
in  the  design  of  its 
balusters.  It  is,  how- 
ever, overloaded  with 
ornament,  the  handrail 
is  carved  with  a  flowing 
pattern  of  vine  leaves 
and  grapes,  the  first  as- 
cent is  overhung  with 
elaborately  pierced  carv- 
ing in  imitation  of 
Gothic  tracery,  and  the 
front  of  the  balustrade  is 
richly  panelled.  Several 
Fig.  19.    formerly  at  claverton,  somerset,     of  the  newels  are  carved 

with    archaic    and    gro- 
tesque busts  forming  the  upper  part  of  pilasters,  as  at  Sydenham 


THE  ARCADED  BALUSTRADE. 


27 


House,  Devon,  but  the  most  curious  feature  is  the  division  by  a 
horizontal  line  of  each  length  of  the  balustrade  into  two  triangular 
portions,  the  lower  part  panelled,  and  the  upper  filled  with  turned 
balusters,  which  are  thus  of  different  sizes  and  varying  in  design. 
The  principle  is  the  same  as  that  shown  in  the  Great  Kewlands 
staircase  (Plate  iv), 
where  the  upper 
triangle  is  closed 
by  a  rail  and  the 
lower  is  plastered. 
Some  good  heraldic 
finials  are  shown 
in  Figure  20. 

Of  the  other  il- 
lustrated examples 
which  have  an  ar- 
caded  balustrade, 
the  one  at  the  Com- 
mandery,  Worces- 
ter (PI.  vii),  seems 
the  most  immature, 
and  that  at  Great 
Nast  Hyde  (Plate 
viii)  is  unusual, 
though  most  strik- 
ing in  its  total 
effect.  The  Dor- 
fold  stair  (Figures 
21  and  22),  already 
referred     to,     pos-  Fi^  2°'     NEWKL  FINIALS- 

"THE    OLD    PALACE,"    ROCHESTER. 


28 


USE  OF  PILASTERS  IN  PLACE  OF  BALUSTERS. 


sesses  particularly  fine  newels  with  char- 
acteristic Jacobean  carving  in  low  relief 
adorned  with  the  "drop"  ornament,  and 
a  freely  modelled  finial.  And  at  the 
princely  Holland  House  in  London,  we 
find  in  the  newels  and  the  balustrade  that 
imitation  of  rusticated  masonry  (Figure 
23),  affected  by  the  designers  of  the  early 
years  of  the  seventeenth  century  which 
appears  again  at  Lymore  (Plates  x  and  xi), 
the  Conservative  Club,  Hoddesdon  (Plate 
xi),  and  Rawdon  House  (Plates  xx  and 
xxi)  at  the  same  place.  The  balustrade 
composed  of  pilasters  unconnected  by 
arches  includes  a  large  number  of  very 
fine  staircases,  which  are  notable  for  their 
excellent  newel  finials.  An  apparently 
early  example  is  that  at  Letchworth  Hall 
(Figure  24),  which  attempts  rather  un- 
successfully to  follow  with  its  lines  the 
rake  of  the  stair.  A  brilliant  design  is 
shown  in  Lymore  (Plates  x  and  xi), 
where  the  pilasters  and  newels  are  stud- 
ded with  "jewel  "  ornament.  Charlton 
House,  Kent  (Figure  25),  has  the  three 
orders  represented  with  Doric,  Ionic  and 
Corinthian  capitals  in  ascending  flights. 
It  is  remarkable  too  for  the  lion's  head 
shown  in  the  sketch  as  carved  against  each 
Fig.  21.  dorfold,  Cheshire,   newel,  anticipating  the  "ramp"   of  the 


THE  DOUBLE  NEWEL  AND  ITS  FINIALS.  29 

handrail  which  came  later  and  will  be  described 
in  its  place.  The  newel-tops  at  Charlton  are 
varied  and  include  finials  of  carved  foliage, 
pierced  pinnacles  and  seated  lions.  The  stair- 
case is  the  reputed  work  of  Bernard  Janson  and 
dates    from     1607-12.       Park    Hall,    Oswestry 

(Figure  26),  is  quite  a 
typical  example.  The 
stair  is  designed  to 
avoid  the  necessity,  in 
a  dog-legged  stair,  of 
cutting:  off  the  lower 
handrail  where  it  comes 
beneath  the  string.  It 
is  therefore  made  with 
double  newels  which 
allow  the  handrail  and 
balustrade  to  pass  by 
instead  of  intersecting 
the  upper  string.  Two 
other  examples  of  this 
are  shown  in  the  Con- 
servative Club,  Hod- 
desdon  (of  the  Park 
Hall  type)  and  in  the 
Castle  House,  Ded- 
dington  (Plates  xii  and 
xvii).  In  these  the 
finials  are  taken  to  an 
Fig.  22.     dorfold,  Cheshire.  equal    height,    but    at 


30    A  JACOBEAN  EXAMPLE  FREE  OF  ALL  ENRICHMENT. 

Park  Hall  one  stands  well  above  the  other.  This  difficulty 
in  design  was  more  successfully  met  at  a  later  date 
(1688)  at  Clare  College,  Cambridge  (Figure  35).  The 
newels  and  string  at  Park  Hall  are  covered  with  plain 
rectangular  sinking,  and  the  finials  are  of  the  usual  fine 
type  where  no  statuary  is  introduced,  being  composed 


HOLLAND  HOUSE 

KENSINGTON 


Fig.  23. 

of  the  pedestal  base  crowned  with  elaborate 
square-turned  ornaments.  Rothamsted,  Herts, 
provides  the  simplest  and  most  striking  form  of 
both  newel  and  balustrade  free  from  all  carving. 
Sydenham  House,  Devon,  and  Wick  Court 
possess  unusually  bold  and  well-modelled 
pilasters   placed   close   together  in   their   balustrades,    each    having 


TYPICAL  JACOBEAN  FINIALS  AND  NEWELS.  31 

characteristic  Ionic  caps.  The  newels  at  the  former  are  curious, 
and  are  now  crowned  with  old  lamps  of  quaint  design,  and  those  at 
the  latter  have  finials  very  much  like  the  usual  hollow  carved 
pendants  inverted.  At  Sussex  Place,  Bristol  (Figure  27)  a  pierced 
Ionic  pilaster  is  used  in  the  balustrade,  and  in  a  late  example  from 
Bishopsgate  preserved  in  the  museum  at  South  Kensington  may  be 
seen  a  type  almost  square  in  plan,  carved  on  each  of  the  four  faces 
and  requiring  a  very  heavy  string  and  handrail  to  cover  it  (Plate 
xiii,  Figure  28.) 

As  already  indi- 
cated those  stair- 
cases which  re- 
tained the  turned 
baluster  are  gener- 
ally furnished  with 
bold  and  simple 
finials,  but  in  these 
there  is  to  be 
found  great  diver- 
sity in  form.  The 
Talbot  Hotel  at 
Oundle  (Plate  xiv) 
has  a  bold  design 
over  a  plain  pan- 
elled newel.  The 
two  staircases  at 
Astonbury  have 
both  excellent  de- 
tail. In  the  larger 
one  (Plate  xv)  the  Fig.  24.     letchworth  hall. 


32 


THE  USE  OF  ARCHES  BENEATH  THE  STRING. 


tops  are  formed  of  obelisks  upon  four  balls  (a  motif  not  unusual  in 
the  design  of  Jacobean  tombs),  over  a  small  sunk  panel  of  a  shape 
reminiscent  of  a  Gothic  cusp,  and  pendants  in  the  shape  of  acorns. 
The  string  (Figure  14)  which  has  been  painted  with  flowing  orna- 


CHARLTON    HOUSE,    KENT. 


ment,  is  further  adorned  as  at  Great  Nast  Hyde  with  flat  keyed 
arches  which  spring  from  the  pendants  and  appear  to  give  support. 
The  secondary  stair  (Plate  xvi)  has  pierced  finials.  The  Castle 
House,  Deddington  (Plate  xvii),  has  a  fluted  double  newel  capped 
by  two  balls,  and  the  Methley  stair  combines  a  striking  hollow  finial 


THE  DOUBLE  NEWEL  AT  PARK  HALL. 


33 


Fig.  26. 


34 


ELIZABETHAN  STAIRCASE  DETAILS. 


Wrt    at  SCOLE 

NORFOLK*      ^^ 


'  Old  Manor  Moose 
Yattom  M/viell 


Auoley   End 

ESSEX.. 


4.  5.  6 

Hall  i'th"  Wood 


LEWES    J~.i.*. 


Ightham  Mote 


'Maaiob.    House 
Sussex  "Place. 

Bristol   c  ««x 


Scale  tr 


Feet 


Fig.  27.       DETAILS  OF   NEWELS   AND  BALUSTERS. 


XVIIth  AND  XVIIIth  CENTURY  STAIRCASE  DETAILS.    35 


C=7 


5 


iTRinO 


Bromley  Palace 

BROtiLtl-BY-8oW     fi6o&) 


•>i<wv  Balusters 

Kdi...  tAu^ni*^;'*"  '/'0< 


Friends'  House 

Croydon.  '5*<a-£.y. 


rf.torU  1  J/i,^  /Ifuttu. 


