Early English Furn 01 Ce Scu of T

A
EARLY ENGLISH FURNITURE
AND WOODWORK
VOLUME
A SUGGESTED RECONSTRUCTION
OF THE
14TH
CENTURY RETABLE, OR PREDELLA,

ON THE OPPOSITE PAGE
[Reproduced by direct colour photography from
the original,
by the permission of
the
Dean
of Norwich Cathedral.)
p.
GRieet-e
EE
The panels represent (1) the Scourging; (2) the Bearing of the Cross; (3) the Crucifixion
and (5) the Ascension.
(4) the Resurrection
fragment)
The ground and surrounds are decorated in modelled and gilded gesso.
The coats of arms on the small square panels, numbered 1 to 17, are (as nearly as can be
ascertained) of the families given below.
(a
Banner.
23T
<?.'
EARLY ENGLISH
FURNITURE &
WOODWORK
VOL!
BY
HERBERT- CE5C1N5KY
AND
ERNEST- R- GRIBBLE
GEORGE-ROUTLEDGE -AND SONS LIMITED
BRDADW^-HOUSE-LUDGATEHILL- LONDON
MCMXX1I
2^2f
(/I.
Printed in Great Britain at
The Mayflower Press, Plymouth.
William Brendon
&
Son, Ltd.
PREFACE
N
the attempt to write a history of English furniture and
showing
by an
its
initial difficulty
Even
which
is
not the case,
when an attempt
made
is
know
Of woodwork
and
confronted
prior to the
of furniture practically
our present purpose.
have pointed
of the evolution of furniture types,
must
solitary piece
be a chronicle of the
which has survived from
not, be indicative of the fashions of its time
we cannot
others of corresponding date and type, which establish
We
must always bear in mind also the possibility of a later copy of an

Thus, oak dressers and square-dial long-case clocks were made as late
the fact.
original.
last
may
we can produce
unless
for
to date examples,
fashions which prevailed at various periods.
very early times may, or
little,
is
isolated specimens, for illustration, were available,
they would be useless
on the subject, that an account
out, in other books
especially
if
where to begin.
we know very
fourteenth century
nothing.
an orderly progression, one
in
development
woodwork
quarter of the eighteenth century, but
it
would only make
earlier
as the
for confusion to illustrate
such pieces as examples of late-eighteenth-century furniture, although made at that

time.
They
Modern
are of the period but are not typical.

furniture, even
and when constructed
Tudor and Stuart

usage.
When
in the logical
periods,
neglect
when made from that most durable
is,
and stable manner which
is
material, English oak,

so characteristic of the
nevertheless, perishable, even with judicious wear and
and ill-treatment
are added,
it is
not remarkable that so
comparatively, of the Tudor and Jacobean furniture has survived to our day
wonder
is
that any has persisted, even in the great treasure houses of England.
fashion always as capricious as
it
is
little,
the
With
at the present day, out-of-date furniture, in
any
form, must have been frequently in jeopardy during the chequered career through
which so much
to
of
has passed.
it
For practical purposes, we are compelled to begin somewhere, and it is hazardous

carry our enquiries much further back than the fourteenth century, in the case of
woodwork, and the

Closing, as this
fifteenth as far as furniture
book does, with the end
to a period of rather
it is
is
concerned.
of the seventeenth century,
more than three hundred
we
are confined
years, and, with certain rare exceptions,
oak furniture or woodwork with which we are exclusively concerned.
To
justify the existence of this
book
as a contribution to the subject of English
arid
Early English Furniture
furniture and
woodwork,
it
been necessary to break
lias
new ground, apart from such

In the case of the earlier
authors are free.

persona] predilection and bias from which no
pieces,
JWoodwork
some pioneer work has been attempted, by not only dating the period
tion ol the particular fashions of
indicate,
of the incep-
each example illustrated, but also by endeavouring to
where practicable, and where one could be reasonably sure of one's own knowledge,
Apart from the interest attaching to such information,

it is necessary in determining periods either of fashion or manufacture, as the East
Anglian counties, for example, were often the first to adopt designs and methods from
the county or locality of origin.
Holland, which the Western districts only copied at a

It
must
also be
remembered,
not to
if
attempt to view the early part of our subject

until the end of the first half of the seventeenth
between towns, and more especially between

was very meagre.
Trade traditions were preserved
close, intercourse
its
the remoter country districts,

chiefly
later date.
in the
in its proper perspective, that, at least
century,
much
by the town apprentice, who became, frequently, the roving
or settled in the country districts as a small master.
The only system

tion to truth,
is
of dating, therefore,
that of the inception of
of pieces themselves.
This
-point
when
actual date
the chair was made.
a logical
and were perpetuated
in the
London had departed.

which can be attempted with any approximafashions, not that of the actual manufacture
can hardly be over-emphasised.
as closely as a semi-decade, for instance,
journeyman,"
It followed, therefore, as
conclusion, that fashions originated from the large towns
provinces, often long after their vogue in
"
To date an oak
would be obviously absurd
When, however, we
learn
if
chair
this implied the
from history that
events occurred at this period, which led to the introduction of a foreign fashion or detail
which the particular chair exhibits, such close dating begins to possess a
real significance.
This system acquires a further advantage as indicating only the inception of a type.
must not be forgotten that, frequently, the provinces copied the metropolitan fashions
at intervals varying from twenty to thirty years after they had ceased to be made
It
in
London.
With the
earlier
more than doubtful
if
examples, until almost the end of the sixteenth century,

fashions existed at
all,
in the sense in
which the term
we except the ecclesiastical Gothic. England, from the point

production, was a collection of counties rather than a country.
if
influenced
1
It
is,
institutions.
by another according
also,
The
to inter-association
of
is
it is
used here,
view of furniture
Each
locality
was
and proximity, and between such
important to remember that this paucity of intercourse did not exist in the case of early monastic
significance of this will be elaborated in Chapters 11 and III.
Preface
counties as Gloucestershire and Suffolk, for example, such intercourse was probably
Each
non-existent.
its
own
furniture
No
as, at
and woodwork
characteristics, favourite or peculiar details, dictated
traditions or abnormalities of timber
by trade
must have possessed
locality, therefore, in greater or lesser degree,
growth or texture.
writer on the subject appears to have dealt with this question of origin at
first sight,
there appears to be
little
or no data to
commence
with.
all,
Although
every reason to suppose, for example, that some proportion of the furniture
there
is
made
in Cheshire
would remain
in its place of origin, yet,
period of from two to three hundred years, this
by the productions
breakage, that it becomes a nice
augmented
amount would be
other counties, or
of
point, at
when we have
to consider a
so likely to be
diminished by removal or
the present day, at least with secular
from the imported specimens.

have, however, a meagre groundwork with which to commence,
furniture, to distinguish the indigenous
We
furniture of the
We
stalls.
movable type, and especially
in
in ecclesiastical
such woodwork as pulpits or choir
can say in the case of fixed woodwork in churches, with a fairly close
approximation to the truth, that
this
is
of local manufacture,
and once made and
placed in position was not likely to be removed elsewhere.

the Church
itself
frequently establish this beyond doubt.
The preserved records of

Even in the case of clerical
and during the period when Henry VIII was waging his
campaign against the power and property of the monasteries, the same applies.
Country churches were comparatively little affected \>y the strife which destroyed
establishments prior to
monasteries, abbeys and priories, as the activities of
Henry VIII and
his son
were
2
directed, principally, against the larger clerical establishments.
reasoning from the fixed
By
country churches,
it is
woodwork
to the
movable furniture contained
possible, with care, to reconstruct the local styles of the various
periods, even
though wide reservations have to be admitted.
and furniture
of the sixteenth
but the
Thus Kentish woodwork
and seventeenth centuries are unmistakable.
greater production and complication of influences, as in the East Anglian
With
counties,
in
it is
not so easy to localise the work of Suffolk or Norfolk as that of Kent,
difficulty is partly
removed
if
we reason from
the basis of
maximum
standards
of production in each case.
Where
1
Again
fashions
became widespread, and when the Tondon manner was adopted,
clerical furniture
and woodwork
of the periods prior to the Suppression of Monasteries,
must be
excepted.
We
William Dowsing and his fellows from 1640 to 1650, when so many
church rood screens were defaced or mutilated, especially in East Anglia.
2
must except the
activities of
"I
the
Early English Furniture and

in
various
parts of
England, with
manufacture becomes more

factors
not the
is
same
in the
or no
modification, the task
of
localising
minor
or even hopeless, but in this case there are
which are often of great assistance
or walnut
tin
difficult,
little
JWoodwork
The growth
of
oak
the Eastern Counties of England.
In
in arriving at a decision.
Western as
in
timber imported from Holland we could expect, naturally, to find a
case of
preponderance of furniture made from this foreign wood in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex,
Middlesex or Kent, rather than
We
counties.
have some
from
idea,
Welsh bordering
the wealth and industrial
Wiltshire, Gloucestershire or the
in
historical records, of
conditions of the various counties at different periods, as far back as the reign of
Henry
V,
districts,
and we would look, therefore,
for the richest secular
in the wealthier
although this would, lor obvious reasons, not apply, necessarily, to ecclesiastical
woodwork
Henry VIII, were
or furniture, as the monastic establishments, prior to
enormously wealthy even
in the
poorer counties.
In a general sense, also, the art of the secular
towns of importance, and radiated from them

t
work
in a
woodworker was centred
in certain
These principal
very traceable way.
iwns where the trade traditions were fostered during the fifteenth, sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries were London, Bristol, Norwich, Ipswich, Coventry, Southampton,

Exeter, Shrewsbury, Chester,
York and Winchester.
work was carried
to adjoining country districts,
perpetuated, with
little
From
and the
original trade traditions
or no modifications, often for very long periods.
sometimes possible to postulate a sphere of origin with
and we are compelled to
of manufacture,
these towns the apprentice-
far
It
is,
were
therefore,
more certainty than a date
limit a statement of period to the date
when
a certain style originated in one of the centres mentioned above.
few words here are necessary to explain the association of names on the
of this book.
Since the publication, some eleven or twelve years ago, of
Furniture of the Eighteenth Century,"
which should cover the whole
illustration,
have always had the idea
of the available
The
contemporary woodwork.
collection
of
ground
suitable
title
page
"
English
of writing another
book
of English furniture, with its
examples, both for text and
involved some considerable labour and research, and conditions associated
with the Great European War,
still
further protracted
its
publication.
disturbing consideration that the longer a book of this kind
is
One has
also the
kept in manuscript and
photographic form, the more one has the chance of improving
it
by the addition,
and additional examples.

perhaps, more than his readers, from an examination and
periodically, of further facts
The author
learns,
comparison of a large number of pieces and photographs, providing that they are
Preface
especially in remote districts,
where the collaboration
up
this
examination of these examples,

and in photography under the most difficult conditions,
productions of their time.
authentic
book on
"
It is in
of Ernest Gribble has
the
been so valuable.
Early English Furniture and Woodwork
"
proposed to
It is
follow-
by another, dealing with
the work of the eighteenth century, thereby making the two books complete in their
In this
way.
writing,
and
first
book
this task
it
was necessary that one only should be responsible
has fallen to me.
may confess,
for the
at the outset, that without Ernest
Gribble this book would either never have been written, or would have been a very
His knowledge and experience of English woodwork, especially
different production.
of the early
examples prior to 1530 has been more than an assistance
indispensable.
For many years he has employed the whole
it
has been
of his leisure time in visiting
churches and houses of the lesser type, in places practically unknown, and quite
"
off
the map," photographing (often under conditions of incredible difficulty), detailing
and examining, with the eye
of a skilled craftsman,
examples of English woodwork,
remarkable alike for their obscure location and their high quality.
be a truism that the greater one's knowledge the more self-apparent
If it
ignorance,
is
one's
can only say that the real profundity of mine on the subject of early oak
woodwork was never

Ernest Gribble's
so apparent to
name
figures
me
until after our collaboration
on this book as co-author with
my
had commenced.
own, but
must
acknowledge that he has supplied the bulk of the facts and the greater number of the
photographs. In the early chapters I have merely written from his notes, which have
exploded
many
of
my
or persisted in spite of
pet theories.
Some
of these, however,
have survived
it.
cannot close this preface without a grateful acknowledgment to
his criticism
of the
many
owners of the examples illustrated here, who have, with unfailing courtesy and patience,
assisted
me
in
every way, by affording
facilities for
photographing their possessions,
and by giving me information as to their history and origin.

I have been indebted to so many for the necessary photographs which the book
has required that particular mention
distinct praise
is
is
almost invidious in
itself.
I feel,
due to those gentlemen who have taken photographs
however, that
in churches, as
every photographer will appreciate the enormous difficulty attendant upon work of
this character.
The Rev. Frederick Sumner has very kindly furnished the
following: Figs. 99, 107,
108, 109, 112, 113, 117, 147, 148, 152, 169, 170, 171, 172, 174, 175.
Sumner
/;
Figs. 3, 4, 5, 132, 133, 134, 135, 146, 154, 155, 156.

ix
The Rev.
Mr. C.
J.
F. R. P.
Abbott
Figs.
oodwork
Early English Furniture arid Jf
55. 66, 97, 98,
?>$.
F.
Frith
105.
like to point out
*38, 139. I 59. 176. ^11-
here, that the collecting of the necessary
book has occupied a space
for this
may have changed hands
with several, but as
have
since
not and
the photographs were taken.

this has
been the case, to
have, therefore, noted the
name
possession of," or
"
The property
its
of the owners at the time
To obviate a
This course was inevitable.
wire taken.
Many
my
are of
of the
knowledge,
could not without an enormous amount of
have followed the history of each piece and noted
trouble,
I
when
photographs
The names here given
of over twelve years.
the owners of the pieces at the times
examples
and Messrs.
157, 158, 181, 182, 184, 263, 264, 265, 295,
Figs. 93, 94. 95- 96, Io6
would
104,
change of ownership,
when
the photographs
needless repetition of
"
In the
have merely put the name of the owner under
of," I
each example illustrated.

I
cannot
resist here a
in the Victoria
of the
much
way
in
strong word of praise of our national collection of furniture
and Albert Museum, and

which
this has
at the
(as
painstaking knowledge and diligent research has been shown, so

in
admiration
So
many new
pieces
the buying methods of the Board of Education place their curators at serious dis-
amazed
to find out, on recent visits,
furniture at the
Museum
really
is,
miles, to inspect collections of early

is
how good and
oak
in
collector), that I
have been
representative the collection of
at the present day.
After travelling hundreds of
remote country
districts,
confronted with the handiwork of this or that well-known
refreshing, to say the least, to visit the

is
my
circumstances of the utmost difficulty
advantage when pitted against the dealer or the private
one
to express
been reinforced and improved during recent years.
remarkable merit have been acquired, and
of
same time
only to find that
"
reproducer,"
Museum, where every courtesy and
it
is
assistance
afforded to the student, and where every piece can be examined under ideal conditions.
In conclusion,
if
the reader experiences only a part of the pleasure and profitable
knowledge from the perusal and study of

I shall
be more than
this
book which
have gained
in its writing,
satisfied.
H. C.
1922.
CONTENTS
.......
Preface
CHAPTER
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
PACK
Introductory
The Dissolution of Monasteries
The Early Woodworker: His
Life, Tools
and Methods.
The Plan of the Early Tudor House

The Development of the English Timber Roof
Gothic
Woodwork and Colour Decoration
....
.....
17
32
54
103
Timber Houses, Porches and Doors
176
The English Staircase
211
Wood
231
Panellings and Mantels
Bedsteads and their Development
Index
.......
355
371
"
There is no way of making an aged art young again it

must be born anew and grow up from infancy as a new
thing, working out its own salvation from effort to effort in
;
all
fear
and trembling."
Samuel Butler, Erewhon.
PARALLEL HISTORY OF EUROPE

IN
THE
FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURIES
PARALLEL HISTORY OF EUROPE IN THE

1400.
SCOTL Wl>
NG1
House
\M>
IK
\Ni
S\\<
Dukes
of
tian
in
lino
Interregnum
Henry IV
Republic
with the
Henry V
rl]
ler,
1415
Battle
re-
(legendary)
tlie
oi
100
Robert,
Count Palatine
of Luxemburg
against GessGovernor for 1410 Sigismund
Emperor Al(King of Bohe-
bert
ourt
William
volt nt
1413
HUNGARY
Helve-
Hie
L308
Lancaster
IH",
GERMAN EMPIRE
SWITZERl VND
>Y
The
Cant. ms
joined
the League in the
order
following
mia, 1419)
(King of
Hun-
gary, 1392)
1424
James
1437
James
II
1422
Henry VI
122
Charles VII
14.31
Louis
House
of Austria
1308 Uri
1
Wars
153
Mi's Siege of Or-
of the
es
hi
Joan
1438 Albert II
1308 Switz
"i
(King of Bohe-
mia
House
Moo James
III
1461
of
1308 Unterwalden
York
Edward IV
1401 Louis
1
\\]l
I
rhePlague
183
Edward V
iv.
Richard
XI
Wai -i
Public Good
in:.
1405
the
A made us IX
1472 Philibert
1332 Lucerne
1351 Zurich
and
gary in 1437)
1440 Frederick IV
(He transformed
Austria into an
Arch-Duchv
Us:; Charles VIII
1482 Charles
1352
Zug
1440 Wladislaus
Hun-
1458 George
188
James IV
" Golden
The
1489 Charles II
III
Age"
Woodwork
of English
Line of Jagellon
1485
of
Tudor
Henry VII
son
1481 Fribourg
1484 The "Sweat"

ing Sickness
House
1352 Glaris
1353 Berne
195
Expedition
to Italy
1496 Philip Lack-
14S1 Soleure
land
149S
Louis
(called
"
XII
the
Father of his
People ")
1497 Philibert II
(The Fair)
Allied Cantons
1491 Grisons
1491 Valais
1500.
Corvinus
in
1452)
1471
I
1458 Matthias
Podiebrad
1493 Maximilian
of
1490
Wladislaus
Casimir I of Poland
IFTEENTH
AND SIXTEENTH
CENTURIES.
1400.
L'SCANY
A CHART
OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE AND
IN
(
Henry
II,
Richard
1154 to 1189.
I,
1189, to
ENGLAND
The dates given are not those of
William I, 1066, to Stephen, 1154.