^Falstaff    Motel 

CANTERBURY. 


Grvot   5*"  Helen's.  S.shops^otc 


7  Park  Hall 
Oswestry  ui^j.. 


Balusters  cvk*   yjoc 

\Cdin*  t*tOt,/ fy.n<.«. 


"ASHBUR/tMAAI  HOUSE 
WESTMINSTER  c  16^0 


CRAfiDORflE    flAflOR 

Mouse.  Dorset.        i£u 


*        "^ 


6 


:^0 


-$Fee:t 


Fig.  28.       DETAILS  OF    NEWELS   AND    BALUSTERS. 


36      THE  CONTINUOUS  CARVED  BALUSTRADE. 

with  a  richly  chased  newel,  and  balusters  of  very  elegant  shape. 
But  the  staircase  at  New  Sampford  Hall  (Plate  xviii)  is  the  most 
beautiful  example.  The  carving  on  the  newel,  the  delicately  en- 
riched pedestal  finial, — ready  for  statuary  but  quite  complete  without 
it, — and  the  well  turned  balusters,  could  not  well  be  surpassed. 

Before  the  reign  of  James  I  was  over  a  new  fashion  was  intro- 
duced in  the  method  of  filling  up  the  space  between  the  handrail 
and  the  string  of  the  staircase.  Its  simplest  form  can  be  seen  in 
the  earlier  of  the  two  stairs  at  Clare  College,  Cambridge  (Figure  29), 
where  the  whole  space  is  filled  in  with  thin  boarding  pierced  in  such 
a  way  as  to  show  the  outline  of  a  pattern  in  the  contemporary  strap- 
work  design.  The  idea  was  quickly  developed,  carving  in  relief 
was  introduced  and  the  balustrade  was  soon  converted  into  great 
panels  of  interlacing  ornament.  It  is  difficult  to  give  an  exact  date 
to  these  staircases,  for  the  large  houses  were  many  years  in  building, 
but  the  fashion  had  become  fully  established  at  the  accession  of 
Charles  I,  and  continued  with  important  changes  to  the  end  of  the 
century.  The  two  finest  examples  of  this  first  period  are  un- 
doubtedly Aston  Hall,  Warwickshire,  and  Crewe  Hall,  Cheshire, 
both  erected  about  1 620-1 625.  They  belong  in  every  sense  to  the 
Jacobean  type  in  all  their  detail,  the  former  (Plate  xix)  showing  as 
much  reserve  and  dignity  as  the  latter  (Figure  30)  an  extravagant 
luxuriance.  At  Rawdon  House,  Hoddesdon  (Plate  xx),  with  its 
curious  crudely  carved  panels  (Plate  xxi),  on  one  of  which  appears 
the  date  1622  ;  at  Aldermaston,  finished  in  1636,  and  well  known 
through  Nash's  view  although  since  destroyed  ;  and  at  so  late  a 
stair  as  that  in  Cromwell  House,  Highgate  (Figures  31  to  32a), 
built  about  the  time  of  the  Commonwealth,  the  Jacobean  influence 
still  prevails.  The  groundwork  in  the  ornament  of  the  panels  is  still 
the  old   strapwork   although   other  subjects    occur,   and   all    three 


THE  SUBJECTION  OF  THE  NEWEL.  37 

have  heraldic  finials  or  sculptured  figures.  The  rusticated  work  on 
the  newels  at  Rawdon  House,  the  rich  carving  on  those  of  Alder- 
maston  and  the  beautiful  pedestals  with  Ionic  caps  which  are 
provided  for  the  types  of  Cromwell's  soldiery  (Plate  xxii) — each  and 
all  proclaim  their  affinity  to  the  time  of  James  I.  But  these  are 
the  last  stairs  of  which 
Blickling  was  the  type. 
The  all-conquering  tide 
of  the  Later  Renais- 
sance was  soon  to  con- 
demn the  newel  to  a 
completely  subservient 
position  in  the  design, 
and  the  first  step  that 
was  taken  abolished  its 
figures  and  its  finials, 
and  merely  marked  its 
position  by  a  modest 
vase  adorned  with  fruit 
or  flowers.  This  was  ac- 
companied by  the  intro- 
duction of  naturalistic 
carving  into  the  balus- 
trade. These  great  stair- 
cases with  continuous 
balustrades  of  flowing  foliage  have  been  made  famous  by  the  exquisite 
workmanship  of  Grinling  Gibbons  and  his  school  of  carvers.  But 
before  them  there  were  many  less  successful  attempts  which  paved 
the  way  for  the  greater  triumphs.  There  is  a  vigorous  and  interest- 
ing stair  of  this  type  at  Hutton-in-the-Forest,  Cumberland,  where 


Fig.  29. 


CLARE    COLLEGE,    FORMERLY   CLARE 
HALL,    CAMBRIDGE. 


38 


BASKETS  OF  FRUIT  AS  FINIALS. 


the  finials  to  the  newels  have  already  lost  all  character.    There  is  the 
stair  at  Ham  House,  Richmond  (Plate  xxiii)  with  its  flat  carving  of 


■*el 

"iXC 


i      > 


Fig.  30        STAIRCASE,    FORMERLY    AT    CREWE    HALL,    CHESHIRE. 

Drawn  by  W.  Twopeny. 

war  trophies  and  its  baskets  ot  fruit  upon  the  newels,  although  a 
stair  in  King  Street,  Norwich,  on  somewhat  the  same  lines  but  with 


THE  LAST  OF  JACOBEAN  CHARACTERISTICS. 


39 


Fig.    31.      CROMWELL    HOUSE,    HIGHGATE. 

Drawn  by  Ernest  A.  Mann. 


4o       CHANGING  FASHIONS  OF  THE  XVIIth  CENTURY. 

less  carving  possesses  the  rare  feature  of  continuous  supporting 
newels.  Other  continuous  newels  of  an  altogether  unusual  type 
are  found  in  a  rather  later  example  at  Castle  Ashby,  where  they 
consist  of  straight  columns,  the  shafts  of  which  are  completely 
covered  with  a  carved  imitation  of  ivy  and  creepers  twined  round 
them.    Yet  another  stair  on  the  somewhat  rigid  lines  of  Ham  House 

is  to  be  found  in  a 
second  house  near 
Kingston.  This  has 
ball  finials  and  re- 
calls the  fact  that 
Number  5,  Chandos 
Street,  Strand  (since 
destroyed),  had 
quite  an  early  type 
of  ball  finial  com- 
bined with  a  crude 
but  determined  at- 
tempt at  a  continu- 
ous balustrade  of 
flowing  foliage. 

One  of  the  first  of 
the  later  and  finest 
period  of  these  stair- 
cases is  that  at  Tyt- 
tenhanger,  Herts 
(circa  1654),  which 
is  beautifully  carved  with  leaf  and  flower.  The  broad  handrail  has 
a  bead  enrichment,  the  string  is  carved  with  leaves,  and  the  newel, 
panelled  with  fruit  and  foliage,  rises  a  little  above  the  handrail  to 


—  lJJIHtMlMf1li?lf?^l>  PP-r 

Fig.  32.      SECTION    OF   THE    STAIRCASE,    CROMWELL 

HOUSE,    HIGHGATE. 

Drawn  by  W.  Dean. 


li  6*   0         I         2         3         +         ?          k         7         8         9,       10         II        12        M        I*         15 

'^^  M   1   i    i   i   i    i    i    I    l    i    i    M    i    i  FffET- 

Fig.    32A.      CROMWELL    HOUSE,    HIGHGATE. 

Measured  and  drawn  by  W .  Dean. 


42  THE  WORK  OF  JOHN  WEBB. 

support  a  plain  vase  with  fruit.  This  last  feature 
is  wanting  in  an  otherwise  very  similar  staircase 
at  Stratton  Park,  Biggleswade  (Plate  xxiv). 
Tyttenhanger  was  probably  built  by  John  Webb, 
to  whom  must  be  ascribed  the  stair  at 
Thorpe  Hall  (1656).  Here  the  hand- 
rail runs  over  the  top  of  the  newel  and 


Fig-  33- 

BALUSTRADE     IN     THE 
VICTORIA  AND  ALBERT 

MUSEUM. 


the  vase  of  fruit  is  a  little  more 
elaborate.  A  gracefully  carved 
scroll  in  the  form  of  a  buttress  adds 
strength  to  the  bottom  newel.  Two 
years  later  it  was  probably  Webb 
also  who  carried  out  the  beautiful  stair  at  Forde  Abbey,  Dorset, 
with  a  massive  handrail,  carefully  ramped  or  curved  up  to  each 
newel,  over  which  it  is  mitred,  and  made  to  support  a  boldly 
modelled  vase  of  fruit.     A  long  flight  of  fourteen  steps  with  a  small 


AN  EARLY  EXAMPLE  OF  FLOWING  FOLIAGE.    43 


Fig.  34.       STAIRCASE  AT  CROWLEY  HOUSE,  GREENWICH  (BEGUN   1647). 
NOW  DEMOLISHED. 


44 


FAMOUS  STAIRS  OF  THE  XVIIth  CENTURY. 


landing  breaking  it  in  the  centre  gives  the  occasion  for  four  newels, 
and  increases  the  strength  of  the  design. 

With  the  accession  of  Charles  II  the  fashion  for  these  monumental 
staircases  was  at  once  confirmed,  and  we  have  a  surprising  number 
of  those  vast  works  which  must  have 
absorbed  the  best  craftsmanship  of  the 
day.  The  stairs  at  Durham  Castle  (1665), 
Eltham  Lodge  (1663),  Sudbury  Hall, 
Wentworth  Castle,  Cassiobury,  Tythrop, 
Dunster  Castle  (Plate  xxv),  and  Tredegar 
Park  (circa  1670),  are  among  the  finest 
and  must  all  have  been  completed  within 
ten  years.  There  is  not  the  same  finish 
in  all  the  carving,  but  it  is  nowhere  lack- 
ing in  high  decorative  quality.  Intro- 
duced at  first  in  panels,  it  ultimately 
stretched  the  whole  length  of  the  balus- 
trade. The  handrail  and  string  show  a 
tendency  to  increase  the  boldness  and  en- 
richment of  their  mouldings  (the  latter 
taking  the  form  of  a  long  carved  entab- 
lature) and  the  vertical  lines  are  almost 
completely  eliminated,  until  it  is  thought 
no  longer  necessary  to  mark  the  position 
of  the  newels,  and  the  vases  which  had 
lost  all  meaning  are  finally  omitted  with 

great  advantage,  as  at  Tythrop  and  Wentworth  Castle.  The  newel 
in  fact  becomes  a  massive  pedestal,  with  the  handrail  and  string 
breaking  round  it  to  form  its  cornice  and  base.  The  examples 
given  from  smaller  houses  illustrate  the  same   principles   in  some 


Fig-  35- 

CLARE  COLLEGE  (l688), 
CAMBRIDGE. 


THE  RESUMPTION  OF  THE  BALUSTER.  45 

measure.  Crowley  House,  Greenwich  (Figure  34),  is  comparatively 
early.  No.  25,  High  Street,  Guildford  (Plates  xxvi  and  xxvii), 
furnishes  a  fine  type  of  the  balustrade  and  vase,  while  the  beautiful 
stair  from  The  Close,  Winchester  (Plate  xxviii),  gives  all  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  later  development,  with  the  exception  of  the  newel 
which  is  not  capped  by  the  handrail.  A  very  elegant  undated  piece 
of  balustrading  from  South  Kensington  Museum  (Figure  33)  may 
be  mentioned  here,  although  the  delicate  handrail  indicates  the 
work  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  foliage  is  interspersed  with 
scroll-work  after  the  French  manner  and  the  effect  is  so  good  that 
the  idea  is  worthy  of  imitation. 

From  this  time  forward  the  reign  of  the  baluster  is  resumed  in 
the  whole  kingdom  of  the  staircase,  with  the  single  reservation  of 
the  iron  balustrade  to  which  we  shall  presently  allude,  and  in  which 
will  be  discovered  some  reminiscence  of  the  wooden  scroll  work 
just  described.  But  first  we  must  retrace  our  steps  and  turn 
our  attention  to  a  certain  number  of  stairs  which  did  not  follow 
the  lines  we  have  already  sketched.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
from  the  reign  of  James  I  we  date  the  intrusion  of  the  personal 
element  into  design,  or  in  other  words  the  birth  of  the  modern 
architect.  While  the  vernacular  building — to  borrow  an  expression 
from  language — was  pursuing  its  ordinary  course,  still  wedded  to 
the  traditions  of  the  past,  a  man  like  Inigo  Jones  was  pursuing  his 
own  ideals  and  producing  in  the  large  country  house  designs  which 
would  not  become  popular  until  half  a  century  later — a  separation 
which  has  continued  to  the  present  day.  At  Coleshill,  Berks, 
1650  {Frontispiece),  Inigo  Jones  constructed  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  of  all  staircases,  irrespective  of  period,  having  all  the 
harmony  in  design  and  workmanship  that  comes  from  the  invention 
and  directing  skill  of  a  great  artist.    At  a  time  when  even  the  largest 


Fig.  36.      ASHBURNHAM  HOUSE,  WESTMINSTER. 

Drawn  by  Edmund  L.  W ratten. 


THE  BALUSTRADE  AT  COLESHILL. 


47 


houses  were  making  use  of  the  balustrade  of  continuous  foliage,  lnigo 
Jones  revived  the  baluster,  but  in  a  form  that  differed  vastly  from  the 
earlier  type.  He  introduced  the  simplest  type,  which  made  its  first 
appearance  in  stone  in  the  Italian  renascence,  short  in  length,  but 
broad  in  section,  cut  away  well  beneath  a  simple  ovolo  cap,  encircled 


Fig.    37.       WOLSELEY    HALL,    STAFFORDSHIRE. 


with  a  necking,  and  gradually  swelling  to  its  full  diameter  before  curv- 
ing in  again  over  a  simple  base.  The  cap  is  carved  with  egg-tongue, 
a  ring  of  acanthus  leaves  surrounds  the  belly,  and  the  base  is  further 
enriched.  The  whole  stair,  otherwise,  might  well  have  been  the 
model  for  those  at  Cassiobury  and  Tythrop,  except  that  the  string, 
as  befitting  a  more  delicate  treatment,  is  carved  with  simple  festoons 


48 


s 


< 


INCHES 


Fig.  38. 

CASTLE  BROMWICH, 
WARWICKSHIRE. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  INIGO  JONES. 

and  is  not  heavily  moulded.  We  do  not  know 
that  Inigo  Jones  himself  ever  used  the  balustrade 
of  pierced  foliage.  Houses  like  Forde  Abbey 
which  he  altered,  were  completed  after  his  death, 
and  places  like  Tyttenhanger  are  ascribed  to  him 
on  but  slender  grounds.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
beautiful  and  ingenious  stair  at  Ashburnham 
House,  Westminster  (Figure  36),  one  of  the 
most  justly  celebrated  in  England,  of  which  the 
design  at  least  is  persistently  ascribed  to  him, 
follows  Coleshill  in  the  essential  character  of  its 
construction  and  detail  (Figure  28).  Both  these 
stairs  bear  one  mark  of  their  comparatively  early 
date,  the  handrail  is  not  ramped  to  the  newel  as 
in  a  similar  example  at  Powis  Castle.  Coleshill, 
unlike  the  Jacobean  staircase  at  Blickling,  is 
really  a  double  stair,  leading  up  on  either  side 
of  the  Hall.  The  influence  it  had  upon  the 
coming  fashions  is  shown  by  the  general  adoption 
of  its  main  lines  in  all  work  at  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  Its  spirit  is  reproduced  in 
the  beautiful  stair  at  Potheridge  (Plate  xxix). 
At  Cobham  Hall,  Kent  (Plate  xxx),  it  is  also 
seen  but  a  desire  for  elaboration  has  given  the 
balusters  Ionic  volutes,  and  has  stopped  the  hand- 
rail against  the  newels  in  order  to  re-introduce  a 
carved  finial  which  is  reminiscent  of  Charlton 
House  and  Wick  Court,  an  inconsistency  rectified 
in  the  portion  shown  on  Plate  xxxi. 

There  was  another  novel  factor  introduced  in 


THE  TWISTED  OR  SPIRAL  BALUSTER.  49 

the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  which  was  to  have  far-reaching 
results.  This  was  the  twisted  or  spiral  baluster.  If  we  may  trust 
the  date  (1652)  on  the  newel  at  Dawtrey  Mansion,  Petworth  (Plate 
xxxii),  as  referring  to  the  stair  as  a  whole,  we  have  here  a  curious 
transitional  phase  which  links  the  new  feature  with  the  fine  old  finials 
of  Jacobean  origin.  The  first  balusters  of  this  kind  were  turned  in 
such  a  way  as  to  give  the  appearance  of  being  actually  twisted,  not 
carved  with  spiral  grooves  like  the  Georgian  type.  They  usually 
had  a  small  vase-shaped  feature  at  the  base  of  the  twisted  shaft. 
(See  examples  in  Figure  28.)  A  stair  at  St.  George's,  Canterbury 
(Plate  xxxiii),  has  continuous  newels  formed  in  spirals  like  the  balus- 
ters, but  the  spirit  of  the  age  soon  imposed  the  yoke  of  the  flat  heavy 
handrail,  characteristic  examples  being  those  at  Restoration  House, 
Rochester  (lower  stair),  and  the  Gordon  Hotel  in  the  same  town 
(Plate  xxxiv),  which  latter  possesses  an  interesting  and  characteristic 
dog-gate  of  this  period  (Plate  xxxv).  The  staircase  which  stood 
at  No.  4,  Crosby  Square  (Plates  xxxvi  and  xxxvii)  until  its  demolition 
in  1908,  carries  the  type  to  perfection.  The  string  and  newels  are 
beautifully  carved,  the  handrail  and  balusters  are  slightly  enriched, 
while  the  graceful  ramp  of  the  rail  to  each  newel  binds  the  whole 
together  most  effectively.  At  a  staircase  of  this  kind  dated  1688, 
in  Clare  College,  Cambridge,  occurs  the  successful  treatment  of  the 
double  newel,  already  mentioned,  where  the  lower  post  finishes 
against  the  upper  with  a  neat  carved  console*  (Figure  25).  The 
Friars,  Aylesford,  gives  a  curious  example  of  the  application  of  the 
twisted  baluster  to  a  circular  stair  (Plate  xxxviii)  as  well  as  to  some  fine 
straight  flights.  But  the  most  sumptuous  of  them  all  is  at  Wolseley 
Hall  (Figure  37),  where  the  design  and  scale  invite  comparison  with 
the  triumphs  of  the  two  earlier  classes  represented  by  Cassiobury 
and  Coleshill.     The  sweeping  curves  of  the  handrail  are  excellent, 

*     Good  examples  of  the  same  feature,  by  Wren,  are  to  be  seen  at  Chelsea  Hospital 
(completed  1691). 