The circular-headed arch.
Norman
Transitional,
Henry
III, 1272.
WOODWORK
the accession of Kings)
or
Norman
Romanesque.
to Pointed or Lancet.
Early English, Lanceolated.
Geometrical tracery begins to appear.
Edward
I,
Edward
II,
Edward
III,
Richard
II,
Transition from early pointed to geometrical pointed.

Tracery entirely geometrical. No free forms in decoration of windows.
1272 to 1307.
1307 to 1327. Geometrical pointed. (Early English.)

Free forms appear in tracery and especially in decoration of mouldings.
1327 to 1377. Flowing or Curvilinear.

Culminating in the Flamboyant.
1377 to 1399.
(Decorated.)
Transition from Free Decorated to Rectilinear or Per-
pendicular.
Henry
Henry
VIII, 1546. Perpendicular or Rectilinear.

Introduction of the Linen-fold panel.
IV, 1399, to
Introduction of the Italian Classical, superimposed on the Gothic,

1546 onwards.
afterwards developing into the Tudor styles.
Chapter
I.
Introductory.
woodwork from
present a history of English furniture and
times of which
we have
century, which
is
culties
The
the scope and purpose of this book, several initial

of
would be comparatively easy
end
word
made
in type, scanty in quantity
and limited
between woodwork and furniture was even

cence of the two which has dictated the
end
woodworking
From
then, articles
in purpose, the line of
definition.
it is
furniture
demarcation
this inevitable coales-
book.
is
a knowledge of
the beginning of the thirteenth century
of the fifteenth, the ecclesiastical Gothic
was the only architectural and
Shortly after 1500, however, the influence of the Italian Renais-
style.
sance began to be
Even
which should
Henry VIII, when
marked, and
title of this
as applied
At the present day
understanding of our subject
in the
early house-planning and general style.

until the
less
like.
"
would escape such
as fixtures,
In the early periods, until almost the close of the reign of
Another important factor
furniture
to formulate a definition of furniture
fitted bookcases, or side tables
was primitive
"
of the fifteenth century.
exclude decorative woodwork, such as panelling and the
such as
diffi-
which demands some attention.
the arbitrary character of the
to early examples, almost until the

it
available records, to the end of the seventeenth
have to be considered, each
first is
the earliest
felt in
this country,
some
fifteen years later
than was the case in
France, a circumstance probably due to the fact that not only was England insular by
situation, but also the English people
were not so specialised at
were so in character.
this date as in the later centuries
the architect not only worked hand in hand
were frequently the same person.

patrons for
whom
European
countries,
when
of
and long
for the
Styles were usually fostered
Church, at
they
least,
and dictated by the
the aristocratic education, and Italy, alone of
had fostered the
classical styles in architecture
Italy-
all
the
and woodwork,
Rome had risen and fallen to decay. Germany, France

Low Countries still cherished the Gothic as the national
the power of
Spain, England, and even the

style,
work
the master carpenter and
After the close of the fifteenth century, the grand tour to
integral part
since the days
in
woodwork
houses were built and furniture made, but always with the assistance
of a clerical adviser.
became an
Architecture and
after the classical
had submerged
it,
we
still
find traces here
and there

evidencing the hold which the ecclesiastical Gothic retained upon the architecture and
woodwork
of the time.
In the endeavour to trace the history of the development of English furniture
up
to the close of the fifteenth century,
it is
almost impossible, in England, to overrate
The monasteries and
the influence of ecclesiastical establishments.
were not only the principal patrons of the joiner and the woodworker
.1
state
and a standard
but also limited in range and quantity.
tables, forms or stools (which
they maintained
to the laity, even of the rank
Furniture of this period, as one would expect,
of the nobility.
in construction,
unknown
of refinement utterly
religious houses
is
not only primitive
Large banqueting or refectory
were the usual seat at meals until almost the close of the
seventeenth century), dower chests, Court cupboards or buffets, livery cupboards and
hutches, constituted the whole of the English-made furniture of the apartments of
this period,
and
whether
of
state, reserved for the lord
clerical
establishment.
from the East,
The
abbots or princes.
and lady
was a
chair
rare article, a sign of dignity
of the secular household, or the
head
of the
Foreign furniture was sparingly imported and merchandise
fabrics and the
like,
found way into England through the prosperous
republican trading cities of Venice and Genoa.
The standard
extreme.
of
comfort in the houses, even of the wealthy, was meagre in the
The usual carpeting
for the floor,
when
the fashion originated, with the
was a covering of strewn

with the debris of feasts thrown to the
sixteenth century, for anything beyond bare flags or boards,

rushes, rarely changed,
dogs,
who shared
and usually
littered
the living apartments with their masters.
were usual until the reign of Charles
II.
With the
These rush-strewn
floors
rich nobility, the walls were covered
with tapestries or fabrics, at a later date with panellings of wood.
had
to be contented with
rough plaster or timbering.
Glass in
The trading classes

windows was a luxury
and windows were not only kept studiously small,

but the pieces enclosed by the leading, whether diamond or rectangular quarries, were
until late in the sixteenth century,
also rarely larger

difficulty of
than about six inches by four.
making crown,
Apart from the prohibitive
or whirled glass, in sheets of
dimensions for these quarries.
It is
any
size
cost, the
precluded any larger
not until almost the beginning of the eighteenth
century that the glass-blower became sufficiently expert with the
"
"
pontil
to
make
crown-glass sheets large enough to yield the squares which are found in the great houses
of that period.
It
only represent
less
whirling the
must be remembered that the
largest dimension of the
than one-half of the circular glass plate, which
'"
pontil."
From
the semi-diameter must
is
pane can
produced by
be deducted the so-called
Introductory
"
"
quarries which the
bottle-glass
away from
as large as 15
less
Yet
the circular plate.
than 3
by 10
in.
in.,
"
pontil," or blowing rod, leaves
at
Lyme
Park, Cheshire, for example, the panes are
if
rarely,
evident from a study of their design.
illustrated in Figs. 41
which each
broken
which means that they must have been cut from plates not
That fifteenth-century windows were

is
it is
in diameter.
ft.
windows,
when
and
42,
ever, glazed,
other
than church
Thus, the windows from Hadleigh,
have no glazing rebate, and,
in
glass of the size
any event,
would have required, would have been unobtainable at this date. To have
broken up the openings with leaded bars would have destroyed the whole effect of the
tracery, and we know, when glazing became general, that tracery between mullions
light
was omitted.
In the windows at Sutton Place (Henry VII)
arched heads to each
windows.
light,
The windows
windows were
frames, for
we have,
in the four centred
the last vestige of Gothic tracery as applied to secular
at Sutton were as evidently intended for glazing as the Hadleigh
Opening casements are never found in these unglazed window

obvious reasons, and, even when glazing was introduced, they are very
sparingly used.
not.
Our
ancestors, evidently, did not care for fresh air in the home.
As a compensation for the smallness

with a staging of bars and irons on a stone
science of down-draughts
had
still
windows, the early fireplaces were huge,
of
dais for the burning of logs
to be studied,
and
The
billets.
and smoky chimneys must have been
the rule rather than the exception.
The
life
of the artisan, until almost the
was rude, but
his desires
end
of the first half of the sixteenth century,
were few, and were amply
gratified.
Crops were abundant
England, and, in consequence, famines were unknown. Food

was plentiful and cheap, so cheap, in fact, that it was very often thrown in with the
in fifteenth-century rural
wages, when masons and carpenters were engaged on work for the King or the Church,
probably coarse,
and certainly lacking
no green vegetables and very few roots,

have been a happy and contented one
in variety,
but,
at
meat
and bread, some
on the whole, the worker's
this
period.
How
his
status
fruit,
life
but
must
steadily
deteriorated from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries will be described in a
subsequent chapter.
If
be
the artisan experienced no wants, he was,
summoned
any time
royal
to
work
or place,
for the
King
(unless he
which suited the pleasure
mandate empowered such
artificer to
refused.
3
by no means, a
were
in the
free agent.
employ
He
could
of the Church), at
of the King's carpenter or
mason, and the
imprison during their pleasure any
who
oodwork
their highest level at the close of the fifteenth
master could not take apprentices without the
unique powers.
Guild's sanction, and the
under
tin-
is
all his
obey
number was always
limited.
The apprentice,
in turn,
was
absolute dominion of his master, and, even at the present day, the old form
of indenture
and
The Trade Guilds, which reached

nirv, possessed
to
JJ
sometimes retained, by which the apprentice binds himself to

behests, not to frequent
gaming houses,
A workman
church when ordered.
to repair to
his master,
brothels, or places of low resort,
could not change his location
when summoned by the King's craftsmen, without the consent of the

"
Guild and the Lord of the Manor. The term
journeyman," which in the later years
other than
had a
meaning up to almost the close of the

seventeenth century, implying a craftsman who was licensed to travel from one place
began to
lose its true significance,
definite
to another without fear of detention, arrest or punishment.
The introduction
the Classical element from Italy influenced furniture and
of
architecture almost at the
same
period.
There were two reasons
designing of furniture was so soon apparent.

thing
a site
was movable
was demanded, and consideration
why
its effect in
the
building was necessarily an immovable
of
expense had to be studied.
Furniture
was comparatively easy of manufacture, as no prohibitive cost was

Added to this there was a considerable demand, towards the close of the
entailed.
it
sixteenth century, as the large houses of this period were so sparingly furnished that
it
was not uncommon
of residence.
moved, from house to house, with a change

the iron-handed methods of Henry VIII in dis-
for the furniture to be
The second reason
wâs
persing the culture of the Church abroad, and, incidentally, the monastical possessions
with
it,
in the dissolution of monasteries,
removed one
of the best patrons
and teachers
woodworking crafts. Much of the furniture, some of the traditions and a little
the invention which had hitherto been cloistered in abbeys and ecclesiastical establish-
of the
of
ments found
their
way
into the
homes
of
laymen.
The culture
of the reign of Elizabeth,
however, reinforced by the enlightenment from the Continent, due to intercourse and
travel, did
much
to
fix,
permanently,
in the
minds
of the laity
such ideas of luxury
and design as had formerly been the exclusive possession of the Church.
The invention of better methods of construction, such as the table with
four, six
or eight legs in lieu of the older trestle form, the chair with turned legs and under-
framings in place of the former box with arms and a back, the possibilities of framing,
all
made
for greater lightness of construction
and monasteries,
The monks and
without
sacrifice of strength.
until the close of the fifteenth century, time

friars
was
of little
In abbeys
moment.
were themselves often finished craftsmen, and their influence

4
Introductory
extended, in very marked degree, to their dependents.
England
in the fifteenth
century
could almost have been described as an agglomeration of differing communities, either
under the forcible control of the temporal lords of the
soil
These communities were as far removed,
of the Church.
or the
more gentle influence
relatively,
considering
the
slowness of locomotion and the disturbed state of the country, torn in turn by internecine warfare or religious
strife,
as
Vienna and London are
at the present da}*.
If
craftsmen, however, seldom changed their location, the Church possessed unexampled
facilities for
the interchange of ideas from one part of England to another, and even
from foreign sources.
With the
dissolution of monasteries
of the religious brethren,
much
that was
new
in the
and the
workmen
the
of the
time, too inexperienced to originate
turned with avidity to the new Classical maimer as demonstrated
fine,
We
buildings of this period.
Classical,
and the withdrawal of the guiding influence
get, in consequence, a
jumble
of the
Gothic
with original motives superadded, which render the furniture of
the sixteenth century exceedingly heterogeneous in character.
It
is
nearer the fact
to say that fashions were too multiform to admit of classification, than to state that
We know
they were non-existent.
James
warranty
It is
William
II,
that, with the furniture of the reigns of Charles II,
Anne and the
III,
for dating a piece,
is
often sufficient
sometimes within as narrow a margin as a single decade.
not so evident, however, what the factors are which render this close dating of
To begin
pieces possible.
was more or
had given,
less
with, during this period the trade of the
homogeneous.
The one town had assimilated the
in turn, the result of its
own
experience.
from the large towns, and even a journey

than of time.
during the
alike in
of
three Georges, the design
first
first
art of another
and
and hamlets had borrowed
was a matter
less of
danger
the most insignificant country villages, shows that this interchange
ideas really existed.
dition,
to the metropolis
of furniture
The strong similarly between many of the long-case clocks produced

half of the eighteenth and the last quarter of the seventeenth centuries,
London and
production,
Villages
maker
This was one factor which tended towards uniformity of
or the establishment of fashion.
There
is,
however, another necessary con-
without which we get endless repetition of the same patterns, which after the lapse
of a
century or more render
that
is
it
impossible to dissociate the originals from the copies
a leisured class, influential
the taste of the
moment, and
obvious stipulations
a bygone fashion, and
and wealthy enough
to reject the
at the present
it
is
vogue
to define a fashion, to foster
of the preceding decade.
day we can only date a
piece
These are
by the currency
of
the latest characteristic which determines our estimate of

5

When we
itsâge.
we
coupled with an instinct
for
spontaneity
a- to detect the later copy.
furniture
and
may wear
may assume
It
is
for centuries in
wood used
is
it
only
at the various periods,
creation and workmanship, which enables
in
idle to
and
are comparatively helpless,
technical knowledge of the species of the one
of
oodwork
reach the era of repetitions, well-made but bald copies of the
furniture of twenty or fifty years before,

a
Jl
One
look for mere evidences of age.
piece
the one household, of maiden ladies for example,
an appearand' of great antiquity after twenty years of usage by
healthy children or careless persons.
Of the two factors referred to above, the homogeneity of a trade
The
important.
leisured classes could not originate
and promote their development
industries,
they could only patronise existing
wealth alone was unable to
We
craftsmen from agricultural labourers.
the most
is
do not speak
make
of the similarity
finished
between
England and Finland at the present day, because interchange

between the craftsmen of the two countries is rare, and the influence of the
the furniture produced in

ol
ideas
one on the other
is
nil.
practically
This
is
exactly the condition which must have
prevailed during the early part of the sixteenth century
and
villages
were scattered
relatively farther than Berlin
roamed from
Towns
and before that time.
one county was far removed from the other,
and London are
his native place or
county was
at the present day,

in
often
and the artisan who
danger of being taken up
for a
rogue
and a masterless man.

It will
and
to
be seen, therefore, that to take a piece, irrespective of
attempt to found a theory as to
of its design,
is
absolutely hopeless.
its
The chair made
in
the two placed side
would be referred
side
place of origin,
antiquity, solely from certain characteristics
and probably was,

copied,
by
its
Hereford some
fifty
in
Middlesex in 1550 might be
At the present day
years later.
to the
same
date.
There
is
a strong
reason for supposing that this copying, at subsequent periods, actually did take place.
The nobles possessed
Until the end of
addition.
rare
its
it
their
town houses, and probably several country mansions in

the sixteenth century, furniture of any kind was exceedingly
was no uncommon
country seat, to take
practice,
much
when
a noble family removed from
of the furniture
from the town house with
were specially liable to such removals, as we shall see
later.
It
London
it.
to
Chairs
was, therefore, quite
probable that the country joiner would come into contact with the work of his fellow-
London, and would either be directly commissioned to copy

ductions or would assimilate his ideas by association.
craftsman
in
The general nature
his pro-
of the problem, of resolving the subject of English furniture

6
Introductory
and woodwork
subdivisions
the
first
suggest
and
furniture,
into an orderly progression, has been outlined in the

foregoing.
themselves
With the
namely,
sequence,
logical
and the
chairs, stools, settees
two are evident, and
be imagined.
in
like.
The reasons
in all three the liability to
panelling,
Three
movable
for the distinction of
overlapping of examples can
third category, that of chairs, with their kindred pieces, settees,
stools, benches, forms, etc.,
the separate character
not so obvious, yet they occupy
is
a place apart, not only during the early period, but practically throughout the entire
This
history of English furniture.