50  THE  BROAD  HANDRAIL  OVER-RIDES  THE  NEWELS. 

and  the  carved  mouldings  and  beautiful  vases  over  the  newels  give 
a  very  rich  effect.  All  the  fine  lines  of  the  type  are  to  be  seen  too 
at  Halswell  Park,  Somerset  (1689),  which  is  almost  without  carving. 
Here,  as  was  the  invariable  custom,  is  a  beautiful  panelled  dado, 
that  reproduces  the  slope  of  the  stair  on  the  wall  and  follows  the 
ramp  of  the  handrail. 

Along  with  those  just  described,  the  plain  turned  baluster  had  a 
considerable  vogue,  and  many  were  the  shapes  devised  by  each 
designer's  fancy.  They  were  in  the  main  short  and  stout,  a  good 
deal  cut  away  from  the  solid  and  formed  of  full  rounded  shapes  as 
shown  in  Figs.  28,  38,  etc.  It  was  some  time  before  the  fact  was 
fully  perceived,  that  the  logical  result  of  classicising  the  stair  was  to 
cut  short  the  newel,  over-ride  it  with  the  broad  handrail,  and  abolish 
the  finial.  The  tardiness  with  which  this  conclusion  was  reached 
caused  a  large  number  of  more  or  less  incongruous  attempts  to 
effect  a  compromise,  chiefly  by  the  use  of  the  strange  vases  of  fruit 
and  flowers  that  had  a  brief  popularity,  as  in  the  example  given  from 
Hever  Court,  Ifield  (Plate  xxxix),  and  in  that  at  Farnham  Castle. 
The  stair  at  9,  St.  Margaret's  Street,  Canterbury,  affords  a  rare 
instance  of  a  successful  treatment  on  these  lines,  but  the  whole 
design  is  unique  and  owes  its  interest  to  the  apparent  mixture  of 
features  of  two  periods.  The  delicate  little  arched  screen  (Plate 
xl)  is  almost  Jacobean  in  its  lines,  but  the  twisted  columns  and 
cherub's  heads  in  the  spandrils  belong  to  the  latter  part  of  the 
century,  as  do  also  the  balusters.  The  details  of  the  upper  part  of 
the  stair  (Plate  xli)  reveal  some  good  balusters  with  the  incised 
lines  that  mark  an  earlier  origin,  and  the  boldly  carved  newels  and 
finely  proportioned  vases  would  seem  to  antedate  the  screen.  The 
excellent  design  of  each  feature  and  the  skilful  craftsmanship  make 
the  staircase  a  noteworthy  one.     At  Westwood  Park  the  newels  are 


Fig.    39.       SERJEANTS'    INN,    FLEET    STREET,    LONDON. 


52         A  LATE  EXAMPLE  OF  CONTINUOUS  NEWELS. 

carried  up  as  stout  columns  with  elaborate  Corinthian  capitals,  but 
they  do  not  support  anything  beyond  some  ball  finials,  which  make 
the  design  curious  but  not  altogether  satisfactory.  Such  were  some 
of  the  compromises  attempted  during  the  Commonwealth  and  the 
reign  of  Charles  II. 

Of  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  is  the  charming 
staircase  in  the  Warden's  House,  New  College,  Oxford  (Plate 
xlii),  which  has  continuous  newels,  turned  somewhat  after  the  model 
of  the  baluster  of  the  period.  This  treatment  at  so  late  a  date  is 
quite  uncommon,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  general  fashion 
had  purged  itself  of  all  survivals  of  the  earlier  modes  and  sur- 
rendered to  the  quiet  and  simple  lines  which  we  have  seen  at 
Potheridge,  and  which  are  well  brought  out  in  the  house  at  Botolph 
Lane  (1670),  associated  with  the  name  of  Wren  (Plate  xliii).  The 
new  style  continued  until  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  and  countless 
houses  built  at  this  time  in  London  and  provincial  towns  are  fur- 
nished with  staircases  of  which  the  elements  are  essentially  the 
same  :  long  straight  flights  with  a  low  balustrade,  standing  on  a 
string  moulded  in  the  form  of  a  simple  entablature,  and  capped 
by  a  broad  moulded  handrail  that  serves  as  the  cornice  to  the 
pedestal  newel.  The  only  feature  left  to  remind  us  of  the  earlier 
function  of  the  newel  is  the  existence  of  the  pendant,  which,  as- 
suming the  form  of  a  carved  rosette  or  a  very  shallow  drop,  was 
rarely  omitted  even  to  the  last.  The  chief  variety  in  these  stairs 
was  in  the  shape  of  the  balusters,  one  of  the  best  designs  being 
figured  in  the  detail  from  Castle  Bromwich  (Figure  38).  Simpler 
types  are  shown  from  the  Falstafr*  Hotel,  Canterbury  (Figure  28), 
and  from  some  specimens  in  S.  Kensington  Museum  (Figure  28). 
Quite  another  form  is  seen  at  Bruce  Castle,  Tottenham  (Plate  xliv), 
which  was  altered  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century. 


o 


be 


54  THE  IDEAL  OF  THE  GEORGIAN  DESIGNERS. 

These  staircases  persisted  in  solitary  examples  well  into  the 
eighteenth  century,  as  witness  Rushbrook  Hall  (circa  1735)  and 
Houghton  (1722-35),  but  the  general  trend  of  design  in  this 
century  was  on  very  different  lines.  The  extreme  and  somewhat 
constrained  intellectuality  of  the  Georgian  era,  mirrored  so  faith- 
fully in  the  character  of  its  furniture,  made  chiefly  for  that  rather 
elusive  quality  known  as  elegance.  We  have  already  seen  the 
exuberance  of  the  early  renaissance  restrained  by  the  desire  for  the 
correct  classic  forms  which  obtained  from  Charles  II  to  Queen 
Anne.  But  the  very  essence,  as  it  were,  of  the  staircase  was  now 
to  be  materialised  and  expressed  in  the  simplest  lines.  It  was  to  be 
a  flight  of  steps  in  one  continuous  curve  from  floor  to  floor  and  to 
effect  this  the  covering  string  must  be  abolished,  the  heavy  handrail 
must  give  place  to  a  light  and  polished  roll  and  the  newel — in  order 
that  it  may  not  obstruct  the  essential  line — must  become  little  more 
than  a  slightly  accentuated  baluster.  This  ideal  was  not  completely 
reached  until  the  finest  examples  of  iron  balustrades  were  intro- 
duced in  the  later  years  of  the  century,  but  every  alteration  that 
occurred  was  with  this  object  in  view.  The  first  step  was  to  get 
rid  of  the  string,  the  necessity  for  which  change  is  well  shown  by  its 
unfortunate  retention  in  the  otherwise  fine  staircase  at  Hopetoun 
House  (Plates  xlv  and  xlvi).  At  Hatton  Garden  (Plate  xlvii)  we 
see  the  new  method,  the  stairs  being  brought  well  out  over  the 
small  constructional  string,  and  the  ends  beautifully  carved  with  the 
brackets  or  consoles  which  were  to  become  the  great  feature  of  the 
Georgian  designs.  The  ramp  of  the  handrail  now  looks  a  more 
natural  expedient,  although  in  this  case  the  newel  rises  inde- 
pendently a  little  way,  and  three  slight  balusters  are  allotted  to  each 
tread.  The  curve  of  the  rail,  and  of  the  angle  of  the  landing 
above,  together  with  the  carved  bracket  and  drop  below  the  latter, 


THE  GEORGIAN  BALUSTER. 


55 


help  to  bind  the  design  together  and  give  it  an  added  grace. 
No.  44,  Great  Ormond  Street  (Plate  xlviii)  shows  the  newel  as  a 
simple  column  beneath  the  handrail,  the  lowest  one  being  sur- 
rounded by  a  circle  of  balusters,  a  feature  maintained  in  most  of 
the  other  examples.  Here  the  string  appears  enriched,  beneath  the 
stairs.  The  balusters,  of  which  there  are  two  to  each  tread,  are  of 
the  usual  slight  form  and  show  the  small  square  block,  introduced 
just  beneath  the  shaft, 
which  is  the  mark  of 
the  Georgian  type. 
The  grand  staircase  at 
Harrington  House  (PI. 
xlix)  has  three  balusters 
to  each  tread,  among 
which  there  are  two 
distinct  designs,  one 
having  a  hollow  groove 
worked  as  a  spiral 
round  the  shaft  and 
the  other  vertical 
fluting.  The  Hook, 
Northaw  (Plate  1),  has 
all  three  balusters  dif- 
ferent, the  third  being 
an  adaptation  of  the 
old  twisted  baluster, 
and    this    triple    type 

became  the  general  custom.  The  twisted  balusters  were  still  used 
exclusively  in  a  few  of  the  earlier  stairs  as  at  Sergeants'  Inn 
(Figure  39),  No.  6,  Cheyne  Walk,  Chelsea  (17 18),  and  at  its  neigh- 


THE  GREAT  HOUSE,  CHESHUNT. 