If furniture of
any kind was
the table
the
for
end
rare until the
As before
even greater degree.
a demonstrable fact, and for several reasons.
is
of the
bench or
stated, the
Tudor
stool
period, chairs were so in
was the usual substitute

and
chairs were seats of honour, reserved for the lord
exceptionally honoured
were
flanked
were
usually
early
Tudor house,
benches
b}^
or
The
guest.
On
stools.
long
the
Great Hall, which
served in the
two chairs were placed
tables
refectory
facing the
dais,
is
his lady,
at
sometimes
of
the
hall
for
period
meals
such a general feature of the
for the lord
and lady
These
of the house.
chairs were greatly prized, for their associations rather than for their intrinsic worth,
and were often removed from house to house.

that chairs were often dated
or standing cupboard
valuables both while in
The
is
an honour shared, as a general
and the
This esteem
suggested by the fact
rule,
only by the Court
two important pieces designed to hold the family

residence and in transit.
chest,
stool continued to be the usual seat for meals until almost the close of the
reign of Charles II, and the great store set
by the chairs of the family is also indicated

by the amount of fine carving lavished on them at this period. With the accession of
William the Stadtholder in 1689, and even some years before, when the persecution of the
Huguenots
of France, following
on the Revocation of the Edict
of Nantes, exiled
many
thousands of the French weavers, who brought their art to
this country, a fashion for
gorgeous fabrics was inaugurated.
and the
Again the
chair, the stool
settee were excep-
tionally favoured, as being particularly suited for the display of elaborate silks
and
During nearly the whole of the eighteenth century the craft of the chairmaker
was quite distinct from that of the joiner, and was a much more favoured industry-
velvets.
It
is
nearly always chairs which originate the fashions, and mould them for other
furniture to follow.
it
is
We
get the cabriole leg, in
adapted to tables and similar
many
articles of furniture.
carving, of chairs of the earlier periods
than with other furniture.
its
is
nearly always
Greater originality
7
is
forms, with them, long before
The
finer,
design, especially of the
and certainly more
spirited
frequently displayed, and novelties

oi
construction attempted (such
Anne days) which

It is
as, at a later
unknown
arc cither quite
date, with the hoop-back chair of

to, or
unpractised by, the joiner.
these reasons, the distinct character of the chairmaker's craft as
that of the furniture joiner, and the difference between the
and that
of
maker
the
oi
coalesce, but as
.1
work
general rule
it
Here and there
compared with
of both, in their nature,
woodwork, which have
panelling and semi-constructional
dictated the three subdivisions of this book.
Queen
it
will
be found that they
remarkable how the stream of development flows
is
without any serious deviation into side channels.
One
examples
of
in
two methods remains
in the orderly
to take
their periodic progression irrespective of the three subdivisions referred
to above, the other to consider each in turn with
book
statement of our subject
as a whole.
It will
due regard to the homogeneity
be found that the latter method
is
the best in practice,
of the
if
no other reason than because panelling, furniture and chairs influence each other
only a slight degree, whereas the true evolution of English furniture
each of the three channels before mentioned.
is
but
make
furniture
developed, but
arise.
why
in
threefold, along
This plan has the necessary drawback
of requiring periodical returns to a previous starting-point,

for a better understanding, not only of
for
when English
it
will
be found to
and woodwork
each phase came into being and the factors which caused
it
to
Chapter
The
WO
II.
Dissolution of Monasteries.
acts of oppression
and greed on the part
of
Henry VIII stand out
remarkable, not only for the autocratic power on the
in history as
part of the King which they exhibit, but also for the far-reaching effect
which they had on the development
The
in
of these
first
the case of the smaller
is
of English furniture
and woodwork.
the suppression of the monasteries, which began,
establishments,
as
early as
1536
other
the
is
debasing of the coinage, a further description of which, together with some of

effects, will
the
its
be given in the following chapter.
During the fifteenth century, the power and
size of the
Church and the monasteries
had grown to an enormous extent. Figs. 1 and 2 give an idea of the number of buildings
which clustered round St. Alban's Abbey. Trading on the love, but still more, the
superstition of the people, the abbeys
and convents had been so enriched by
bequeathed at a donor's death or extorted under dire threats of
spiritual
gifts either
punishment, that
has been calculated that they possessed one-third of the
at the close of the century
it
landed wealth of England.
These establishments were, with few and notable exceptions,
dens of gluttony and vice, but they included in their orders practically
architects, physicians, scribes, teachers
and craftsmen
all
the lawyers,
of the Middle Ages.
Knowledge
may be said to have been non-existent apart from the Church. As Thorold Rogers has
"
"
"
:
We knowstated so well in Chapter VI of his
Six Centuries of Work and Wages
but few of the
Ages,
men who
designed the great cathedrals, churches, and castles of the Middle
those buildings which are the wonder
of
our age for their vastness, their exquisite
proportions, and their equally exquisite detail.

accident, who the builder was, he
is
a clergyman. It seems as though
skill in architec-
ture,
structure,
but
for
endurance, were so
as
it
were by
almost always
and intimate acquaintance with
was necessary, not only
But when we do know,
all
which
for the design of the
good
workmanship
common an
and
accomplishment,
that no one was at the pains to proclaim his

The
illustrations of
Bodiam
Castle in this chapter are from photos
by Messrs. Everett and Ashdown
of Tenterden, Kent.
Furniture and Jf oodwork
Early English
own
another.
It
fl|
and
Castle
is
It
ecclesiastic.
ii
that
of
the reputation
record
to
known
is
Rochester
of
or
reputation
we owe the designs

the Tower to one
that
recorded
William
of
the Third's architect at
Wykeham was Edward
Windsor, as well as his own at Winchester and

Oxford, and of various handsome churches which
were built during
his
long
It
episcopate.
is
and it
at Magdalen College
probable that Wavnetlete designed the beautiful buildings
that Wolsey, in his youth, planned the matchless tower, which has charmed
is
;
alleged
But no one knows who designed and
every spectator for nearly four centuries.
carried
out a thousand of those poems in stone which were the glory of the Middle Ages, and
have been made the subjects of

in
and stupid limitation
servile
mir own."
Henry, whose extravagance was boundless, had cast

longing eyes on the wealth of the Church, and when he
began
his
act
of suppression, in
1536, on the plea of the
Church's vice and mismanagement, he had no other idea
than to capture these riches for his

all
thieves, he
in the
had
Like
private use.
to dispose of the produce of his robberies
worst market
the stolen goods,
own
in other words, to find receivers for
who were prepared
to deal,
if
the terms
were sufficiently attractive to the buyer, and ruinous to the

seller.
years,
his
was that the proceeds of the royal thefts were dissipated in about four
and the King had to turn his attention to the currency of the realm to replenish
The
result
exhausted treasury.
By these means the

and afterwards by
condition of the artisan was steadily deteriorated, both
his son,
Edward VI.
With the suppression

ments a horde
of
of the
by Henry
monastic establish-
monkish vagrants was
let loose
on the highways and byways of England,
who
in
possessed nearly
all
the skill in
men
woodwork,
in carving, illuminating, writing and

"
arts.
They were turned away with
masonry,
the other
forty
shillings
and
gown per man
See note at end of chapter.
10
"
as

Burnet
in
remarks,
pithily
"
his
History
thejReforma-
of
The vagrancy laws were stringent

a craftsman could
not roam beyond his place of habitation or employment
without the consent of his Guild and of the Lord of the Manor,
tion."
"
without the gravest risk of being apprehended as a
man," a
rogue and a vagabond,
vagrancy was death,
if
and the
masterless
punishment
for
not mutilation. There were over a hundred
offences in the calendar for which a
man,
in the fifteenth century,
could be put to death (stealing a sheep was one of them) and hanging was, perhaps, the
kindest punishment in the penal code.
With
these unfrocked
had made the
monks departed
fifteenth century the
of citizenship, these
monks
Tortures and mutilation were
many and
ingenious.
the skill in building and woodwork, which
Golden Age.
Forbidden to work, denied any rights
deteriorated into thieves and outlaws, where they did not
escape beyond the seas, to follow their crafts in other, and more tolerant, countries.
To quote Thorold Rogers
"
again
We
have been able
to trace the process
by which
the condition of English labour has been continuously deteriorated

It
government.
was
first
by the acts of
Next it was robbed
impoverished by the issue of base money.
by the land thieves of Edward's regency. It was next brought in contact

with a new and more needy set of employers the sheep-masters who succeeded the monks.
of its guild capital
It
was then, with a pretence, and perhaps with the intention,
of kindness, subjected
to the quarter sessions assessment, mercilessly used in the first half of the seventeenth
century, the agricultural labourer being
residuum of
all
labour.
and the extinction

so long.
The
of those
still
further impoverished
by being made the
was then further mulcted by enclosures,

of pasture and fuel which he had enjoyed
agricultural labourer
immemorial
The poor law professed
rights
to find
him work, but was
so administered that the
reduction of his wages to a bare subsistence became an easy process and an economical
expedient.
their
own
When
monarchy was restored, his employers, who fixed his wages by

relieved their own estates from their ancient dues at the expense
the
authority,
poor luxuries by the excise, tied him to the soil

by the Law of Settlement, and starved him by a
The freedom of the few was
prohibitive corn law.
of his
bought by the servitude

Saltoun,
an ardent
of
the many.
republican
for
a narrow
class,
doom
of the
suggested hopeless slavery as the proper

labourers,
argued
that
the
people
Fletcher of
existed
only
to
roodwork
JJ
work, and that philosophical politicians should have the power to limit their existence
by labour.
poor their
of other
Throughout the eighteenth century the most enlightened men gave the
them at the cost
pity, occasionally their patronage, sometimes would assist
workers
but beyond a bare existence, never imagined that they had rights
The weight of taxation fell on them

To crown the whole, the penalties
remembered that they had suffered wrongs.

every direction, and with searching severity.
or
felony and conspiracy were denounced against
all
labourers
who
in
of
associated together to
by endeavouring to sell their labour in concert, while the desperation

which poverty and misery induce, and the crime they suggest, were met by a code more
sanguinary and brutal than any which a civilised nation had ever heretofore devised
better their lot
or a high-spirited one submitted to." 1

In these religious houses of the fourteenth
nor expense, were of
moment
fifteenth centuries neither time,
in the production of their
grandest cathedrals, or tiny churches.

1
and
The Act by which any combination
of
'
The wealth
workmen,
for their
own
with hue, imprisonment or mutilation, was only repealed after 1820.
works
of the
of art,
whether
Church was immense,
M--X
Fig. 1.
ALBAN'S ABBEY BEFORE THE REFORMATION.
This illustration gives some idea of the
From an
original
for
protection or betterment, could be punished

Geo. IV, Cap. 129.
ST.
for the
number of monastic buildings which clustered round an Abbey.

drawing by Charles H. Ashdown, Esq., F.R.G.S.

she drew at will upon the fear and superstition of the earth
as her power.
For centuries her treasures were
for the
and her
spirit
was
as great
most part wisely and munificently
expended, and the noble buildings she erected and the good deeds she performed cannot
be contemplated, even now, without admiration.
She opened her gates
to the poor,
spread a table to the hungry, gave lodging to the houseless, welcomed the wanderer
and high and low learned and
illiterate
alike received shelter and hospitality.
Under
her roof the scholar completed his education, the chronicler sought and found materials
for history, the minstrel
the sculptor carved in
chaunted lays of piety and chivalry
wood
for his loaf
and
his raiment,
some popular saint, and the painter conferred

meant to be the immortality of his colours. To
or cast in silver
on some new legend what was at
and
least
and the powerful devised both money and

an opulent sinner was glad to pacify the clamours of the Church
lands abundantly
and the whisperings of his own conscience, by bequeathing wealth which he could no
and chantries were added to churches, and hospitals erected and endowed,
longer enjoy
institutions so charitable
useful, the rich
where the saints were
solicited in favour of the
departed donor's soul, and the poor and
hungry were clothed and fed."
=OTS-
Fig. 2.
A KEY TO THE ILLUSTRATION ON OPPOSITE PAGE.

13
Fig. 4.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 5.
ATHERINGTON CHURCH, DEVON.

West Side of Chance] Screen.
An example
side the loft
the front
is
Early Sixteenth Century.
Devonshire Rood Screen with Rood Loft complete. On the eastern (chancel)
is boarded on the front and with
applied tracery. On the western (the side shown here)
decorated with elaborate niche-work. The detail (Fig. 5) shows the Italian ornament
of a
in the vaulting of the screen, a sure indication of the sixteenth century.
Mr. Fredk. Sumner, Photo.

1

"
No
better conditions could have prevailed for the execution of works which should
monuments
persist as
created
on
its
its
own
of art
artisans, its
own works under
lay brothers or
and craftsmanship
monks
masons, sculptors, carvers or joiners and employed them
the skilled direction of
is
probable
Possibly
notice of
when
That these craftsmen were
its prelates.
certainly they
seem
to
the monasteries were suppressed, or to have lost their

executing.
have either disappeared when
skill
both
and
in designing
came under
the higher dignitaries of the Church
Wolsey and Cromwell, and many,
as at Reading, Colchester
in
the baneful
and Glastonbury,
woodwork took
perished at their hands, the guiding spirit of English architecture and
wings and
The Church
as long as materials lasted.
fled. 1
That these
religious houses
had increased
in
number out
of all proportion to the
population, and in wealth and power to such degree as to be a menace to King and
State,
is
in size,
unquestionable.
The policy
of the public
wealth or number, but no one
will credit
own exchequer."
than the replenishment of his
good
may have
dictated reduction
Henry VIII with any higher
notice
and grew only in the shadow of the Church cannot be doubted when
fourteenth-century castles and cathedrals are compared. True, the former were built
That
art lived
to withstand
armed
from which the
assaults,
latter
were protected
character, but the interiors of castles were often as rude
and
free
by their sacred
from ornament as their
We
meet with exceptions, as at Tattershall Castle, where, in the fifteenth

century, Ralph, Lord Cromwell, Lord Treasurer of England under Henry VI, embellished
exteriors.
the thirteenth-century castle of
Gothic manner of his age.

it
Baron de Tatershale both outside and
But the twelfth-century Abbey
in, after
of Kirkstead
had, in fact, been founded by the original builder of Tattershall,
the fine
was near by ;
and there
is
no doubt
that the decorative work, the windows, the heraldic vaulting and the stone chimneypieces (the latter of
which underwent such extraordinary vicissitudes some years ago,
being rescued actually from the housebreakers' hands, after removal, by Earl Curzon
of Kedleston)
were the work of the neighbouring monks.
The
great abbeys
and monas-
both the designing and executive ability for the more ornate secular
houses and castles of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. One would venture to
teries supplied
assert, for
invoked
example, that the aid of the neighbouring Abbey of Robertsbridge was not
in the decoration of the late fourteenth-century Castle of
Bodiam
illustrated in
the pages of this chapter.

1
Alan Cunningham,
The
"
William
jewelled canopies to
some
of
Wykeham."
tombs
of the
in the earliest chapels of
and sold by the rapacious monarch.

T
Westminster Abbe} were
despoil*

The guiding and directing
and furniture
influence of the
ecclesiastical in proper habitat as
absence of
desired,
when
it
style, generally
known
woodwork,
when
is,
absence
necessarily,
as a general rule,
and there
is
as Tudor, free
Gothic
An
from the somewhat
rigid qualities of
era of house building also sets in at this
details,
ornament borrowed from France and Italy
Gothic vaulting.
4 and
3,
Briefly, it
is
still
persist,
but the free
superadded, as in the fine screen from
where Renaissance detail
5,
by
such as two- and three-centred arch in
door-heads, crocheting and cusping in lattice and spandril,
Atherington Church, Figs.
an
that such was not appreciated nor
internecine strife ceases, and fortified castles began to be replaced
dwelling-houses or mansions.
is
towards the middle of the sixteenth century,
until
the ecclesiastical Gothic, begins to arise.

period,
its
Secular houses, prior to the sixteenth
It is possible
workmanship.
by even the very wealthy,

new
in origin.
is
or no furniture or
fine detail or
very apparent in such woodwork
Gothic woodwork and furniture
equally noticeable in the later work.
little
is
which has persisted to the present day, and
prior to 15J0.
century, contain
Church
is
superimposed on
be said that, with the dissolution of monasteries,
may
departs the former fine tradition in English furniture and woodwork, and the Gothic
ceases to be the national style of England.
Note.
Literal
ditions of the lower classes at that
That
if
Edward VI, C. Ill, will be more

period, than any comment can be.
extracts from Act
any man
or
woman
I,
able to
work should refuse
should be branded with a red hot iron on the breast, with the
years of
and water
to
illuminating, as showing the con-
labour and live idly for three days, he or she
V and
'
'
letter
should be adjudged the slave for
any person who should inform against such idler ; and the master should feed
and such refuse meat as he should think proper ; and should cause
or small drink,
his slave with bread

his slave to
work by
healing, chaining or otherwise, in such work and labour that he should put him unto."
"
Ij he runs away from his master for the space of fourteen days, he shall become his slave for life, after being
branded on
'
the forehead or check with the letter
'
and
if lie
runs away the second time, and shall be con-
victed thereof by two sufficient witnesses, he shall be taken as a

felon
ought
to
It is
furthermore enacted that the master shall have power
suffer pains of death, as other felons
persons be adjudged
to
" To
sell,
bequeath,
let
out for hire, or
any person whomsoever upon such condition and for such term of years as the sun/
him for slaves, after the like, sort and manner as may do of any other his moveable goods
give the service of his slaves to
and
and
do."
chattels."
The master
shall also
have power
"
To put a ring
his discretion."
16
of iron about the neck,
arm
or leg of his slave,
at
Chapter
The Early Woodworker
endeavour to
His
Tools and Methods.
Life,
the
present
III.
life
and conditions
from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries,

trade guilds and the
like,
is
the
of
his
tools,
methods,
the scope and purpose of the present
The term "woodworker" has been chosen,
chapter.
woodworker
as this includes
not only the carpenter and joiner, but also the kindred crafts of the
sawyer, the maker of furniture and the carver in wood, under the one generic heading.
At the outset several
present themselves, in the attempt to institute
difficulties
comparisons between the various periods.
An
accurate standard of values, which
shall hold good, equally in the fourteenth as in the eighteenth centuries, for example,
is
and
services, for
and the
different
The
have to consider,
which a monetary standard
in the fourteenth
levels,
We
difficult to postulate.
very
than
relative
it
the remuneration for labour
not apply
(as
money bought
far
more
did in the eighteenth century), the difference in subsistence
number
of the
hours worked in the woodworking trades at the
periods.
institution of
trade guilds dates from very early times.
early a date as the fourteenth century are
that these guilds must have existed.

in
will
first,
known from
Guild halls of as
records and remains, and
Whether they were formed
show
to protect the workers
the various trades, as far as labour conditions were concerned, or whether they
were more in the nature of educational establishments, under the protection and
subject to the domination of the Lord of the Manor,
know
it
is
not possible to say.
We
that the mediaeval woodworker was protected from time to time by sundry
Acts of Parliament, regulating his wages and hours of labour, and that, on the whole,
his
life
working
was
far
from onerous.
His desires were fewer than at a later date.
Bread, meat and beer constituted his staple
only
planted in Lancashire where they became popular as a food.

in
the
late
sixteenth
Holland, as an article of
Houghton,
in
Green vegetables were unknown
in
1681, gives
D
in
Potatoes were introduced by Sir Walter Raleigh from Virginia, and were
England.
first
diet.
his
"
century.
diet, until
Collections
in Vol.
I,
p.
in
This, however,
is
Green vegetables were not introduced from
almost the early part of the seventeenth century.
Husbandry and Trade," a periodical
213, edit.
1728, the
17
first
notice of
first
turnips
published
being used

feeding sheep.
Both
were much smaller
in size
for
The
absence
cattle
and sheep,
in
JJ ooclwork
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries,
than at the present day.
lack of green vegetables, coupled with the insanitary conditions of

of
any attempt
at
cleanliness
of
person,
and the lack
life,
the
knowledge of
of
medicine or surgery (the mediaeval physician would not compare, for a moment, in
knowledge
in
of his art,
with the veriest epiack at the present day) probably accounted,
great measure, for the prevalence of plagues.
ravaged England
in
and 1369, and
1348, 1361
In the fourteenth century, the plague

in the
next century in 1477, 1478 and
From
1479.
1455
to
England suffered
from civil war, and
1485
after
Bosworth, Henry
Tudor's army
brought
from Wales, a
with
it,
new
disease
known
"
the
sweating
as
sick-
which afterwards
ness,"
penetrated to
and
the
but
which,
Germany
Netherlands,
curiously
attacked
enough, only
Englishmen.
Those
interested
who
are
these
in
mediaeval conditions of
life
and labour cannot
do
better
Rogers'
read
Thorold
E.
James
"Six
than
erudite
Centuries of
book,
Work
and Wages," especially

Chapter XII. Thorold
Fig. 6.
THE PIT-SAW
Rogers
IN USE.
t()
The two workers are known as the "top-sawyer" and the " under sawyer."
"
It is
the "top-sawyer
who
guides the saw.

18
diet
refers, in detail,
profuseness
and
the
of
extra-
His
Life, Tools
and Methods
ordinary uncleanliness of person in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and to the
In 1528 and 1529 the visitation was
prevalence of plagues.
Mortality," and
died
for
in
ravaged the Continent as well as England.
it
last
cited
conditions,
to
time,
in
days
twenty-two
the
known
Hamburg
England,
above,
had
propagation on an extensive
to
in
1665.
The
alone.
It
is
plague
as the
"
Great
Over 1100 persons

came again, and
more than probable that
the
be coupled with a famine year, to allow of
scale,
and famines were very
rare
during
the
its
later
Middle Ages.
Workers
in
wood appear
to
have been divided into three
classes during the four-
teenth and fifteenth centuries.
We
have the King's
men,
crafts-
who were paid

rate,
higher
although
at
it
is
probable that they were more

in
nature
the
directors
of
Thus
than general workers.

in
June 6th
1358,
(Patent
Rolls), 'John de Tidolaye
is
appointed to carry out certain

repairs in the King's Castle
"
of Haddeleye,
by view and
disposition of Master William
de Herland, the King's car"
penter
to take the necessary
workmen and
carriages
for
the work, at the King's wages,

"
to stay therein as long as
shall be necessary
all
and
found contrariant
those
and commit them

till
arrest
to prison
further orders."
Fig. 7.
From
the
above
it
evident that the King's carpenter had

to collect
THE CUTTING OF OAK.
is
summary powers
men for the King's
A.
Boards cut across the tree.
B.
The trunk showing annular rings and medullary rays.

board cut by the method (A) showing the annular rings.
The cutting of quartered boards without figure.
The cutting of quartered boards with the medullary ray figure.
C A
D.
E.
Early English Furniture arid

work,
and
writ' culled
the
time
at a higher rate
when
class of
being
may have
although they
Next
oodwork
from the general
for
artisan,
probable that these
is
it
JJ
only,
been paid
so engaged.
order come the wood-
in
workers attached to the Church,
who
appear to have been lay-brothers as

a general rule,
Fig. 8.
DRIVING
IN
THE RIVING-IRON, OR "THROWER."
and
to
have been
free
from the power of the King's master

The monasteries maincraftsmen.
tained
large
carpenters,
illuminators,
joiners,
of
probably paying very
high standard, both in
in pro-
From
the
and
ar-
skill
inspiration (monastic fifteenth-
century work
as
and
carvers
duce and accommodation.
tistic
masons,
money, but lavishly
in
little
numbers
much
is,
obviously, a labour
of love, as of duty)
which
the ecclesiastical workers possessed,
transcending even[those of the King's

Fig. 9.
OPENING THE LOG WITH THE " THROWER."
men,
of
it is
certain that their conditions
must have been easy and
life
enviable.
The
third class of artisans were
those engaged in
work
for the laity,
from the yeoman farmer to the belted

knight and baron, under the guidance,
and subject to the dominion of the

Trade Guild or the Lord of the Manor.
No
artisan could leave his village or
The proviso, in these royal mandates, is

always inserted, that the King's carpenter has
"
other than those in
power to collect workmen,
the fee of the Church."
1
Fig. 10.
RIVING FOR PANEL-STUFF OR PALE-FENCING.

sanction from the
without
locality
His
Life, Tools arid
Lord or the Guild, and a strange
without employment was a rogue and a vagabond, a

be arrested and summarily hanged without
labour were harsh and stringent.
one of plenty and of reasonable
Thus
for
365 days in the year.
(or
was
masterless
leisure.
man
Even
The Windsor records do not
True
on the Continent,
it is
indicate, in
shortest
possible
but there
time,
no
is
suggestion of extra pay-
ment
for
al-
overtime,
though such payments

do occur
in the records
where a great number

of
hours are worked
in
the one day.
marked
distinc-
tion appears to be
between the
labour
in
made
hours
of
summer
as
compared with
winter.
Five o'clock in the morning
to
eight
in
the
evening, in summer, was

the
rule,
but
allowance
had
general
liberal
to be
made
SCheneS
for
"
(the
"
non-
midday
customary
any way, that the workmen were
King was usually

impatient, and his work
the
life,
work on Saturday afternoon and on Sunday
the
to be executed in
could
six received 5d.
had
who
workman had an easy
paid for days on which
no work was done
workman
His hours were long, and holidays were few.
at the present day,

to
"
In this regard the laws regulating
In other particulars, the
until the last fifteen years)
morning.
trial.
"
Windsor, four carpenters received 6d. per day, and
in 1408, at
Methods
using ^he adze.

"
Note the natural bent growths of timber, or knees."
Jf
oodwork
Fig. 12.
JOINERS" PLANES OF
I.
3.
5.
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
"
"
long or
trying "-plane or
jointer.'
Rabbet plane for large

Smoothing plane.
2.
rebates.
4.
6.
Large round plane for working hollow mouldings.
Compass plane for shaped

Compass plane.
surfaces.
Rijks Museum, Amsterdam.
modern word luncheon),
meal, hence the

in all
occupying
"
drinkynges
and
"
for
sleepynges,"
of the country artisan, in the fifteenth century, appears to
have been 6d. per day.
In
London
was proportionately dearer.
this
was increased from 25
Comparisons
of wages,
actual value of the currency alters.
to 30 per cent,
but
His hours of actual labour cannot have exceeded
eight in the day, although in the next century this
even more.
"J
from three to three and a half hours.
The standard wage

living there
for
number was extended
to ten
and
reckoned in money, however, are misleading, as the

Before 1543 (when Henry VIII
first
began to debase
the currency) silver contained 18 dwts. of alloy to 12 ozs., and the pound was coined
into 45 shillings.
In 1546
it
was debased
to the extent of 8 ozs. in 12
It
would be
out of place here, to trace the far-reaching effect of this iniquitous procedure on the
1
This custom has survived in Hertfordshire, where the morning draught

This time was allowed in summer only.
is
known
as a
"
beever."
His
Life, Tools
and Methods
and Jf oodwork
zo
is>
22
21
23
25
24-
26
Fig. 14.
PLANE IRONS, SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES.

Labourers should be kept.
and
finally
But these
efforts
were
futile
the rate keeps steadily high,
becomes customary, and was recognised by Parliament."
To estimate
by a
the real value of this depreciation in wages, though accompanied
currency increase in rate, from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries, it is necessary
to formulate a subsistence table, to include the food which a man with a wife and two
children would require for a year, and to calculate the
number
of
weeks
of the
man's
labour at the various periods which was necessary to purchase this year's provision.
It is of little
constant in
all
moment whether
the estimates.
centuries, although plentiful,
the
list
As stated
it
remains
and
fifteenth
be complete or no, providing that

before, food during the fourteenth
was coarse and lacking
in variety.
The
artisan of the
could not
eighteenth century had accustomed himself to greater variety, and, possibly,
have existed on the fourteenth-century monotonous dietary scale, but this fact does
not
affect the point at issue here.
Let us take, for purposes of comparison, a
list
com-
prising 3 quarters of wheat, 3 quarters of malt, 2 quarters of oatmeal, with the necessary
amounts
year.
of beef
It will
skilled artisan
and mutton
for the family, before referred to, for the space of
one
be found that, in the late fifteenth century, fourteen weeks' wages of a
were sufficient to purchase this amount, whereas in 1530
over twenty weeks' wages, and
in 1564, after the
in 1597, a
24
would
take-
proclamation of Elizabeth regulating
wages, forty-four weeks' wages would scarcely buy the same amount.
two weeks' wages were required, and
it
In 1503,
fifty-
year of severe famine, when wheat rose
His
Life, Tools
and Methods
to 56s. iojd. the quarter,
wages were only from

5 10s. od. to 6
per year.
a
In 1593 (not
famine
wheat
5s. od.
with
year)
at 18s. 4jd. the
quarter, as
we have
al-
ready stated, one year's
wages only bought that

for which the labour
of
fourteen weeks was

1495.
In
year of 1593,
also,
sufficient in
this
we
see the first indica-
tion of a year being paid

for as
of
one of 312, instead
365 days,
rates
at
varying from 10
8s. od.
to 11 2s. od. per year.
In the famine year of

1597, with wheat at 56s.
iojd. as compared with

'
18s.
4M., wages only
advanced by
the
10s. to 15s.
year.
Privation,
32
11
during this year,
15
among
18
the workers must have
been extreme.
Fig. 15.
In 1651,
SIXTEENTH-CENTURY TOOLS.
with wheat at 51s. 4cL,

7.
the sawing of a hundred
Iron pincers.
:2."i3, 14. 16, 17
9 and 10. Compasses (a "compas")

From the Barend Expedition.
8,
An
awl
ami
iS.
Files
and Rasps.
(a pricker).
of planks (six-score feet,
always calculated as a day's work)

8s.,
the under
man
7s.
(See Fig.
is
paid at 15s. per week, the top-sawyer receiving
6.)
In 1661 the wages are substantially the same as ten years before, but wheat advances
from
5 is. 4d. to 70s. 6d.

E
In 1682 wheat
only 43s. 8d., but wages are reduced.
is
25
Furniture and Jf oodwork

Early English
In
wick, with
2*
^mTT iiiia^r^fr
fL
^^^^^^^W^"^
to
at
War-
wheat
at 42s.
1684,
Rogers
Thorold
cite
skilled
again)
artisans are paid is. per
day, free-masons (equivalent
our modern
to
is.
piece-masters)
4d.
The
and plasterers 8d.

winter pay
per
The day
less.
day
id.
is
is
one of 12 hours, from 5
morning to 7 or
in the
8 o'clock p.m., according

to
the
this
is
From
season.
allowed half an
hour for breakfast, one

hour fornonschenes, one
hour for
"
drinkings,"
and, between
May and
August, half an hour for

sleep.
The yearly store,

which in 1495 was pur-
Fig. 16.
VARIOUS TOOLS OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

27.
28.
A hammer-head. The tang

\
'
is
bent
arpenter's fat bowl.
louge.
Wooden handle
missing.
31.
Gjuge.
32.
A chisel
33.
An
oil-stone (vvhetting-stone).
and those
13s. od.
fourteen
weeks' wages, in
1690
of a
and
costs
14 us.
6d.,
the
skilled
artisan's
wages are only 15
with
(chyssel).
Ditto.
30.
Wooden handle missing.

Wooden handle missing.
chased
farm hand are about 10
8s. od. or less.
In
1725 the artisan's wages are 15 13s. od. per year, but the cost of the 1495 subsistence
standard
is
16
From 1805
himself, a wife
is
unknown
end
2s. 3d.
to 1830 the
wages
of a skilled
woodworker were
and two children even on the most meagre
of the sixteenth,
now
insufficient to
scale.
Pauperism, which
and only begins to be noticeable
at the latter
begins to be the rule rather than the exception.

26
support

The
Poor
original
Law
His
Life, Tools
and Methods
was
relief
who
Inaugurated, not only to relieve those
were unemployed, but also those who were

engaged in work, but could not live on the
1
wages which they earned.
During the
our present
nineteenth century, to bring
enquiry up to date, arose the custom of the
poor seeking doles from the back doors, or

kitchen regions, of the wealthy houses, in
the shape of cast-off clothing, stale loaves,
fragments of joints of meat and dripping,

and, in
many
as 1880, this
country villages even as late
custom
of
begging was not
regarded as disgraceful in any way.
Regular
attendance at the village church was imposed, as a condition, on the recipients of

this charity.
Some
reference
must be made,
in this
and methods
of pre-
chapter, to the tools
paring
timber,
during
the
sixteenth centuries, but the subject
wide
to
more
and
fifteenth
than
too
is
brief
unnecessary to illustrate the
felling
permit
of
description.
It is
of
timber,
wood than
nor to
deal
with
any
other
oak, as this was exclusively used
in the early periods.
The branches having
been lopped from the trunk, with the axe,

those of growth suitable for cutting into
"
knees," for timber roof-braces, being care-
fully reserved for
such use, the log
is
taken
Fig. 17.
to the saw-pit for cutting.
In Fig.
n,
to
SeeinThorold Rogers' " Six Centuries of Work and

Wages," Chapter XIY, the account of the Speenhamland
Acts of 1795 and 1800 introduced by Mr, Whitbread.
1
TOOLS OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

34, 37, 38.
Braces (morteys wymbyll).

centur
35, 36. Screw-drivers (eighteenth

39, 40, 41.
Augers (foote wymbyll).

Rijks
Museum,
and Woodwork
which
later reference will be
noticed
two
of
these
made,
'knees,"
trimmed with the adze.
will
be
roughly
Fig. 6 illustrates
the operation of the pit-saw, a tool used
from very early times, with certain exceptions
which
will
be noted later on.
The cutting of oak timber, to produce

wood of fine figure and durable quality, is
one demanding considerable
part of the sawyer or the river.
Fig. 18.
A SMOOTHING PLANE.
ilj
late sixteenth or early
the log into boards in the
seventeenth century.]
in
Fig.
7a
but the planks produced in this manner are not durable.

be noticed in the illustration
of the log before cutting,
(c),
cause the board to cast.
maximum
The
out.
parallel
wood
figure of the
is
The
in
many
The annular
Fig.
rings,
illustrated
which
will
7b shows the end section
Thus the
log
is
from the sawyer, always
of the early
Church doors the hard
likely to scale
splits
his
oak
figure has per-
have worn away, leaving the ray standing
effect is picturesque,
The mediaeval sawyer aimed

very sharp angle.
cut
the most economical way,
exposed, but the projecting ray
sisted while the softer parts of the timber
out of the wood.
To
boards are cut exactly parallel with this ray,
If
river of timber, as distinguished
with the ray, and
is
way
on the
with the annular rings and also the medullary rays which
radiate from the log-centre or heart.
the
skill
but the method
is
not the best of
its
kind.
at cutting his boards obliquely across the ray, at a

"
"
was
first
cut into quarters (hence the term
used to describe the cutting of figured oak) and the
first
board each
quartering
way was cut
straight.
Each succeeding one was cut to follow the ray direction, and between each a wedgeshaped piece was cut away to allow of each new angle being followed. The diagram,
Fig. 7e, shows the operation.
Fig. 7d shows the method of cutting mild oak without
figure,
is
but the ray comes at right angles to each board, with the result that the timber
liable to internal shakes.
The operation
was practised a good deal up to the end of

the seventeenth century, as many examples of the early work show.
Figs. 8, 9 and
10 show this operation in three stages. The quartered log is inserted between two heavy
of splitting or riving,
the upper one fixed on the slope so that the log can be wedged tightly into the
supported on stout framings fixed into the ground. The riving-iron, or
aperture,
rails,
'
thrower," as
it
is
technically termed,
is
then driven into the end of the log with a

28

wooden
shaped
club, or
"
"
The
beetle."
thrower
in section, in other words, has a
and has a socket
His
Life, Tools
and Methods
"
is
wedge-
sharp fore edge,
end into which a long loose
at one
handle can be inserted as a lever.