56        DESIGN  DURING  THE   REIGN  OF  QUEEN  ANNE. 

bour,  No.  4.  This  last  named  has  its  walls  covered  with  painting, 
like  the  fine  stair  at  Stoke  Edith  (Figure  40),  which  was  painted 
by  Sir  James  Thornhill.     The  three-baluster-type  is  again  shown  in 

the  Great  House, 
Cheshunt  (Figures 
41  and  42),  where 
the  curve  of  the 
handrail  at  the 
half-landing  is  well 
illustrated.  In  the 
beautiful  staircase 
at  Friend's  House, 
Croydon  (Plate  li), 
we  may  see  that  the 
carved  string  has 
not  been  altogether 
forgotten,  but  is 
commemorated  in 
the  face  of  the 
landing  above, 
where  no  stair-ends 
would  be  possible. 
Here  the  twisted 
type  of  baluster  has 
attained  a  very  re- 
fined form,  and  is 
carved  so  that  the 

r\g.    42.   THE  GREAT  HOUSE,  CHESHUNT. 

outer  spiral  is  cut 
free  of  an  inner  core  about  which  it  seems  to  wind  in  close  coils 
(Figure  28).     This  idea  was  carried  to  something  like  excess  during 


£li 


58  CARVED  STAIR-ENDS. 

the  Georgian  period  in  the  American  colonies,  where  extraordinary 
ingenuity  was  lavished  upon  these  spiral  balusters  and  even  newels. 
Every  form  of  twisting  flutes  and  mouldings  were  employed,  and 
in  some  cases  the  core  itself  was  carved  with  a  spiral  grooving  that 
ran  the  reverse  way  to  the  outer  coil. 

Much  variety  was  also  shown  in  the  design  of  the  carved  brackets, 
three  of  which  are  given  on  Plate  lii  and  one  in  Figure  44.  Occa- 
sionally, as  at  the  Home  for  Aged  Jews,  Stepney,  and  the  house  of 


—I  INCHES 


Fig.  44. 

CARVED    BRACKET    AT    BRUCE    CASTLE,    TOTTENHAM." 

John  Wood,  1 5,  Queen  Square,  Bath,  the  outline  of  these  brackets 
was  projected  the  whole  width  of  the  soffit,  forming  a  richly 
moulded  ceiling  under  the  stair.  Other  features  of  luxury  were  intro- 
duced in  individual  examples.  At  Glastonbury  Hall  (1726)  is  an  oak 
stair,  inlaid  with  light  wood  and  mahogany,  of  which  the  risers  are 
panelled.  Wandsworth  Manor  House,  now  destroyed,  had  a  carved 
screen  (Figure  43),  the  Georgian  counterpart  of  those  at  Temple 
Newsam,  Knole  and  Great  Wigsell.    An  unusual  balustrade  of  laths 

*    This  Bracket  is  from  a  different  staircase  to  that  illustrated  in  Plate  xliv. 


SCOTTISH  IRON  SCROLL-WORK. 


59 


Fig.    45.      CAROLINE    PARK, 
GRANTON,    SCOTLAND. 

Drawn  by  R.  S.  Larimer 


Fig.    46.       THE    KING'S    STAIRCASE,    HAMPTON    COURT. 

Measured  and  drawn  by  Albert  Halliday 


APPLICATION  OF  IRON  TO  THE  STAIRCASE. 


61 


arranged  in  a  geometric  pattern  is  that  at  5,  John  Street,  Bedford 
Row  (Plate  liii),  although  the  secondary  staircase  in  some  houses 
was  sometimes  furnished  with  a  rather  simpler  pattern,  as  at  No.  6, 
Cheyne  Walk,  Chelsea. 


.  1 

3 


s 


6/ss? 


Fig.    47.       PATTERNS    OF    IRON    BALUSTERS. 
IN    THE    VICTORIA    AND    ALBERT    MUSEUM,    EXCEPT    C    WHICH    IS    AT    DRAYTON 

HOUSE,    NORTHANTS. 


The  application  of  iron  to  the  staircase  balustrade  was  introduced 
in  the  last  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  it  rapidly  became 
the  fashion  in  the  greater  mansions.  Suggested  at  first  perhaps  by 
the  continuous  balustrade  of  foliage  in  wood,  it  was  afterwards  re- 
tained owing  to  its  peculiar  suitability  to  the  designs  which,  as  we 
have  seen,  the  following  century  required.  It  is  not  our  intention 
to  go,  at  any  length,  into  the  development  of  eighteenth  century 
ironwork,  a  large  subject  and  capable  of  occupying  a  volume  in 


62 


A  CURVED  IRON  BALUSTRADE  BY  WREN. 


Fig.  48.     st.  paul's  cathedral. 


SCOTTISH  EXAMPLES. 


63 


itself.  We  will  therefore  content  ourselves  with  giving  examples  of 
the  different  types,  and  comment  on  the  function  that  each  was  able 
to  perform. 


WROVGMT  \Wn  DALV5TRADL- 
A1AIH    STAIIJCA5L. 


Fig.  49.     sr.  Helen's  house,  derby. 

Drawn  by  C.  H.  Potter. 

In  Scotland  we  find  the  most  curious  attempts  to  follow  the  lines 
of  the  continuous  foliage  designs,  the  stair  at  Caroline  Park, 
Granton  (Figure  45),  dated  1685,  Demg  one  of  the  most  successful. 


64 


SIR  CHRISTOPHER  WREN'S  DESIGNS. 


The  foliage  is  divided  into  panels  by  upright  bars  and  the  treatment 
is  simple  and  effective.  With  this  should  be  compared  the  work 
at  Holyrood  Palace,  Hopetoun  House  and  Craigiehall. 

Under  Sir  Christopher 
Wren,  who  may  or  may 
not  have  designed  the  iron- 
work himself,  we  find  the 
adoption  of  the  more 
familiar  treatment  of  the 
metal,  a  treatment  that  led 
the  craft  to  such  an  ex- 
traordinary pitch  of  suc- 
cess that  it  has  made  this 
period  famous  for  its  beau- 
tiful examples  of  gates  and 
railings.  Using  bars  of  a 
square  or  oblong  section, 
the  designer  worked  them 
into  simple  scrolls  and 
curves,  generally  in  long 
vertical  panels,  the  out- 
lines being  symmetrically 
repeated  each  side  of  a 
central  bar.  The  main 
lines,  or  skeleton,  of  the 
design  were  thus  always 
emphasised  and  the  panel 
was  further  elaborated  with 
smaller  scrolls  and  foliage, 
which  followed  or  grew  out  of  the  guiding  curves.     The  beautiful 


Fig.    50.       8,  GROSVENOR    SQUARE. 

Drawn  by  Edmund  L.  Wratten. 


IRON    BALUSTERS. 


65 


vv  1  miiiwi' 


staircases  at  Hampton  Court  (Plate  liv  and  Figure  46),  the  work- 
manship of  Jean  Tijou,  show  this  type  in  perfection.  Wren's  pupils 
and  successors  followed  on  the  same  lines,  as  (to  take  one  example 
by  Hawksmoor)  at  Easton  Neston  (1702-13),  where  however  the 
'  flowing  work  is  confined  to  the  landings,  the  rest  being  divided  into 
small  panels,  one  to 
each  stair.  This  il- 
lustrates that  ten- 
dency to  resume 
the  "  baluster  " 
idea,  which  declares 
itself  most  openly 
in  Sir  John  Van- 
brugh's  staircase 
at  Beningbrough 
Hall,  Yorkshire, 
where  stout  iron 
balusters  are  actual- 
ly used,  relieved  at 
intervals  by  panels 
of  scroll  -  work. 
Here,  however,  the 
result  was  scarcely 
satisfactory,  and  the 
more  usual  practice 
took  the  form  of  a 
compromise.  The 
scroll-work  of  the  panels  was  freed  from  the  rigid  enclosing  lines 
seen  at  Easton  Neston,  and  being  made  in  a  form,  the  individ- 
uality of  which  was  easily  recognisable,  they  were  placed  in  suc- 


Fig.  51.     queen's  house,  chelsea. 