After the thrower has
handle
is
of
It is
(Fig. 9).
the riving
is
completed.
for
splitting
to
the
widen
worked down the log until

Fig. 10 shows the operation
panel -wood or hedge -stakes.
pale-fencing, at the present day,
same way,
home,
and the thrower wrenched
inserted
the split
been driven
Oak
riven in exactly the
is
as riven timber withstands weather better
than sawn.
shows the use
Fig. 11
smoothing
"
knees
"
used
tool
of
for
growth, before referred
dubbed
into
worker
The
timber.
large
from
selected
oak,
side of the adze
of the adze, the primitive
wood
two
curved
of
be noticed on either
to, will
one has already been roughly
shape, the other
is
awaiting the same
4*
treatment.
Fig. 19.
Woodworking
fifteenth centun-,
in the
TWO VIEWS OF A PARING
and were handed down from father
(Eighteenth century.)
tools
were greatly esteemed
to son with other possessions.
Ixworth
in Suffolk, of 1472
WILLS
The following
is
a copy of the will of
Thomas
CHISEL
Vyell, of
AND EXTRACTS FROM WILLS RELATING TO IXWORTH

AND IXWORTH THORPE.
Radulph Penteney al' Sporyer de Ixworth 1462
Lego ad vsum gilde S'c'i John i's Bapt'e
in
Thomas Vyell
iijs iiijd.
1472.
In die no 'i'e.
moneth
Ixworth.
of October,
Amen.
Thomas
Vyell of Ixworth the yeld', the xj day of the

ye yeer of oure lord m'cccclxxij of very sad and hoole mynd and
I
good avysemente, make myn testament in this wyse. Fyrst I beqweth and bytake
myn sowle to almyghty god, to yet blessed lady and to all the Seyntes of heven, and
myn body to be beryd in the parysh cherche of Ixworth be for sayd befor the auter
of Seynt James. Also I beqweth to the heych awter there ijs. Also I beqweth to ye
29

beqweth to ye pryor of Ixworth ijs, to
the Suppryour xxd. Also th Sire Edmund Stowe xxd, to eu'y chanon preste ther xijd
and to eche movyse vj. Also
beqweth to the newe freers of Thetford to a trentall
Also I beqweth to the
xs. and to the same hows ijbs of whette and a combe of make.
Also the sreets of Babwell to a trentall
held.' bows "t the same town to a trentall sx.
same cherche
stepyll oi the
Also
marcs.
vj
beqweth myn mass hyngfatte to ye gylde of Seynt Thomas, so that myn

wyffe and John my brother have the kepyng thereof ther lyve. Also I beqwethe and
Also
xs.
.assigne to
Also
myn
myn howssold.
Thomas myn sone, myn splytyng saw myn brood axe- a luggyng
a twybyll a sqwer 6 a movteys wymbyW a foote wymbyll a drawtc
alle
beforeseyd wyffe
to
beqwethe
the ostylments of
1
belie 3 a ffellyng bclte
11
11
Also I geve and beqwethe to

a kytting same.
Thomas myn sone myn place that I dwelle jn wt. all the purtenance and to his heyers
wt. owtyn ende, and yeffe he deye wt. owtyn heyers the seyde place to remayne wt.
So that myn
the purtenance to John myn sone, and to his heyers wt. owtyn ende.
9
wymbyll
compas
10
and hande sawe
beforeseyde wyfe have the seyde place wt. the purtenances outo the tyme myn assyned
As I gave and beqwethe to Crystyan
ever be of age to meynteyne it by him selffe.
wyffe by forsey myn place wt. the purtenances that was John Knotts for terme
of her lyffe, and aft her decesse to remayn to John myn sone to his heyers and assignes
wt. owtyn ende.
But yeffe it happe the seyde John to Hereryte myn other above
myn
wolde and assigne that place wyche John Knotts hadde be solde
myn and for myn frendes sowly, to execucion for this myn laste wylle
seyd place, thanne
and dysposyd for

and testaments.
Note.
Bury
make and ordeyn
all of
of
Institute
woodworkers' tools from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries
Those
of the earlier date are
remains of which were discovered in
Dutch
John Vyell myn brother.
p. 108.
I,
are illustrated in Figs. 12 to 19.

tion, the
befor seyde wyffe and
and West Suffolk Archaeological Institute and Suffolk
Archaeology, Vol.
Examples
origin,
Nova Zembla
from the Barend Expedi-
in 1593.
but the relations between England and the
They
Low
and seventeenth centuries, that there
close during the sixteenth
are,
probably,
Countries were so
is
every reason to
suppose that carpenters' and joiners' tools were identical in the two countries.
Nova Zembla implements may be

found, as tools were preserved for
.have seen.
1
2
3
1
are,
many
years,
An
axe.
pole-axe
square
when they were

handed down from father to son, as we
considerably earlier than the date
unquestionably sixteenth century, and
rip-saw with large teeth.

broad axe.
An adze.
A felling
A
"*
They
10
mattock
for truing
a pick-axe, an axe with two heads.
up edges.
The
ll
12
may
date from the earlier
auger cr a brace for boring holes.
large auger.
An
auger with a guide for accurate boring.
a compass or divider.
A hand-saw.
A cross-cut saw.

The
decades.
His
and Methods
Life, Tools
collection of eighteenth-century planes
is
and nearly
interesting,
all
are
carved and dated, an indication of the esteem in which they were held by their owners.
They
tools
differ
is
little
very
very gradual,
from those
and as the evolution of
in use at the present day,
especially after they reach an
to suppose that the planes of the sixteenth
efficient stage,
there
and seventeenth centuries
is
no reason
differed materially
from these examples of the eighteenth.

Perfection and accuracy of finish is, however, lacking in these tools as compared
with those of the present day, and methods must have been even more primitive, and
it
yet
made
with these implements and methods that the carpenters, joiners and carvers
is
those marvels of timber construction, such as chancel and rood-screens and
hammer-beam
roofs, which, in design, decoration
enormous time involved) are the envy
The primitive
day.
and execution
of the cultured
worker
(to
in
joiner used glue or other adhesive sparingly,
say nothing of the
wood
at the present
and only when wide
panels were imperatively demanded, such as the painted lower panels in decorated
chancel screens.
He
his design.
As a general
rule, if his
secured his joints with mortise and tenon, pinned with wooden pegs,
and so durable and perfect was

of the centuries,
subdued, but
panels were too wide for his timber he altered
his construction that his
work has withstood the ravages
remaining to-day, mellowed with the passage of time, with colours
still
as beautiful as
when
it
left his
hands.
has succumbed only to
It
purposed destruction, such as at the hands of the iconoclasts of the Reformation and
the
Commonwealth.
When we examine
such examples as the canopied
and vaulted chancel and rood-screens, the
traceried
stalls,
sedilia
roofs, alike in constructional as well as decorative qualities,
the tabernacle work, the
and the elaborate timber

whether
in stately edifices
such as Beverley Minster, or in small churches such as Ludham, Ranworth, Southwold,

Bramfield, Ufford and
choice
art
is,
many
in itself, invidious,
other of the East Anglian ecclesiastical buildings,
work and
his
we
can dimly apprehend the love for
which the woodworker of that time must have had,
woodwork
in the fifteenth century.
To
originate
and
his
in the golden age of English
to construct, in as perishable
material as wood, examples of supreme beauty which shall defy the centuries, implies
an honesty of method, and a love both of his

his art,
and directed
his efforts,
passage of time and devotes
work which
shall be
"
fvtt
craft,
and
of the
Church which fostered
coupled with a care and patience which ignores the
all efforts to
the ultimate goal, the production of wood-
and fvne."
31
Chapter IV.
The Plan
E
of
last fifteen
of the Early
years of the fifteenth century witnessed the rise of the
Tudor from the
battlefield of
Henry and the policy

title
in
crown
of
Tudor House.
"
as a
14S5,
Bosworth, when the arms of the Seventh
of the first Earl of
reward
for
who
obtained his
Richard Crookback on the head of the victorious Richmond, "-
to look to Scotland for a king to
tectural
Derby,
for his invaluable services in placing the
established the line which persisted for one hundred
had
House
work was almost wholly
occupy
its
and seventeen years,

throne.
England
this period, archi-
During
There was
of a secular character.
until
little
or no reason
adding to the numbers of the great monasteries or religious houses, and half a
century later Henry VIII began his
work
of suppressing these institutions
and bridling the power of the clergy.

The accession of a new dynasty also
tended to beget an
era, of building of
mansions, for the favourites of the
House
of the
of Tudor.
first
During the
century and a quarter following the

accession of
Henry VIII, building must
have been indulged
by the wealthy,
on an elaborate scale.
To instance
in,
but a few of the great houses of this

period
we have Buckden
in
1484,
Apethorpe about 1500, Oxburgh Hall

three years
before
complete at
the
Bosworth, and
accession
of
in-
Henry
Tudor, Sutton Place in 1523, Compton
Wynyates
1538,
in
1520, Hengrave Hall in
Layer Marney Towers
in
the
Fig. 20.
OXBURGH HALL
Plan.
1482
first
7).
.year
of
the
sixteenth
simultaneously with Apethorpe,
century,
Parham
The Plan of
Old Hall
in
1568
in
1510
(Fig.
21),
Deene Park
in
the
1549
Early Tudor House

(Fig-
22 )>
Cothelstone
Manor
Keele Hall in 1571, Lake House in 1575, and Nettlecombe Court in
(Fig. 23),
the last year of the sixteenth century.
To
this list
Montacute and Shaw House
may
be added Moreton Old Hall
and Doddington in 1595.

The opening of the seventeenth century saw Shipton, Salford and Burton Agnes in the
building, with Aston and Hatfield shortly to follow.
in 1559,
this architectural digression
Although
life
may
in 1580,
appear to be out of place
with furniture and woodwork,
itself solely
concerning
ment
in 1570,
Kirby
it
will
was always
be found that the develop-
had an important bearing both on the home

the aristocratic classes. The evolution of the house-plan
of
in the direction of greater privacy for the family.
was invariably
in the
form
porch, usually flanked
by
of a
Oxburgh,
Fig. 20).
the porch
the
towers, in the days
when
Tudor plan
The entrance
early
the capability of defence against
to the successful house-plan,
Through
had the
--- r
,
open courtyard
was reached, and almost

opposite, on
The
quadrangle with central open courtyard.
armed aggression was a necessary adjunct

rooms on either side (see
directly
the other side of
the quadrangle,
was the Great
Hall, the principal,
if
not the
only living room of the family.
was entered from a
hall
door on the
the right,
side,
usually
the parlance of the time as

skreens," formed
the
off
on
which gave on to
known
corridor,
species of
ing
hall
by
"
a
in
the
partition-
(see
Fig.
24
showing the screen at Ockwells
Above
Manor).
"
the skreens,"
which was ceiled to single-story

height,
was the Minstrel's
(see Fig.
Hall
book
of house-planning at this period
and the furnishings
The
in a
at
f
gallery
Fig. 21.
25, the screen in the
Wadham
PARHAM OLD HALL

From
College,
33
the Moat.
(1510).
porter's
Early English Furniture and Uôodwork

The
Oxford).
and
intersected
effectually
opposite end
huge
To
hall itself, in all the earlier houses,
oriel
of
screen
the
window.
the right
of
the
house
on
the
dais,
was
reached to an open-timbered roof,
both
and
ground
flanked
generally
at
At the
floors.
first
end
one
by
Behind the dais were the private apartments of the family.
the
screen,
on entering, were the domestic
the
offices,
kitchen,
buttery, etc.
These Great Halls were not only contrived in large houses and mansions;
often formed a part of smaller
yeoman
dwellings.
they
In the latter case, the roof timbers,
while constructional, were only sparingly decorated as befitted the quality of the house
itself.
Fig. 26
shows one
originally a part of a Great Hall, but
several rooms.
The
Bablake Schools at Coventry,
of these open-timber roofs in the
staircase,
now
floored into
another view of which
and partitioned off into

shown in Fig. 27, was probably
two
is
stories
inserted in the last quarter of the seventeenth century.
The
character.
staircases,
To
of
which there were
and
the right
left of
several,
were small and unimportant
in
the quadrangle, flanking the hall on either side,
were
the
"
notable
absence
or
as they were styled.
lodgings
chambers,
guests'
"
was
feature
rooms
corridors, the
of
the
leading the one into the other (see

Figs. 28
and
yates).
It
29,
Compton Wyn-
was not
until nearly
the end of the sixteenth century,
when the
Italian plan
came
into
vogue, with the Italian detail and
ornament, that the corridor be-
came a part
By this
time the hall had gradually
dwindled
much
The
of the English house.
in
size
and had
lost
of its original significance.
had grown in corresponding degree, and was usually

_,.
constructed
Fig. 22.
deene park
The South
staircase
thus
(1549).
Front.
the hall itself, which

'
began to take
function,
34
in
as
a room
new
on
to
hold
The Plan of
giving access
staircase,
to
the upper floors.
the
It is
Early Tudor House
hardly necessary to
point
out
that this office has persisted to the present day.

In place of the former Great Hall, the
Long Gallery became a general
feature in
the planning of the later Tudor houses, and while the open quadrangle form was
frequently preserved, one side, usually the
left
on entering the porch, was constructed
room depth, the outer length being taken by the Long Gallery, either on
the ground or the first floor. From 150 to 200 feet was no uncommon length for these
of double
galleries.
and the
Sutton Place
left flank of
(Figs.
30 and 31) has both Great Hall and Long Gallery (Fig. 32)
the courtyard
is
only of single-room depth.
a later stage we find the general plan alters from the open quadrangle to that
"
"
"
of the
E " form. This development, however, does not materially affect
or
At
our subject, whereas with the dwarfing of the hall and the origination of the Long
Fig. 23.
COTHELSTONE MANOR
South Front.
35
(1568).
Fig. 24.
OCKWELLS MANOR.
Screen looking
View from the
into the Hall.
The Plan of
Early Tudor House
the
and such other private apartments, as the dining-room and the parlour, we
get additional wall surfaces where some kind of covering, whether of tapestry or of
wooden panelling, was necessary to comfort. With the Great Hall, of huge size and
Gallery,
full
house-height, any nakedness of wall, of rough stone or exposed brick, was not
keenly
felt,
some means
but as the
home
life
of the family
of finishing interior surfaces
was transferred
to smaller apartments,
was found necessary, and panellings were
the device generally adopted.
The usual
table,
furniture of the dais in the Great Hall
type probably borrowed
of great length,
seldom
less
from the
than twelve
feet.
earlier
was the
so-called
monastic refectories,
IN
THE HALL OF WADHAM COLLEGE, OXFORD.

Early seventeenth century.
37
"
refectory
generally
This was placed lengthwise on the dais,
Fig. 25.
OAK SCREEN
"

and behind
side
it
Jfoodwork
were the chairs of the lord and lady of the house, flanked on the other
The body
by single stools or long benches.
of the hall
long tables of similar description to the one on the dais.
was occupied by several
Against the walls were the
serving tables, our or two livery cupboards, and, at a later date, the enclosed two or
three-titi'
hall
"
Standing" or "Court Cupboard."
was generally occupied by a large
coffer,
or
dower
chest.
The
The
floor of the recessed oriel in the
chest, usually erroneously called a marriage
true marriage coffer
was smaller, and always reserved
for the
private apartment of the lady, as a receptacle for the household treasures in
the
oi linen
way
or fabrics.
Chairs were very rare pieces in these earlier
"
Great Halls,"
Fig. 26.
TIMBER ROOF
IN
THE STAIRCASE HALL AT BABLAKE SCHOOLS, COVENTRY.

Late fifteenth or early sixteenth century.
38
The Plan of
The
excepting as seats of state on the dais.
sometimes
of
oak boards, was always
left
the hall
floor,
bare
rushes being a later degree of effeminacy.
the
The
Early Tudor House
generally of good honest flags, but
the covering with strewn or plaited

fireplace corresponded in size with
the opening rarely less than eight feet in width
itself,
hearth raised some four to six inches, and garnished with

support huge
steel
by
six in height, the
andirons and
rails to
logs.
In the earlier houses, as in the fourteenth-century Hall at Penshurst Place, the
hearth was built in the centre of the Hall

placed, the
fire,
Â
of
huge
logs,
being built
upon which coupled raking andirons were

against these andirons. The Hall roof had a
floor,
B Mff*! f m
.!
Furniture and JWoodwork

Early English
central
outlet,
"
or
smoke-loo ver," by
which some of the smoke escaped, that

the
after
is
hall
itself
was
well filled
and the inmates partially smoke-cured.
At
Penshurst
the
central
hearth
is
octagonal, of large paving bricks with

a
flattened
feet across.
removed,
"
curb.
It
measures
eight
The smoke-louvre has been

although
Joseph
Nash,
in
English Mansions of the Olden Time,"
shows
it
in situ in his
drawing of Pen-
hurst.
On
festivals,
such as Yuletide, when
the revels were high, and "horse play"

the rule rather than the exception, the
Fig. 28.
COMPTON WYNYATES
(1520).
the
untenanted,
its
name
was the usual refuge of

At other times it was
minstrels' gallery
Plan.
ladies.
being rather a complimentary than a practical one, the only
chamber instruments being the older forms of the viol, or the more primitive kinds
The virginal, the forerunner of the harpsichord and the
of sackbut, fife or tabor.
lUnffefyiyiy
Fig. 29.
COMPTON WYNYATES.
The West Front.
40
The Plan of
was
piano,
and
of early Elizabethan introduction only,
was
psaltery
rare at
any time,
in
Early Tudor House
the
The
of continental origin.
England, and was almost exclusively confined to the
religious houses.
Next
from the monastic establishment and the mansion or
in progression
comes the Guild Hall, where the
crafts united in giving of their best,
workmanship, to the beautifying
very
Hall, Coventry,
the
shadow
of their guild house.
strong ecclesiastical influence
of the Church, these Guild Halls
is
Sometimes,
both
as
evident, but,
castle,
in design
at St.
when
built
and
Mary's
under
were generally constructed of stone.
Lavenham, on the other hand, which had a
large woollen
and
textile trade
with
Flanders in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, has a purely secular Guild Hall,
constructed of timber and plaster (generically
known
as
"
half-timber").
It is
in its sadly restored condition,
with numerous bay windows

added, in Fig. 33.
timber - and - plaster
This
was
building
method
favourite
throughout
England
from 1400 to 1550, especially

in lesser houses of the superior
yeoman, or small landowner

It
type.
in
developed,
the
direction of overhanging stories,
the carving of visible joist ends,
corner
mullions and
to
barge -boards,
posts,
door spandrils,
an extreme decorative
limit.
It is
probable that this carving
was
not, in
cuted
built,
when
its
entirety, exe-
the
house was
but was added from time
to time, as
the owner
c/^jtce,
found
himself possessed of the neces-
sary leisure or funds.
It is
imFig. 30.
possible, otherwise, to account

for the carving of
G
SUTTON PLACE
every window
(1523).
South Front Entrance.

4'
shown
and JJ oodwork
mullion-member
Lavenham
town
in
cottages
tiny
at
(although a very prosperous
the early sixteenth century)
in
and elsewhere
East Anglia.
in
detail of the
The very decorative

with
story-overhang,
tenoned
timbers
the
into
wall-plate,
supported on the projecting
was carried
to
extreme
joist ends,
limits, as the
in
gained
carpenters
floor
first
this
in
skill
domestic timber work. Thus, at Laven-
ham, there are three overhanging faces

on
the gable elevation, and an
additional
return
requires the
and
elevations,
Fig. 31.
SUTTON PLACE, GUILDFORD
at
joists
a diagonal
either a
beam,"
the
and often the
beams,
the
of
ceiling,
the
end
outer
which
of
joists
was
supported
themselves,
were
left
to allow of
beam was
"
"
dragon-beam
on
two
the
corner
exposed to
used,
or
sets of
called
"
dragging-
As
post.
form
the
rooms below, they were frequently elaborately moulded, forming
all
ceiling
beam
the space between the joists being the actual reverse side of the floor boards of
first
floor
rooms.
In Fig. 34, a very fine panelled
room
of the mid-seventeenth
century, from Thistleton Hall, Burgh, will be noticed the springing of

"
dragon-beam."
room
is
well
the refined chimney-pieces of

period, flanked with simple
relieved
by the
this diagonal
Apart from the modern treatment of the chimney opening, and the
door, this panelled
its
worthy
of consideration.
It is
a typical example of
date, reaching to ceiling height in the low
moulded
panelling,
rooms
of the
and with the somewhat sombre character
plastering and whitening of the ceiling.
or as
often styled, Grey Friars, from
Franciscan Monastery, at Coventry (two views of which are given

Ford's Hospital,
is
and return
front
right angles to each other,
(1523).
Conjectured original plan.
be taken
to
joist-ends
both on
through,
double overhang
This
wall.
overhang on the
floor
first
it
its
is
proximity to the
in Figs.
35 and 36),
a fine specimen of half-timber work of the early sixteenth century, of the more
42
The Plan of
was endowed by William Ford
elaborate kind.
It
alms house, for
five
poor
and modified at various
the
in 1529,
men and one woman.
dates,
and the
Early Tudor House

and
built, specifically, as
an
This endowment has been enlarged
hospital, at the present day,
is
used only for
women.
The courtyard, which can be seen
in width.
floor.
front,
with
its
"
of the
by twelve
inmates on the
is
exceptionally rich and varied in detail.
is
glazed on
For a further description
century half-timber work,
rooms
feet in length
first
three dormers, each bayed out and supported on coves, and
dormer bays, one
plaster.
Stratton's
about forty
this lead several staircases to the
with very richly carved barge-boards,
and
is
From
The
these three
in Fig. 36,
its
Of
return ends, the others being solid in timber
charming example of early sixteenthcannot do better than to quote from Messrs. Garner and
Domestic Architecture during
of this
the
Tudor Period."
Fig. 32.
SUTTON PLACE, GUILDFORD.

The Long
Gallery, 1520.
43

'
The west
front
presents
timber work to be found

with age, above
marked horizontal
in
some
of
the
the country.
most beautiful sixteenth-century
The whole
stone plinth and covered with a

lines
of the sills
IWoodwork
front
tile roof.
is
half-
timber framed, black
In spite of the strongly
and cove mouldings, the numerous upright oak
posts and the three projecting gabled dormers, produce in effect an apparent height
what might be expected from its modest dimensions. This simple scheme
centra] doorway and symmetrically disposed windows on the ground floor, with
far in excess of
of a
three dormers above, the middle one naively out of the centre, has been vested with
the
charm and wealth
no one part seems
of
ornament which the wood-carver's
to be over-elaborated,
the beauty of the whole."
..."
and each, without
The resources
THE GUILD HALL, LAVENHAM.

Early sixteenth century.
produce
yet
telling too much, enhances
of the craftsmen
Fig. 33.
44
craft could
all
engaged were such
The Plan of
that the design of the tracery varies in every
the
window
Early Tudor House

as
it is
head above the springing is cut out of one

carried up continuously behind it, and not let into the tracery
in scale, the entire
in heavier
work.
But perhaps the
richest detail
is
so ornate
and so small
piece, the glass being

itself,
as
is
lavished upon the barge-boards of
the gables, some of the running floral patterns being exceptionally fine."
inner court, though very small,
is,
customary
..." The
perhaps, the most beautiful and richest part of the
whole building, and does not seem to have suffered from either alteration or neglect.
Wealth and variety
of
ornament here too characterise the tracery
of its
windows and
to the original
scheme some-
the detail of the mouldings.
At the eastern end

what
of the building are
irregular in character
some additions
with this exception the whole hospital appears to be of
Fig. 34.
OAK-PANELLED ROOM, THISTLETON HALL, BURGH, SUFFOLK

Mid-seventeenth century.
George Symonds,
45
lisq.

one date.
Over the entrance doorway
and some traces
of its original
panelled ceiling and
.1
to the quarries in the
use
is
may
room
still
that
is
Jl
oodwork
said to have been the chapel
be discerned, such as the remains of a
few fragments of stained glass, which bear so close a resemblance

"
"
Commandery
Worcester, that they
may
well be
by the same
hand.
The common
the east end of the court,
on the walls
must have been the room over the doorway at

ami the names of the various donors are still to be deciphered
hall of the hospital
hut both this and the original chapel are
of the inmates."
Fig. 35.
FORD'S HOSPITAL, COVENTRY.

Exterior View,
West Front,
46
1529.
now used
as ordinary
rooms
The Plan of
Not
known
far
as
from Ford's Hospital,
Coventry Cathedral,
some half-century
wall-plate
floor level,
The
to
is
earlier in date
and corner
which appears
post.
in the
shadow
of St. Michael's Parish Church,
the fine old house
shown
in Fig. ^y.
It is
now
probably
than Ford's Hospital, and possesses a richly carved
The projecting
have been a
Early Tudor House
the
joist-ends are
local custom.
It
marked with a
similar coving,
has a small double overhang on
but there are evidences of extensive restoration,
if
first
not of partial rebuilding.
and carved barge boards are worthy of close examination, and the
the buttress-uprights under the windows are also exceptional.
richly pierced
details of
In the small illustration, Fig. 38, on the
same page, one
Fig. 36.
FORD'S HOSPITAL, COVENTRY.

View
of
Courtyard from the Entram

Early 16th century.
47
of these half-timber houses
Fig. 37.
AN OLD HOUSE AT COVENTRY FACING

COVENTRY PARISH CHURCH (NOW
THE CATHEDRAL).
Showing the carved corner-post and
plate with
.
.\
boards.
tlu
cove
under, hiding
wall-
the joist-ends,
erhang and pierced and carved bargeThe buttress-plasters under the sill of
end gable window are interesting details.

Late fifteenth century.
Fig. 37.
Fig. 38.
A SUFFOLK HALF-TIMBER HOUSE

OF DEMOLITION.
IN
PROCESS
Note the
Showing wall-plate with projecting joist-ends under.
The roof is of the
and purlins, and absence of ridge purlin.
braced tie-beam kind.
The openings on the first floor to receive the
principals
windows are shown

of the house.
intact.
strong wind-brace reinforces the gable-ends

The roof has
still remains.
Part of the stud-partitioning
strong collars as well as tie-beams.
Mid -sixteenth century.
Fig. 38.
+8
The Plan of
is
shown
in
process
the
of
demolition. In the photo-
graph can be seen the

joists
wall-plates
above,
the
braces,
and
principals
The com-
rafters
have been
but
removed,
the
roof
been
con-
without
any
framing has
structed
This was a
ridge purlin.
also
purlins.
mon
*.A*
with
projecting
common
custom
many
these
of
hence
the
which
many
with
houses,
ridge-sag,
of
these
houses exhibit.
Figs. 39
and 40 show
two oak carved corner
Y-Jm
posts from an old house

in
now
'''
Edmunds,
demolished.
The
Bury
Ik-"-
original
his
t-i
St.
owner has had
arms introduced into
Early Tudor House

the decorative scheme, those of
It
Fig. 40.
floor
ground
of
_'
ft.,
is
Heigham impaling Cotton
possible From these posts to reconstruct the
rooms.
They measure nearly
ft.
3 ins. each,
level to the
will
clocks
under side of the
joists,
and
this in a
be advisable to bear this measurement in

is
39 and Calthorp in
approximate height of the
and allowing a brick plinth
with a deduction of a 6-in. step from the ground to the floor levels,
seen that rooms at this date must have been less than 7
It
in Fig.
U roodwork
considered, as
when
the
tall
ft.
in height
it
will
from the
be
floor
house of considerable importance.
mind when
a later chapter on long-case
clock went out of fashion, in great mansions,
mm
Fig. 41.
FRAMEWORK OF WINDOW FROM AN OLD HOUSE AT HADLEIGH,

7
ft.
3 ins.
wide by 5
Fifteenth century.
ft.
ESSEX.
11 ins. high.
Victoria and Albert
Museum.
The Plan of
during the years from 1735 to 1750,
it
is
the
Early Tudor House
to houses of this type,
which persisted
in
numbers during the eighteenth century, especially in country districts, that they were
relegated, with the result that bases had to be cut and hood superstructures removed
to permit of them standing upright in these low rooms.
This, however, is a detail for
later consideration.
The same elaboration

of the
windows
of these
of traceried carving
timber houses.
Figs. 41
was often carried
into the designing
and 42 show the exterior and
interior
views of an oak window from an old house at Hadleigh in Essex, of the later fifteenth
century.
The
fact
is
worthy
of notice that there
is
no sign
of a glazing rebate or
Fig. 42.
THE INSIDE VIEW OF THE WINDOW FRAMEWORK, FIG. 41, SHOWING SHUTTER REBATE
AND ABSENCE OF GLAZING REBATES.
51
fillet.

It is possible that
sheets of parchment, or oiled linen,
window apertures
to
left
been nailed over the
may have
keep out draught, but this window was originally
open, as the tracery on both sides
carved and the mullions moulded.
is
made
to be
Interesting
The rebates shown
remains of decorated plaster-work can be seen on the inside face.
on the interior faces are for shutters only.
Doors and door framings were treated on a similarly elaborate

tion of these
must be deferred
at greater length
is
It
and
scale,
but considera-
where the subject can be dealt with
to a later chapter
detail.
obvious from a study of these half-timber houses, built for the moderately
wealthy, that the low rooms which they contained must have limited the height of the
furniture
made
lor
desirable for two reasons.
comprehended,
also, in the
cosiness,
designing of
feet per story (as
eight
tiled roofs,
This low ceiling-pitch was, obviously, found
them, very severely.

In the periods
when
was preferred to over-ventilation, and,

these gabled houses, it was found that a greater height than
a
maximum) made
these houses, with their steeply pitched
disproportionately lofty.
as the
even
Bury
St.
Edmunds
at Hadleigh, Fig. 41, shows, in the
corner-posts, that
when
was
under
at its zenith, yet the total height
is
of the lower parts of the upright timbers,
much more than one
cannot add
they were made.
timber kind,
race
An
Doors
is
six feet.
made
fifteenth-century door
examination of suits of armour of

as
armour must
fit
this
we
and
is
It
may
would be
apartments
allow for the cutting
room
for
which
they were intended
has the stature of the English
and
ceilings
the
period,
to a nicety,
be over or under
and im-
usually less even than this.
will
kept purposely low
evidence of which must be
show,
on tombs suggest the same thing, but here the evidence
of these figures
fine
for a secular house of the
quite an exceptional height for an Englishman in the fourteenth

Effigies
in pitch,
where they rested on the wall-plate, we
since the fifteenth century, or were doors
beyond question,
If
foot, to give the total height of the
rarely over six feet in height,
is
same
the craft of the English woodworker
curious point suggests itself in this connection
grown
window
This
also show, although not so convincingly, that
low ceilinged rooms.
rooms must have been low
timber-houses of the most elaborate kind.
in the
portant, even for the fifteenth century,
for
little
or even stuffiness,
The window framing from the old house
way
the science of heating was very
think, that six feet
and
is
was
fifteenth centuries.
dubious, as the scale
life-size.
interesting, at this juncture, to trace the
in the direction of greater comfort,

52
were
this
development
of the private
not to anticipate later chapters
The Plan of
of this book.
The
brief outline here given,
the
however,
Early Tudor House

will
be enough to introduce the
reader to the early Tudor household of the wealthy type, at the date
Henry was beginning to resist the power

somewhat unequally between the exercise
such
of the
Roman
when the eighth
Church, to divide his talents
of kingcraft, the marriage state, the literary
as the fulmination against Luther, which earned for the King,

"
"
Defender of the Faith
successors, the title of
(how much of this was the
arts,
Henry VIII
or
how much
properly belongs to Erasmus,
work
his
of
hardly necessary to surmise
and the game of statesmanship, which caused the rise and fall of the great butcher
Ipswich and other favourites whom it pleased the royal fancy to uplift and to cast
here),
of
it is
and
down
53
Chapter V.
The Development
HE
of the English
Timber Roof.
timber roof, from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries,
such
is
a triumph of
the English carpenter, demonstrating equally his skill
and inventive
ability,
that
some
space must be devoted to
little
its
consideration.
Until almost the end of the fourteenth century, the joiner was
content
follow the
to
mason
at
He
a respectful distance.
things as canopies, tombs, sedilia
and the
like,
him
imitated
and even the early
such
in
if
chests,
they
were coloured in close imitation of stone, would deceive an eye judging by form
and general details only.