66 


USE  OF  IRON  PANELS. 


cession  along  the  balustrade  in  exactly  the  same  way  as  the 
earlier  balusters  themselves  (Figure  47).  In  the  masterly  design 
for  his  circular  stair  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  (Figure  48),  Wren 
himself  used  this  form,  and  its  appropriateness  here  is  as  readily 
discernible  as  in  such  final  types  as  the  one  at  Sheen  House,  Rich- 
mond (Plate  lxi),  which  we  shall  notice  in  a  moment.  The  long 
continuous  line  of  the  balustrade  curving  in  one  sweep  from  floor 
to  floor,  is  emphasised  more  by  a  succession  of  vertical  balusters  or 
panels,  than  by  an  unbroken  filling  of  flowing  lines.  The  principle 
is  the  same  as  that  which  underlies  the  facade  of  a  Greek  temple, 

the  horizontal  effect  of  which  is 
accentuated  by  the  row  of  vertical 
columns.  The  forms  taken  by 
these  panels  do  not  number  a 
great  variety  but  are  usually  taste- 
ful and  elegant  (Figure  47).  The 
earlier  types  are  somewhat  the 
shape  of  a  lyre,  as  in  the  charming 
stair  at  St.  Helen's  House,*  Derby 
(Figure  49),  the  work  of  Robert 
Bakewell,  the  Derbyshire  smith 
(flourished  1707-23).  Later  in  the 
eighteenth  century  the  S  type 
found  much  favour,  as  at  White- 
hall Gardens  (Plate  lx)  and  at 
8,  Grosvenor  Square  (Figure  50). 
The  last-named  shows  the  sweeping  curve  of  the  flight  of  steps  in  a 
marked  degree,  and  it  soon  became  fashionable  to  have  at  least  one 
circular  stair,  and  that  often  the  principal  one,  in  the  house.  Two 
examples  of  small  stairs  are  shown  in  the  illustrations,  one  from 

Cf .  Okeover  Hall,  Staffs. ,  where  an  almost  precisely  similar  design  occurs. 


Fig.  52.  queen's  house,  chelsea. 


STAIRCASE  DESIGNED  FOR  THE  DUKE  OF  CHANDOS.    67 


Queen's  House,  Chelsea  (Plate  lix  and  plan  in  Figure  52),  and 
one  from  Baddow  Hall,  Essex  (Plate  lxii).  In  both  of  these  the  iron 
panels  are  curiously  reminiscent  of  the  pierced  wooden  balusters  of 
early  Elizabethan  days.  The  stair  at  Queen's  House  is  remarkable 
for  the  beauty  of  the  carved  brackets,  which  appear  at  the  end  of 
each  step  from  the  basement  to  the  top  floor  (Figure  51).  An 
example  of  monu- 
mental work  is  ■wwwi^s^ 
given  in  Plates  lv 
and  lvi  which  illus- 
trate the  staircase 
inserted  by  Isaac 
Ware  in  the  Earl 
of  Chesterfield's 
house.  This  stair 
was  brought  from 
Canons,  Middle- 
sex, the  property 
of  the  Duke  of 
Chandos,  and  be- 
yond the  change  in 
the  coronet  needed 
no  further  altera- 
tion. The  Earl  remarks  that  "the  staircase  particularly  will  form 
such  a  scene  as  is  not  in  England.  The  expense  will  ruin  me  but 
the  enjoyment  will  please  me." 

The  brothers  Adam  and  their  disciples  put  the  finishing  touch  to 
the  eighteenth  century  staircase.  However  much  of  innovation  we 
may  consider  they  introduced  into  other  features,  in  the  staircase  at 
least  they  found  a  subject  which  had  attained  a  form  almost  equal 


Fig-  53- 

DESIGN  BY  ROBERT  ADAM  FOR  GAWTHORP  HOUSE. 


68 


DESIGNS  OF  THE  BROTHERS  ADAM. 


to  their  own  delicacy  and  refinement.  Two  graceful  sketches  for  a 
balustrade  by  them  are  shown  in  Figures  52  ar,d  54-  If  not  actually 
an  "Adam"  stair,  the  one  from  Sheen  House,  Richmond  (Plate  lxi), 
is  a  typical  example  and  a  perfect  embodiment  of  the  idea  which  we 
have  endeavoured  to  show  was  the  goal  of  the  Georgian  designer  : 
the  subservience  of  every  part  to  the  upward  gliding  plane  of  the 
stair  itself.  Another  stair  of  this  period  is  shown  from  35,  Lincoln's 
Inn  Fields  (Plate  lvii),  but  here,  either  from  deliberate  choice,  or 

because  the  owner  re- 
used some  old  material, 
the  lower  portion  pos- 
sesses the  lyre-shaped 
panels  of  an  earlier 
fashion.  The  stair  pre- 
sents an  interesting  con- 
trast and  the  panel  on 
the  landing  is  worthy  of 
Jean  Tijou  (Plate  lviii). 
The  lines  of  the  hand- 
rail in  these  examples 
are  very  graceful  and 
they  finish  on  the 
ground  floor  in  the 
same  hollow  circular 
newel  which  we  ob- 
served in  the  wooden 
Georgian  stairs.  A  par- 
ticularly successful  de- 
sign which  covers  the  circular  staircase  at  Millerstair  is  shown  in 
Figure  $S- 


Fig.    54.      DESIGNED    BY    ROBERT   ADAM. 


THE  DECLINE  OF  THE  STAIRCASE. 


69 


From  this  time  design  became  impoverished.  Sir  John  Soane 
made  a  felicitous  composition  in  his  stair  at  the  old  War  Office 
(Plate  lxiii)  which,  lit  from  above, 
invested  the  circular  colonnade 
and  the  simple  lines  of  the  steps 
with  a  certain  charm  and  dignity. 
The  plain  iron  bars  which  do  duty 
as  balusters  are  curved,  and  this 
arrangement  became  the  fashion 
for  a  brief  period  since  it  main- 
tained the  severity  of  character, 
at  the  same  time  affording  to  the 
eye  a  little  relief.  The  way,  how- 
ever, was  being  prepared  for  the 
cast-iron  balustrades  and  the  mis- 
erable successors  of  the  old  turned 
balusters  in  wood,  which  were 
to  last  throughout  the  decline  of 
architectural  art,  until  the  days  of 
the  revivals  had  come.  In  some 
of  the  greater  mansions  staircases 
in  "  the  grand  manner"  were  being 
constructed  of  stone  or  marble,  as 
at  Holkham  Hall,  Norfolk,  built 
circa  1754.  At  Devonshire  House, 
London,  is  a  successful  design  with 
marble  steps,  bronze  scroll-work 
and  an  alabaster  handrail. 

In  the  short  period  of  the  three  1     /  ^'  5^" 

r  /  MILLERSTAIR    HOUSE, 

centuries    which    have    been    the  Scotland. 


70  THREE  CENTURIES  OF  DESIGN. 

main  subject  of  our  review,  the  staircase  is  seen  to  have  mirrored 
with  remarkable  fidelity  not  only  the  great  changes  in  style  but  even 
the  minor  modifications  and  eccentricities  of  fashion.  It  reflected 
the  glory  of  the  early  renaissance,  the  solidity  and  restraint  of  the 
later  classical  design,  and  the  whimsical  intellectuality  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  in  the  end,  it  faded  from  interest,  with  the 
death  of  all  invention  and  inspiration  in  the  art  in  which  it  had 
held  so  high  a  place. 


INDEX  TO  TEXT  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Note  :  The  Roman  figures  in  brackets  refer  to  the  plates. 


Adam,  Robert,  designs  of 

(^gs.  53»  54)  •  67,  68 

Aldermaston        .  .  36,  37 

Ashburnham  House,  Westmin- 
ster (Figs.  28,  36)    .  .     48 
Aston    Bury,    Herts,    (xv,    xvi, 

Figs.  10,  14)  15,  18,  31,  32 

Aston  Hall, Warwickshire  (xix)  15,  36 
Aubrey,  John       .  .  .21 

Audley  End,  Essex  (Fig.  27)  .  25 
Aylesford,  The  Friars  (xxxviii) .     49 

Bacon,  Sir  Francis         .  .21 

Baddow  Hall,  Essex  (lxii)  .     67 

Bakewell,  Robert  .  .     66 

Bath,  15,  Queen  Square  .     58 

Beningbrough  Hall,  Yorks  .  65 
Blickling  Hall,  Norfolk 

22,  23,  25,  37,  48 
Boleyn  Castle,  East  Ham,  Essex  12 
Boughton  Malherbe        .  .     24 

Bristol,   Manor    House,  Sussex 

Place  (Fig.  27)         .  .     31 

Bromley    Palace,    Bromley    by 

Bow  (Fig.  28)  .  12,18 

Bruce  Castle,  Tottenham  (xliv, 

Fig.  44)         .  .  .54 

Burghley  House,  Northants  .  19 
Burton  Agnes,  Yorks      .  .     25 

Cambridge,  Clare  College 

(Figs.  29,  35)  .     30,  36,  49 

Canonbury  Tower,  Islington      .  24 

Canons,  Middlesex  .  .  67 
Canterbury,   Falstaff  Hotel 

(Fig.  28)       .             .             .  52 

,,          St.  George's  (xxxiii)  49 


PAGE 

Canterbury,  9,    St.    Margaret's 

Street  (xl,  xli)    .     50 
„  Strangers'  Hall        .       5 

Caroline   Park,   Granton,   Scot- 
land (Fig.  45)  .  .     63 
Cassiobury,  Herts           .     44,  47,  49 
Castle  Ashby      .             .             .40 
Castle  Bromwich,  Warwickshire 