The mason hews out
The carpenter
worker constructs.
cutting his framing from planks.

styles
and
rails, fixing in his
other alternative than to
builds a
He makes
would both
fashioning
his framing,
his
the timber
top,
tenoning and mortising his
panels, either in grooves or rebates.
make
The mason has no

In
frame and panel in one, from the solid stone.
Gothic church
collapse, the one
from the sagging

It is
is
box with framed ends, front and
other words, stone offers greater resistance than

the tensile strength.
he
of the solid block the piece
wood
to crushing weights, but
made from wood
from the crushing weight
or a tie-beam
it
has not
made from
stone,
of the superstructure, the other
strain.
with the timber roof, as applied to churches and sacred buildings, that the
early joiner
first
There
emancipates himself from the stone mason's traditions.
hiatus in the evolution, where the timber roof
is
employed in secular houses,

although such decorations as religious symbols, winged angels, and with rare excepThe secular timber roof, that is, one which
tions, painting in colours, are absent.
is left unceiled, and with its timbers exposed, and, therefore, ornamented in greater
very
little
is
or lesser degree,
has
a comparatively short
life
in
England.
With the
decline of the
Great Hall and the advent of the Long Gallery, the custom arose of ceiling
in,
at
paratively moderate heights, and ornamenting the ceiling with moulded plaster.
method had the advantage

apartments of moderate
of permitting of the subdividing,
size,
whereas with the open timber
under a large
the partition walls being taken

roof,
such subdivision
54
is
up
comThis
roof, into
to ceiling height,
not possible, without forming
The Development of
number
of cubicles, the decorative effect
Barn partitions
offer
which
of
Timber Roof
the English
house would be disastrous.
in a
of this cubicle effect.
good examples
Concerned, as we are here, with origin rather than purpose, there

line of
is
demarcation between an ecclesiastical and a secular building, especially in the
The
earlier periods.
builders of churches
and cathedrals were not altogether
nor the artisans engaged on work to private palaces wholly secular.
and Eltham were

its
built for a great Cardinal
present roof for Richard
ecclesiastical,
both
in
Anthony Bee's Hall
II.
and workmanship,
inception
it
In no case, however, does roof construction
The development
be in palace or church.
clerical,
Hampton Court
Westminster Hall for William Rufus, and
at
Durham
whereas
(although late, dating only from the reign of Elizabeth)

degree.
a very narrow
is
Castle
is
entirely
Middle
Temple Hall
about the same
secular in
differ, in essential details,
whether
of the English timber roof, therefore,
can be traced without any deviation, whether in buildings erected for Royalty, the
Church or the
The evolution
laity.
of the constructive principles
is
the
same
in all
cases.
It
may
not be out of place here to assume that both the technical terms used in
describing the parts of a timber roof, and the principles and problems which arise in
its
unknown
construction, are
tion of both.
It
to the general reader,
must be borne
in
to be both simple and complete,
the inaccurate
is
mind that
and the
it is
and
to attempt a simple explana-
not possible, in such an explanation,
division line
between the incomplete and
frequently very narrow.
For our present purpose, we can consider roofs under three heads only,
and central-ridged or pitched. The end of a pitched roof forms a

"
gabled-roof," which is frequently, but erroneously, used.
flat
roof
is
known
as
joists,
are
on the beam-thickness.
fixed,
is
nailed,
any piecing
Sometimes the
Tiles or slates
and on
this
joists are
framed into the beams, producing a
flat roof, as
Rich examples have the
ribs
joists,
close
final roof covering, of lead or zinc, is laid.
we
shall see later.
ance be desired, the under side of the close-boarding

or carvings.
at intervals
the joist-length being supported
in
Transversely again across the
boarding the
cannot be used on a
walls,
term
Transversely across these beams, timbers of lesser
panelled roof of the Somersetshire type.
boarding
lean-to
gable, hence the
formed by laying beams squarely across the
according to the strength required.

size,
flat,
is
If
a finished appear-
decorated with applied tracery
moulded and carved, with bosses or
foliations
at the intersections.
Unsatisfactory as a
flat
roof
is,
in collecting rain
55
and snow, as
it
can only be pitched
i.
Low-pitch
roof
with
cambered-
4. Arch-braced tie-beam roof.

post arch-beamed.
7.
King-
Cambered-beam firred up.
roof
5.
(Firrcd-
type.)
Arch-braced tie-beam roof Queen.
posts arch-braced.
High-pitched roof with tie-beam
10. Tie-and-collar-beam
braced queen-posts.
2.
beam
beam.
with
11.
Tie-beam roof with
instead of collar.
6.
High-pitched
(hypothetical)
High-pitched roof with collar-beam.
scissors truss
arch-
roof
without
ties
9. Tie and collar

braced king-post.
beam
roof
with
12. Roof with scissors-braced collar

without tie-beam.
Fig. 43.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENGLISH TIMBER ROOF.

56
beam
3. Firrcd-beam roof with

braced to wall-posts.
Roof
13.
with
braced
collar
and
scissors truss above.
tie-beam strength14. Roof with

ened by wall-posts and braces, collar
with collar-beam
15. Roof
braced to wall-posts.
arch-
also arch-braced.
16.
Roof with hammer-beams.
braces of the collar are taken

arch-braced hammer-beams.
Double
19.
The
own to
hammer-beam
with hammer-posts
17. Roof arch-braced to wall-posts

without collar or hammer-beams.
roof
arch-braced king-
posts from collar to ridge.
False double-hammer-beam roof.

collar-braces are taken to the back
the upper tier of hammer-beams,
20.
The
of
which,
therefore,
carry no weight.
18. Hammer-beam roof with hammerBoth hammerposts and wall-posts.

beams and collar are arch-braced.
single-hammer-beam roof
(Eltham Palace type).
The hammer-posts bear on the tenons
only of the hammer-beams, not on the
zi.
False
(pendentive)
beams themselves.
y
22.
Hammer-beam
roof
without
The arch-braces are continued past the hammer-beam to the
wall-posts.
corbels
roof
with
23. Arch-braced
(The progenitor of the
posts.
rib of No. 24.)
wallarch-
24.
with
Compound hammer-beam
large
Hall).
and act as wall-posts.

Fig. 44.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENGLISH TIMBER ROOF.

5 7
arch-ribs
roof
(Westminster

to allow of a slight
to the gutters, the points of stability to
fall
be considered are only
threefold.
Hie walls must be strong enough to support the dead-weight of the roof,
The beams and
i)
The ends
rest
With
its
top, shall be efficiently protected against rot or decay.
completely framed roof, the beams arc mortised at their ends to receive the'
wall-plates,
With
which are
laid
on the wall-head.
roofs of large span, the liability of the principal
one with cither a natural or an

is
deeper
wards
in the
with
(i.e.
artificial
middle than at the ends.

its
camber upwards),
and thus
to
cambered beam, that
is,
beams
the ends from the supporting walls, dictates the
away
pull
such thickness that they will not sag.
obvious that on these beam-ends the stability of the whole roof depends.
is
It
of
beams, where they are housed into the wall, or where they
of the
upon
must be
joists
to sag,
upward curve or bend in its length, or one which

Such a beam, fixed with its concave side down-
resists
any tendency to
sag, in a
very efficient manner.
Examples of cambering will be noticed in the tie-beams illustrated in this chapter.

The outer covering of a flat roof, whether of lead, zinc or other material, is
by atmospheric action, or
been found to be more lasting, but
to perish
to be injured mechanically.
snow
will percolate, or
have
Slates or tiles
their use necessitates the lean-to or the pitched
Tiles or slates, with their overlap,
roof.
liable
must be on a
be driven under the overlappings.
slope, otherwise the rain
and
Their use, therefore, dictates
either the lean-to or the pitched roof, as a logical necessity.
Both these types of roof introduce a new principle, the necessity of resisting the
downward and outward pressure, or thrust, which tends to force either the supporting
walls out of perpendicular, 1 or the roof itself off the walls.
type largely used in the

wall only
The
known
aisles of churches, this
with the pitched-roof
it is
later type of pitched-roof
With the
outward thrust
is
lean-to roof, the
exercised on the one
thrown on both.
commences, at
its
apex, with a longitudinal
beam
from which sloping battens are carried down to
as the ridge-purlin, or ridge,
the tops of the outer walls, where they are notched into long timbers fixed thereon,
known
called the
1
These battens, which form the skeleton sides of the
as wall-plates.
common
rafters. 2
Brookland Church, near
Where,
Romncy
in
Kent
for greater strength,

(see small illustration
some
on page
60), is
roof, are
of these rafters are

a good instance of where
the thrust of the nave roof has pushed both the outer walls and the aisle columns out of the
perpendicular.
2
The earliest type of pitched roof has the rafters halved together or " finger-jointed " and pegged at the
apex, without ridge-purlin.
This type
is
known
as a coupled rafter-roof.
5S
The Development of
made
thicker than the others, at regular intervals, they are
known
as principal rafters,
Should the rafters be of such length that they are
or principals.
are supported, generally at half their length,
parallel with the ridge-purlin.
Timber Roof
the English
roof
single-framed
and
principals
it
purlins,
is
they
or purlins, running
roof without either principals or purlins
with both
by longitudinal beams,
likely to sag,
known
is
as
termed
double-
framed.
A
it
roof such as the one described above
would be
liable to sag in its length
wind pressure would tend
excessive
to
would have two elements
from
its
push
it,
ridge
and down
together with
the supporting walls, or to collapse the two sides together.

to close up, or flatten out,
it is
known
If it
its
wall-plates, either off
To
correct this tendency
as tie-beams
the principals at a short distance from the ridge, they are
be desired to support the ridge-purlin
still
known
purlin, they are
known
is,
as king-posts.
when they
Where they
these ties
If
;'
if
between
as collar-beams or
further, posts are fixed
the top of the tie-beam, or the collar, to the under side of the ridge.
are central with the tie-beams, that
outside faces, and
usual to fix beams across the short span.
are fixed at the level of the wall-plates, they are
collars.
its
weakness
of
When
from
these posts
are fixed directly under the ridgeare fixed one on either side of the
centre of the ridge, into the principals, and at the other end into the tie-beam or the
collar,
they are known as queen-posts.
To minimise
the wind-strain on the sides of a high-pitched roof, and to remove
the tendency of the entire roof being pushed off the wide walls, vertical posts are
tenoned into the tie-beam or principal and carried down to the wall, on to stone
brackets or corbels.
wall-posts,
is
insertion of
known
roof with straight
a post-and-beam
as
many windows,
across
its
With
roof.'-
below the wall-plate
may
be either high or low.

"
One formed
end
into
and the other
into
one
entirely of
cambered
tie-
wedge-shaped battens
known
as a firred-beam roof.
is
obviously, a low one.
Where a beam
wise,
weakened by the
firring-pieces," or long
fixed to the top of the tie-beams to increase their slope,

is,
side walls
by
level.
beams, with the top camber increased by
Its pitch
shortest span, reinforced
these wall-posts are very necessary to carry the thrust
of the roof
pitched roof
beams
or collar
its
is
under
principal
by a short
reinforced
side
or
an
at
angle
a wall-plate,
Also known as main collar-beams.

The term is also used to signify a tie-beam
piece of timber fixed bracket-
of
approximately 45
such reinforcing piece
roof with cither king- or queen-posts above.
59
degrees,
is
known
Early English Furniture anil

When
as
is
cut
of
a circle or an oval,
.1-
brace.
J1 oodwork,
brace
this
the shape of a segment
in
it
is
known
an arch-brace.
series of
beams
into
horizontally,
the
projecting,
interior
of
the hall or room, either from the
or
wall-head
rafter at
from the
principal
a higher level, acting as
cantilevers in supporting
braces,
and thereby relieving the
wall-plates of
constitutes
Where
posts or
some
of
the thrust,
hammer-beam
roof.
row only
fixed,
a single
is
BROOKLAND CHURCH, KENT.

An
at the
each
illustration of the effect of roof-thrust.
wall-head,
principal,
usually
but
with
coinciding
sometimes with each
alternate one, the roof
is
known
as a single
hammer-beam.
Where an upper row
above the
tenoned into the principals
at
first,
about purlin
level,
the roof
is
exists,
called a
double hammer-beam.
To
act as parts of the construction, in
capacity as cantilevers,
their
it
is
essential
that the braces and posts strengthening the

principals
should
be
fixed
almost
at
the
ends of the projecting hammer-beams, bearing
upon
their
upper surfaces.
In some instances,
however, the hammer-beams, especially the
upper
tier,
are
introduced
merely
for
decorative effect, and the arch-braces bear

Fig. 45.
HARMONDSWORTH BARN, MIDDLESEX.

Interior showing the roof timbers. Span 37 ft. 9 ins. Length
191ft. S ins. Width between posts, 18 ft. 1 in.
Height 37 ft.
3 ins.
only at the junction of the hammer-beams
with the principals.

false
13 trusses.
60
hammer-beams.
These roofs are termed
The hammer-beam
Fig. 46.
YORK GUILD HALL.

A
roof with posts to the

very rare type of a double-aisled
Mid-fifteenth century.
93
ft.
long
by 43
ft.
span.
61
About 30
ft.
high.
floor.

no strain,
takes
itseli
and
fulfils
no
purpose;
it
J1
oodrucork
into
merely projects
the
air,
uselessly.
Another variety
is
shown
Palace
is
in
Fig. 44,
oi
false
No. 21.
hammer-beam, one which

This
is
known
down beyond them,
hammer-beams
are tenoned into them.
is
not on the
hammer-beam
as the pendentive type.
The
decorative moulded
The support
but only on
its
tenon.
finials,
roof at
Eltham
hammer-beams,
and the ends
of the
to the hammer-post, therefore,

It is
obvious that this method
Works discovered when the Eltham Palace
was recently restored and reinforced.
A compound
at
itself,
in
constructionally bad. as the Office of
rod!
not constructionally sound,
Instead of the hammer-posts bearing on the
an example.
they are taken
is
is
roof
wall plate level.
is
one where the span
is
too wide to be bridged
by tie-beams
The hammer-beams, in a roof of this kind, carry vertical posts
tenoned into principal rafters at their upper ends, and the tie-beams are fixed at about
Fig. 47.
LONG MELFORD, SUFFOLK.

The
roof of the
Lady Chapel
62
(1496).
The Development of
purlin-level
and
are, therefore,
in
effect,
collars rather than true tie-beams.
Examples
or
roofs are
of
compound
double-aisled
illustrated here in Fig. 44, Nos. 21
English Timber Roof
the
and
24.
Westminster Hall and Needham Market

Church, shown later in Figs, go and 83, are
examples of these double-aisled
roofs.
In view of the above explanation
it
is
unnecessary to enter into a description of

single-thrust or lean-to roofs.
are the same,
No
and are
The principles
self-evident.
better understanding of the details
of timber roof construction can be

gained
than by the study of roofs of barns of the
Fig. 48.
LONG MELF0RD, SUFFOLK.

The Nave.
more elaborate type, such as Harmondsworth Barn, shown here in Fig. 45. Barn
roofs are necessarily devoid of
the decorative character

in
much
of
usually found
those of churches or mansions, and
there are, in consequence, no unnecessary

details or parts to distract the attention.
Barn
roofs
from their
have also another advantage

utilitarian,
as
distinct from
decorative, character, they exhibit early

details
sisting
and constructional methods

to
a later
date.
for use only, their evolution

Fig. 49.
is
necessarily
slow, as a perfect principle, once devised,
STOKE-BY-NAYLAND, SUFFOLK.
The Nave.
per-
Being made
was adhered
63
to,
irrespective of changing
Karl\ English Furniture and
JFood-work
fashions, or desires for novelty in decorative
The supporting
effects.
posts,
which are
the barn equivalents of the domestic

posts,
floor,
lie
have an advantage
whereas,
The barn
roof,
would
such as in
therefore, truly double-aisled at
is,
floor level,
reaching to the
the great hall, they
in
an obstruction.
Fig. 45,
in
hammer-
and
it is
this
form of construction
which must have inspired the hammer-post
and hammer-beam.
cantilevering the
when
was
The
stable properties of
hammer-beam would
follow-
the carrying of the posts to the floor
interdicted.
Unfortunately, the support-
ing of hammer-posts on the tenons only of

the
hammer-beams
pendentive
(the
type
Fig. 50.
WETHERDEN, SUFFOLK.
Roof
of
South Aisle
(c.
1400).
such as at Eltham and
Earl Stonham),
must
from
have
originated
the
same
source.
York Guild
shown here
Hall,
in Fig.
a remarkable
example of a roof
supported by posts from the floor, forming,
46,
is
in effect, a hall
is,
with nave and
England
the present day.
at
Although unique now, there

that this form
beam
Roof
of
North
Aisle.
10
roof
prototype.
ft.
ins.
is
earlier
in fact
it
it
span.
64
is
no doubt
than the hammer-
must have been the
York Guild Hall
kind of roof construction.
MONKS ELEIGH, SUFFOLK.
and
probably, the only roof of this kind
existing in
Fig. 51.
aisles,
was not completed
is
late for this
Begun
until
in 1446,
nearly fifty
The Development of
Timber Roof
the English
years later, and records exist which state

that the
merchants of York who were
convicted of
were fined,
illegal practices
not in money, but in kind, having to find
timber and oak wainscot for the Hall.
The
roof
is
low
in pitch,
outward thrust, the great
with
little
stresses being
almost entirely downwards, carried on

the massive octagonal-section oak posts
The nave
with their stone bases.

the
firred-beam
The
type.
aisles
is
of
are
constructed
with simple lean-to roofs.
The problem
is one more
of the entire roof, therefore,
of
size
than constructional
Fig. 52.
ROUGHAM, SUFFOLK.
Roof
of
South
difficulties,
involving complicated stress
The
calculations.
roofs,
Aisle.
principles governing
even of gigantic
timbers are supported

level,
from wall-head
were fully understood, and their
advantages
There
where the
size,
are
appreciated
many
this
date.
other
than
at
factors,
inexperience or timidity on the part of

the mediaeval carpenter, which
dictated this
aisle-column form of the
York Guild Hall
may have
roof.
careful study,
and memorising of
the roof sections illustrated in Figs. 43
and 44 is recommended, as in the illustrations which follow, of actual roofs, the
Fig. 53.
TAWSTOCK,
Aisle Roof.
48 ft. long by 9
The western type
N.
ft.
DEVON.
span.
Fifteenth century.
essential
of panelled roof.
6s
details
cannot
be
shown
so

clearly, as
in
Apart from lighting considerations, with concomitant
diagram form.
photographic
difficulties,
superimposed
bracing
the
or
occupation
posts,
from
of all the points of a roof,
single photograph, therefore,
all
of
one
beam
or
flu-
close
one view-point only, nearly impossible.
shown
the details of a roof cannot always be
illustrations
with
collar,
by the succeeding one, renders the
Space considerations preclude a redundancy of
The succeeding
the
have,
for
its
study
With
distinctly.
illustration.
convenience only,
progressive order, from the simple to the complex.
been
While there
true evolution of the timber roof actually took place
not
no doubt that the
is
somewhat on
in
arranged
these lines,
it
assumed
be
simple roof
must
that a
earlier
is
in
date than a more elaborate
We
one.
have no com-
plete record of very early
roofs
the greater
number
have perished, disappeared
and been
long
At one period
since.
the
forgotten
history
of
in
English
carpentry, examples could
have been illustrated to
show
the
development
from type to type, each
true
the date
to
inception, but
has passed,
ago.
of
that
its
time
many centuries
Thus the gigantic
roof of Westminster Hall,
from the closing
dating
years
of
century,
the
fourteenth
is
an
early
example when compared

with others existing at the
Fig. 54.
ST.
present day, but it
OSYTH, ESSEX.
Roof
of
North
is
late in
the history of the English
Aisle.
66
The Development of
timber
An enormous span
roof.
dawn
to bridge at the
of timber-roof construction.
posts to the floor in the
same manner
It is
conjectured that the original
was constructed with two
in 1395,
as in
Timber Roof
between walls would have been impossible
of 68 feet
which the present one replaced
roof,
the English
Harmondsworth Barn
or
aisles
and with
York Guild
Hall,
already illustrated.
With the above
stipulation,
therefore,
we can commence with
roof of the tie-beam or firred-beam description,
examples from
No
construction.
between the
and
the
Even
resulted
is
it
possible
difference
and
building
had
in
change
in
constructional design due

to such character,
was not the
many
are
which
there
fact,
examples
in
which both the sacred and

the secular elements enter
That many,
very largely.
if
not
of
all,
clerical
is
sources,
but
able,
the earlier
inspired from
roofs were
this
prob-
not
does
concern us here at present.