(Fig.  38)       •  •  •     52 

Castle  Hedingham,  Essex 

(Fig.  4)         .  .  6,8 

Castle  House,  Deddington,Oxon 

(xvii)  .  -17-  29,  32 

Castle  Rising,  Norfolk 

(Figs.  2,  3)  .  .6 

Cecil,  Sir  Robert  .      15,  19,  21 

Chandos,  Duke  of  .  .67 

Charlton  House,  Kent  (Fig.  25)  28,  48 
Charterhouse,  The,  London  .  25 
Chelsea  House  (Fig.  11)  15,  21 

Chelsea,  No.  4,  Cheyne  Walk    .     56 

,,        No.  6,  Cheyne  Walk  55,  61 
Chelsea  Hospital  .  .     50 

Chelsea,  Queen's  House,  Cheyne 

Walk  (lix,  Figs.  51,  52)       .     67 
Cheshunt,  The  Great  House  (lii, 

Figs.  41,  42)  .  .56 

Chesterfield  House,  London  (lv, 

lvi)   .  .  .  .     67 

Chetham's  Hospital,  Manchester 

(Fig.  7)         .  .  12,  14 

Claverton,  Somerset  (Fig.  19) 

12,  14,  15 
Cobham  Hall,  Kent  (xxx,  xxxi)  .  48 
Coleshill,  Berks  (i,  Frontispiece) 

45>  48>  49 
Craigiehall,  Scotland      .  .     64 


72 


INDEX. 


Cranborne  Manor  House,  Dor- 
set (Figs.  17,  18,  28)  .     25 

Crewe  Hall,  Cheshire  (Fig.  30)  15,  36 

Cromwell  House,  Highgate  (xxii, 

Figs.  31,  32,  32A)    .  .     36 

Crowley      House,      Greenwich 

(Fig-  35)  •  •  •  -45 
Croydon,    Friends'    House    (li, 

Fig.  28)      .        ...    56 

Dawtrey    Mansion,    Petworth, 

Sussex  (xxxii)    .         .  -49 

Derby,  St.  Helen's  House 

(Fig.  49)      .         .         .         .66 

Devonshire  House,  London       .     69 

Dorfold  House,  Cheshire 

(Figs.  21,  22)      .         .        12,  27 

Dorton  House,  Bucks        .         .     23 

Downholland  Hall,  Ormskirk  (ii)     10 

Drayton  House,  Northants 

(Fig-  47)  •  •  •  •  61 
Dunster  Castle,  Somerset  (xxv)  44 
Durham  Castle  .         .         .         -44 

Eastbury  Manor  House,  Bark- 
ing, Essex  (Fig.  6)  9 
Easton  Neston  .         .         .         -65 
Eltham  Lodge,  Eltham,  Kent    .     44 

Falstaff    Hotel,    Canterbury 

(Fig.  28)  .  .  .  .52 
Farnham  Castle  .  .  -50 
Forde  Abbey,  Dorset  .  42,  48 
Fyvie  Castle  (Fig.  15)        .         .20 

Gawthorp  House  (Fig.  53)  .  67 
Gibbons,  Grinling  .  .  -37 
Glastonbury  Hall,  Somerset  .  58 
Godinton,  Kent  .         .        14,  26 

Goldsborough  Hall,  Yorks 

(Fig.  8)  .  .  12,  15,  17,  18 
Gorhambury,  Herts  .  .  .21 
Great  Ellingham  Hall,  Norfolk 

(Fig.  9)  .  .  .  14,  17 
Great     House,     Cheshunt     (Hi, 

Figs.  42, 43)        .         .         .     59 


Great  Kewlands,  Burham  (iv)  12,  17 
Great  Nast  Hyde,  Herts  (viii)  27,  32 
Great  Wigsell  (vi)      .  21,  23,  61 

Greenwich,  Crowley  House 

.  (Fig.  35)      :         •         •         -45 
Guildford,  25,  High  Street  (xxvi, 

xxvii) 45 

Hall  i'  th'  Wood,  Bolton 

(Fig.  27)      .        .  12,  14,  17 

Halswell  Park,  Somerset  .  .  50 
Ham  House,  Richmond  (xxiii)  38,  40 
Hampton    Court,    King's   Stair 

(liv,  Fig.  46)  65 

Hardwick  Hall  .  .  .  .19 
Harrington  House,  London  (xlix)  55 
Hatfield  House,  Herts  (ix)  22,  23,  25 
Hawksmoor,  Nicholas  .  .  65 
Hever  Court,  Ifield  (xxxix)  .  50 
Hexham  Priory,  Northumber- 
land (Fig.  1)  .  .  .  5 
Hoddesdon,    The    Conservative 

Club  (xii)     .       28,  29 
„  Rawdon  House  (xx, 

xxxi)    .  28,  36,  37 

Holkham  Hall  .  .  .  .69 
Holland   House,    London 

(Fig.  23)      .         .  14,  16,  28 

Holyrood  Palace,  Scotland  .  64 
Hook,  The,  Northaw  (1,  Hi)  .  55 
Hopetown  House,  Scotland  (xlv, 

xlvi)    .         .         .                54,  64 
Houghton  Hall           .         .         .     54 
Hutton-in-the-Forest,    Cumber- 
land     37 

Ightham  Mote,  Kent  (Fig.  27)  12, 17 


Janson,  Bernard 
Jones,  Inigo 


.     29 
45»  47>  48 

.     40 


Kingston,  House  at 
Kirby  Muxloe  Castle 
Knole  House,  Sevenoaks,  Kent 

(Fig.  16)      .         .  23,  26,  61 


INDEX. 


73 


55 


PAGE 

Laindon  Hall,  Essex  .  .  16 
Langley,  Kent  (Fig.  12)  .  -17 
Layer  Marney  Towers,  Essex  .  24 
Leeds  Castle,  Kent  .  .  .24 
Letchworth  Hall,  Herts  (Fig.  24)  28 
Lewes,  Star  Inn  (Fig.  27)  .     18 

Linlithgow      Palace,     Scotland 

(Fig.  5)       ....      8 
London. 

Ashburnham  House 
(Figs.  28,  36)       . 

Botolph  Lane  (xliii) 

Bruce  Castle,  Tottenham  (xliv, 

Fig.  44)       ... 
Canonbury  Tower,  Islington  . 
5,  Chandos  Street,  Strand 
Charterhouse,  The 
Chelsea,  4,  Cheyne  Walk 
„         6,  Cheyne  Walk 
Chelsea  Hospital    . 
Chelsea  House  (Fig.  14) 
Chelsea,       Queen's       House, 

Cheyne  Walk  (lix,  Figs.  51, 

52)       .         .         . 
Chesterfield    House,    Mayfair 

(lv,  lvi) 
Cromwell     House,    Highgate 

(xxii,  Figs.  31,  32,  32A) 

4,  Crosby  Square,  E.C.  (xxxvi 
xxxvii) 

Devonshire  House 

9,  Great  St.  Helen's,  Bishops 

gate  (xiii,  Fig.  28) 
44,     Great     Ormond     Street 

(xlviii) 
8,  Grosvenor  Square,  W. 

(Fig.  50)      . 
Harrington     House,     Craig's 

Court  (xlix) 
Hatton    Garden,   Orthopaedic 

Hospital  (xlvi,  Hi) 
Holland    House,    Kensington 

(Fig.  23)      .         .  14,  16,  28 

5,  John  Street,  Bedford  Row 

.     61 


48 
52 

55 
24 
40 

25 
56 
61 

•     50 
16,  21 


67 
67 

36 

49 
69 

31 
55 
66 

55 
54 


;,  John  Si 

(iiii)    . 


London — continued. 

35,  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields  (lvii, 

lviii) 68 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral  (Fig.  48)     66 
Serjeants'  Inn  (Fig.  39)  .     55 

Stepney,  Home  for  Aged  Jews     58 
Wandsworth     Manor    House 

(Fig.  43)     ....     58 
War  Office,  The  old,  Pall  Mall 

(lxiii)   .         .         .         .         .69 

Whitehall  Gardens  (lx)  .         .     66 

Lymore,  Montgomery  (x,  xi)      .     28 

Maidstone,  Archbishop's  Palace 

(Fig.  13)  .  .  .  .17 
Manchester,  Chetham's  Hospital 

(Fig.  7)  .  .  .  12,  14 
Methley  Hall,  Yorks  .        15,  32 

Millerstair,  Scotland  (Fig.  55)  .  68 
Montacute  Priory,  Somerset  .  19 
More,  Sir  Thomas      .         .         .15 

Nash,  Joseph  .  .  .  -36 
New     Sampford     Hall,     Essex 

(xviii)  .  .  .  .  21,  36 
Norwich,  House  in  King's  Street     38 

Oakwell  Hall  (iii)   .         .         .12 

Okeover  Hall,  Staffs  ...  66 

Ordsall  Hall,  Salford          .         .  14 

Oundie,  Talbot  Hotel  (xiv)         .  31 

Oxford,  Christ's  Church  College  21 
,,       New  College,  Warden's 

House  (xlii)         .         .  52 

Park  Hall,  Oswestry 

(Figs.  26,  28)  .  15,  18,  29,  30 
Potheridge,  Torrington  (xxix)  48,  52 
Powis  Castle       .         .         .         .48 

Richmond,  Ham  House  (xxiii)  38,  40 
„  Sheen  House  (Ixi)   66,68 

Rochester,  Eastgate  House        .     16 
,,         Gordon  Hotel  (xxxiv, 

xxxv)    .         .         -49 


74 


INDEX. 

PAGE 


Rochester  "Old  Palace" 

(Fig.  20)  .  .  27 
,,         Restoration  House 

(v)         .  12,  17,  49 

Rothamsted,  Herts    .  18,  21,  30 

Rouen,  Cathedral  and  St.  Maclou  10 
Rushbrooke  Hall  .  .  .54 
Rushton  Hall     .         .         .        22,  23 

Scole,  Norfolk,  Inn  at  (Fig.  27)  17 
Sheen  House,  Richmond  (lxi)  66,  68 
Smithson,  Robert  (plans)  .  .  14 
Soane,  Sir  John  .         .         .69 

Stoke  Edith,  Herefordshire 

(Fig.  40)  .  .  .  .56 
Stokesay,  Shropshire  .         .  6,  8 

Stratton      Park,      Biggleswade, 

Beds  (xxiv)  .         .         .42 

Sudbury  Hall  .  .  .  .  44 
Sydenham  House,  Devon    26,  27,  30 


Tattershall  Castle 
Temple  Newsam 
Thornhill,  Sir  James 
Thorpe  Hall 
Thorpe,  John  (plans) 
Tijou,  Jean 


22,  23,  58,  61 

.         .     56 

.     42 

7,  14,  18,  23 

.       65,  68 


Tredegar  Park  . 
Tythrop 
Tyttenhanger,  Herts 


.     44 

44.  47 
4.0,  42,  48 

65 


Vanburgh,  Sir  John  . 
Victoria    and   Albert    Museum, 
Examples  in 
(xii,  Figs.  28,  34,  47)    31,  45,  52 

Wakehurst,  Sussex  .         .     23 

Wandsworth  Manor  House 

'  (Fig.  43)  ....  58 
Ware,  Isaac  .  .  .  «  67 
Webb,  John  .  .  .  .42 
Wells,  Vicars'  Close  ...  5 
Wentworth  Castle  .  .  -44 
West  wood  Park  .         .         .50 

Wick  Court  .  .  .30,  48 
Winchester,  The  Close  (xxviii)  .  45 
Wolseley  Hall,  Staffs  (Fig.  37)  .  49 
Wood,  John  .  .  .  -59 
Worcester,    The     Commandery 

(vii)     .         .         .         .        17,  27 
Wren,  Sir  Christopher        64,  65,  66 

Yatton   Kennell,  Old    Manor 

House  (Fig.  27)  .         .         .18 


Plate  II. 


DOWNHOLLAND  HALL,  NEAR  ORMSKIRK. 


Plate  III. 


OAKWELL   HALL,   (1583).    SHOWING    DOG-GATES. 


Plate  IV. 


GREAT  KEWLANDS,  BURHAM,   KENT  (1599.) 


Plate  V. 


RESIGNATION  HOUSK,   ROCHESTER,     UPPER   STAIR. 


Plate  VI. 


GREAT   WIGSELL,  SUSSEX. 


Plate  VII. 


THE  COMMANDERY,  WORCESTER. 


Plate  VIII. 


GRKAT   NAST   HYDK,   HERTFORDSHIRE. 


Plate  IX. 


HATFIELD  HOUSE,   HERTFORDSHIRE  (l6l2). 


Plate  X. 


LYMORE,  MONTGOMERY. 


X 


Plate  XII. 


THK  CONSERVATIVE  CLUB,  HODDESDON,   HERTFORDSHIRE. 


Plate  XIII. 


9,  GREAT  ST.  HELENS,   BISHOPSGATK. 


Plate  XIV. 


THB  TALBOT  HOTEL,  OUNDLK. 


Plate  XV. 


ASTON   BURY.   HERTFORDSHIRE.      FIRST  .STAIR. 


Plate  XVI. 


ASTON  BURY,  HERTFORDSHIRE.     SECOND   STAIR. 


Plate  XVII. 


CASTLE  HOUSE,  DEDDI.N'GTON,  OXFORDSHIRE. 


NEW  SAMPFORD  HALL,   ESSEX. 


Plate  XVIII. 


Plate  XIX. 


ASTON  HAT.L   (l6l8-35),   WARWICKSHIRE. 


RAWDON  HOUSE,  HODDESDON,  (l622). 


Plate  XXI. 


CARVED  PANELS  ON  STAIRCASE  AT  RAWDON   HOUSE,   HODDESDON.    (l622.) 
SUBJECTS:  "SAMSON  AND   DELILAH,"  AND  "MUSICIANS." 


Plate  XXII. 


@ 


CROMWELL  HOUSE,  HIGHGATE. 
THREE  FIN'IALS  TO   NEWELS   WITH   FIGURES  OF  CROMWELL'S  SOLDIERS. 


Plate  XXIII. 


HAM  HOUSE,  RICHMOND,  SURREY. 


Plate  XXV 


DUNSTER  CASTLE,  SOMERSET. 


Plate  XXVI. 


NO.  25,  HIGH  STREET,  GUILDFORD,  SURREY. 


> 

u 


Plate  XXVIII. 


THE  CLOSE,  WINCHESTER. 


Plate  XXIX. 


I'OTHEKIDGE,   TORRINGTON,   UKVON. 


Plate  XXX. 


COBHA.M   HALL,   KENT. 


Plate  XXXI. 


mlim  «...  .  ..t  im  im- 


COBHAM  HALL,   KENT.      DETAILS. 


Plate  XXXII. 


DAWTREY  MANSION,  PETWORTH  (I652) 


Plate  XXXIII. 


ST.  GEORGE'S,  CANTERBURY. 


Plate  XXXIV. 


THE  GORDON  HOTEL,  ROCHESTER. 


Plate  XXXV. 


THE  GORDON  HOTEL,  ROCHESTER,     THE  DOG-GATE. 


Plate  XXXVI. 


NO.  4,  CROSBY  SQUARE,  LONDON,  E.G. 


Plate  XXXVII. 


NO.  4,  CROSBY  SQUARE,  LONDON,   E.C.  DETAIL  OF  NEWEL  AND  BALUSTERS. 


Plate  XXXVIII. 


THE  FRIARS,  AYLESFORD.     CIRCULAR  STAIR. 


Plate  XXXIX. 


HKVKk   COI  K'i",   IFIELD,   GRAVKSEN'O 


Plate  XL. 


NO.  9,  ST.  MARGARET'S  STREET,  CANTERBURY. 


Plate  XLI. 


NO.  9,  ST.  MARGARET'S  STREET,  CANTERBURY.     DETAILS  OF  CARVED  NEWELS. 


Plate  XLII. 


WARDEN'S  HOUSK,  NKW  COLLEGE,  OXFORD. 


Plate  XLIII. 


HOUSE   IN  BOTOLPH   LANE,   B.C.    (CIRCA    I670). 


Plate  XLIV. 


BRUCE  CASTLE,  TOTTENHAM. 


Plate  XLV. 


HOPETOUN  HOUSE,  SCOTLAND. 


Plate  XLVI. 


HOPETOUN  HOUSE,  SCOTLAND.     DETAIL  OF  BALUSTERS   AND  STRING. 


Plate  XLVII. 


THE  OKTHOIVEDIC  HOSPITAL,    HATTON  GARDEN,  LONDON  (NOW  DEMOLISHED.) 


> 

-J 
H 


Plate  XLIX. 


HARRINGTON  HOUSE,  CRAIG'S  COURT.   LONDON. 


Plate  LI. 


friends'  housk,  ckoydon,  surrey,    upper  landing. 


Plate  LII. 


(a)     HATTON  GARDEN. 


(b)     GREAT  HOUSE,  CHESHUNT. 


(c)     THE  HOOK,  NORTHAW. 
CARVED    BRACKETS. 


Plate  LIU. 


No.  5,  JOHN  STREET,  BEDFORD  ROW,  LONDON. 


Plate  LIV. 


THE  KING'S  STAIRCASE,  HAMPTON  COURT. 


CHESTERFIELD   HOUSE,   MAYFAIR,   LONDON. 


Plate  LVII. 


NO,  35,  LINCOLN'S  INN  FIELDS,  LONDON.      LOWER  STAIR  RAIL. 


Plate  LIX. 


QUKKN'S  HOUSK,  CHELSEA.     SPIRAL  STAIR. 


Plate  LX. 


FROM  A  HOUSE  IN  WHITEHALL  GARDENS. 


Plate  LXI. 


SHKEN  HOUSE,   RICHMOND. 


Plate  LXII. 


BADDOW  HALL.   ESSEX. 


Plate  LXIII. 


OLD  WAR  OFFICE,  LONDON, 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A    001  085  055     0