Fig. 47
the
the roof of
Lady Chapel
Melford
is
is
'in
of the
type,
and
at
Long
This
Suffolk.
cambered-beam
possesses,
in
addition, a rare diagonal
beam from which two

df
joists
run
at
Flg
sets
right
"
55,
LAVENHAM, SUFFOLK.
North Aisle
67
(c.
1500).
18
ft.
span, 95
ft.
double-aisled
to
types.
secular
sacred
hammer-beam and
attempted, nor
low-pitched
an orderly progression,
ecclesiastical
the
if
illustrate, in
type to that of the ornate
distinction has been
secular
between
a
this simple
and
the
long.
make
any,
Fig. 56.
KELSALE, SUFFOLK.
Roof
of
Nave.
Span
21
ft.
ins.
Early fifteenth century.
Fig. 57.
MONKS ELEIGH, SUFFOLK.

Roof
of
Nave.
Span 19
ft.
ins.
6S
The Development of
to
in
the dragon-
of
not used in referring to
is
the
or
roof,
of
joisting
principle,
of
timbering
joists
is,
referred to on page 42, although
the term
the
This
other.
another form
effect,
beam
each
to
angles
Timber Roof
the English
at
each other,
is
the
two
right
same
The
floor.
of supporting
rafters
but only
in
sets
of
angles
to
each case,
however. The tie-beams to this roof are

arch-braced to wall-posts, supported on
the capitals of the slender wall columns.
Fig.
the
48
the
is
same church,
beam
nave roof from
also
of
The
construction.
camberedridge
and
Fig. 58.
HORWOOD,
The Roof
the
common
to
pegged
common
The
framed
are
purlins
N.
of the
DEVON.
N. Aisle.
between
rafters being
clerestory
are
beams,
tenoned into and
Both principal and
the ridge.
rafters
the
elaborately moulded.
windows
are high,
somed, and the columns
of the
and tranaisles
are
delicate in proportion for the height of the
nave, but with these low-pitched roofs there
outward
practically no
there
is,
thrust,
and the
is
little
the wall-posts, to which the tie-beams
are arch-braced,
take up very efficiently.
These wall-posts and the slender columns

below them, rest, alternately, on the junctions
Fig. 59.
and the apex
LAPFORD, DEVONSHIRE.
Roof
of the
Fig. 49
Nave.
69
of each arch of the aisles.

is
the nave roof of Stoke-by-

Nayland
Church-,
in
Suffolk,
another cambered-beam
i'oof,
but here arch-braced to wallposts resting on stone corbels

instead
the
of
columns.
The low
and
of this roof,
of
capitals
rafter-pitch
also the joint-
ing of the arch-braces, can be

clearly seen in the illustration.
The roof has been considerably

restored, and some of the tie-
beams
original
Fig.
of
replaced,
with
the
mouldings omitted.
50
is
the aisle
roof
Fig. 60.
Wetherden Church, a low-
TAWSTOCK,
N.
DEVON.
The Roof of the Chapel. 40

by 15 ft. 9 ins. wide.
with
pitch
cambered
carving
ft.
long
slight
beams
are
lean-to.
The
enriched
with
square rosettes and bosses,
of
with heraldic shields covering the intersections of the tie-beams with the purlins.
Only the alternate beams are arch-braced

to the wall-posts those between are merely
;
The
tenoned into the carved wall-plate.
winged angels applied
each
at the foot of
of the wall-posts are finely executed.

is
Fig. 51
the aisle of
another lean-to roof from
Monks Eleigh Church.
Here
the beams are square sectioned, without
camber, and rest on the wall-plates, which,

in turn,
corbels,
supported on plain stone
and the
last
two main beams
are braced to the wall-posts, the spandrels
Fig. 61.
filled
HITCHAM, SUFFOLK.
The Roof
are
with early fifteenth-century pierced
and carved tracerv.
of the Chancel.
70
The Development of
the English
Timber Roof
Fig. 62.
CROSBY HALL.
Erected 1470, and re-erected in Chelsea, London, S.W., 1908.
Walter H. Godfrey, Architect.
Fig. 52
is
the S. aisle roof of
Rougham
Church, with each
beam
arch-braced on
the S. wall, but, on the nave side with braces only to each alternate beam, carried
down
to posts
and corbels
at the junction of each arch of the aisle.
Fig. 53, the aisle of Tawstock, N.
Devon, shows the fifteenth-century western type
of panelled roof.
Fig. 54
beams and
beam
is
is
the roof of the N. aisle of St. Osyth Church in Essex.
rafters are
moulded, and the former elaborately carved.
Here both the
Each
alternate
arch-braced to the wall-posts, these only having heavy carved pendentives at
the intersections.
Fig. 55
with
is
alternate
wall-post
is
the N. aisle roof of
Lavenham Church,
beams, only, arch-braced
to
the
in Suffolk,
wall-posts.
a richer example,
The
foot
of
carved with the figure of a Saint, standing on the stone corbel.

7'
each
The
JJ
oodwork
of the Spring family, seen
famous pew
in the distance at the side of the chapel
screen, will be illustrated to a larger scale

in a later chapter.
and 57 are the braced-
56
Figs.
rafter types, in each case, scissor-braced
above the
rafter
is
collar.
arch-braced to corbelled wall-
the
posts,
In Fig. 56 each sixth
rafter
being framed to the
post with a sole-piece notched to the
twin
wall-plate,
and the intermediate
strutted
with ashlar-pieces
from the wall-plate.
In Fig. 57 there
are
rafters
nor wall-posts.
are neither arch-braces
This
Fig. 63.
CROSBY HALL.
H. Godfrey when the hall was re-erected.

Sir John Crcsby, d. 1475.
shown
Fig 59
is
in
and shows the development towards the next form, the barrel, which
roof,
really
Lapford
Fig. 59,
of
roof
is
close-boarded
The
in.
typical of Devonshire
attempt a
at the present day, to
without
The
many
and
Fig. 60,
side-covings
Examples
Tawstock Chapel.
a rare double-
is
really
mask hammer-
This arch-braced rafter, or barrel-
and Somerset Churches, although
classification of
roof.
Fig. 61
above the rood-screen.
beams, which carry the longitudinal hammer-plate.
form
an arch-braced instead of
straight-braced rafter
ceiled in to barrel-form
coved and barrel
is
Erected in 1470 for
Horwood
Fig. 58,
an early type of high-pitched
roof,
Section through the Roof.

The dotted lines show the finish of the original scissors-bracing.
The parts shaded show the additions made by Mr. Walter
are
is
it is
timber roofs into types of
unsafe,
localities,
drastic exceptions.
and
roof of Crosby Hall, Figs. 62, 63
64, enters into the logical
timber-roof development here, and also serves to show
between a roof and a
ceiling.
Practically
all
how narrow
of the visible
is
sequence of
the division line
woodwork
of this roof
is
drawing of which we are indebted

to Mr. Walter H. Godfrey, the architect under whose supervision Crosby Hall was
purely decorative, but the sectional view,
removed from
its
former
old garden at Chelsea,
site in
Bishopsgate to
shows that
drawing, the dotted lines at
AA
for the
it is
and
present location in Sir
Thomas More's
really of the scissor-braced rafter variet}^.
show the
state at the time of the removal,
its
BB
original bracing,
the
72
new
which was
scissor-brace
in a
In the
very decayed
which was inserted by
The Development of
Mr. Godfrey, to strengthen the original bracing.
also introduced.
the Hall before
the
by the
in
which
of
part
demolition in 1908, and Fig. 62 shows
its
it
of
in its state as re-erected.
be
be
do
above,
floor-boarding
should
can
therefore,
be defined as the covering of a room or hall which
may
and supported by either roof timbers or the joists of the floor above.
visible joists, even when carved and decorated, with the interstices
fixed to,
filled
from an idealised sketch made by Herbert Cescinsky
Actually, a ceiling
of ceilings.
Thus,
At the same time the king-post C was
only this original scissor-bracing which removes this roof from the category
It is
is
is
Fig. 64
Timber Roof
the English
but
constructional,
described
as
having
not
constitute
merely
true
decorative.
decorative
ceiled
roof,
ceiling,
Crosby
of
no
Hall,
which
the
arched-ribs with their wall-posts are the only visible constructional members.
nave roof
Haughley Church, in Suffolk, introduces the tie-beam

distinguished from the cambered or firred-beam types in being higher in
Fig. 65, the
This
roof.
and
pitch,
is
of
consequence, possessing a ridge-purlin, but without
in
the tie-beam
In this example,
collars.
introduced between each alternate principal only, and
is
and above, from the beam
to corbelled wall-posts,
to the purlin.
is
braced below
The intermediate
principals are arch-braced to wall-posts

direct.
At the junction
purlin, and each
with
its
the
ridge,
ornament
an
is
of each brace
principal with
applied
pendentive
in the
form of a carved
66
floral
boss.
Fig.
house
in
is
Lady
secular
from a
roof
Lavenham,
Street,
in
The tie-beams are
process of restoration.
cambered, and the rafters are halved at

their intersections without a ridge-purlin.
To compensate
is
fixed
stiffened
the
under the
of
collars,
the
this
is
of the tie-beam, visible in the
in these early
remedy which
l
and
cambered tie-beam.
illustration, illustrates
met with
a collar-purlin
braced king-post from
by
centre
The end
for this
it
is
the
decay
J often
timber
Fig. 64.
roofs, to
necessary to
take
crosby hall, bishopsgate.

From an
73
idealised sketch
by Herbert Cescinsky made
in 1908.
Karly English Furniture and Jfoodwork
Fig. 65.
HAUGHLEY, SUFFOLK.
The Roof
the roof apart to repair
been marked to
it.
of the
Nave. Span 24 ft. 6 ins.

In the illustration,
it
Length 58
will
ft.
4 ins.
be noticed that each joint has
facilitate the re-erection.
Of similar type
the nave roof of Edwardstone Church in Suffolk, Fig. 67, where
is
the sag of the tie-beams, in spite of their camber,
may
be noticed.
All four braces
from
the king-posts are tenoned into the collars, instead of the lateral braces being carried
past
them
collars are
to the purlins, as in the previous example.
braced to the
Fig. 68
is
purlins.
which, in turn, are ashlar-strutted from the wall-plates.
the nave roof of St. John's Church, Henley-in-Arden, of the arch-braced
The tie-beams have an acute camber, and
queen-post type.
wall-posts.
rafters,
In addition to this support, the
The
collars are high
So rare
Monasteries, that
is it
and small
in scantling,
to find the queen-post
are arch-braced to corbelled
and the roof
fine pulpit,
the presence of these posts
which
will
without ridge-
type of roof before the Dissolution
may
be taken as an almost
indication of the latter half of the sixteenth century, or even later.
has a
is
St.
of
infallible
John's Church
be illustrated in a later chapter on the development of
the English oak chest.

74
J
o
fa
fa
T3
uj
to
D
CD
.
bo
fa
w
Z
O
H
03
Q
X3
-^
Q
W
O
o
s
<
K
z
fa
>
<
H
fa
fa
cc
H
oo
>-
<
o c
o v
W
10
D
O
8
O
Oh
cc
w
s
fa
o
-J
<
<G
'
Fig. 68.
ST.
JOHN'S, HENLEY-IN-ARDEN,
The Nave Roof.
WARWICKSHIRE.
Braced queen-post type.
The Development of
moulded collar-beam,
Fig. 69 has a
with
fixed
arch-braces
large
to
the
in
the
tenons of the hammer-beams,
pendentive
The pendentive
manner.
ornaments have been cut away
room
Timber Roof
the English
for the later flooring.
make
to
As pointed
out earlier in this chapter, this penden-
hammer-beam form
tive
roof
of
not sound construction, as the strain

carried
the
is
is
on the tenon only, instead of
hammer-beam
Fig. 70
itself.
shows the chancel roof
of
Ufford Church, in Suffolk, which intro-
duces the pendentive hammer-post type.

This
is
a framed collar-truss roof.
The
have a very
slight
crenellated
collars
camber, and are braced above to the

principal rafters,
dant posts.
and below
From
to the pen-
these latter, archFig. 69.
braces are taken to the wall-posts slot-
HOUSE
Known
From the pendentive posts, shields
fixion
and the Passion.
On
as
Span
are fixed at a parallel slope to the pitch

of the roof, with curious devices painted
"
Sparrowe's House."
View showing the roof timbers.
tenoned into the principals below purlinlevel.
THE BUTTERMARKET, IPSWICH
IN
upon them,
iS
ft.
6 ins:
Length 30
illustrating
ft.
ins.
symbols of the Cruci-
the right-hand side, in the illustration, the
first
shield has
the scourges, the second the pincers for withdrawing the nails from the hands and feet,
the third the dice-horn which was used for the casting of the
Crown
of Thorns,
and on the
fifth
the dice are represented.
On
the fourth
the
the other side the
first
lots,
shows the spear with which the soldier pierced the Saviour's side, together with the
sponge on a pole and the ladder used to ascend the Cross, the second the Crucifixion
hammer, the
third the thirty pieces of silver (in three piles), the fourth a Crusader's
sword crossing with a Saracen's scimitar, and the
fifth
shows the dice again.
Winged
angels centre each of the great carved cornice.

Fig. 71
is
the nave roof of St. Osyth Church, of which that of the N. aisle has
already been shown in Fig. 54.
This roof
is
77
constructed of timbers of light scantling,
and Woodwork
Early English Fun/ it /or
with a ridge and three purlins.
Of these three the central one has a collar-beam
arch-braced to hammer-beams, which
The
root'
is
sides of the
simple, withoul
carving, and
hammer-beams, and the

This
from the top of the wall-plate.
hammer-beam
Fig.
72
is
root,
common
The
though of
ratters,
moulded only on the
purlins.
may
The common
wall-plate, the
under
rafters are ashlar-strutted
be described as one of the earliest types of
late date.
a richly decorated roof
hammer beam and
turn are braced to wall-posts without corbels.
in
hraced-collar type,
from Southwold Chancel.

boarded
in
It
is
of the single
below the collar and across the
thus forming panels between the collars, the principals and the purlins.
collar-panelling
is
omitted, and the boarding taken to the ridge, in the bay at the
western end, this being directly over the rood-screen.

painted, that of the
Nave having
The
entire Chancel roof
the open timbering without decoration.
is
richly
This example
is
an instance of the dual ownership of the church, dating from very early times, the nave
being the property
of,
and maintained by, the parishioners, the chancel belonging
Fig. 70.
UFFORD, SUFFOLK, CHANCEL ROOF.

Framed
collar-truss with pendentives, braced to wall-posts.

Lute fifteenth century.
73
to
The Development of
The
the church.
latter,
therefore,
is
The chancel was generally enriched

the nave was commenced.
The nave roof
may
nearly always more elaborate than the former.

to its decorative limit before
of St. Peter Mancroft,
Norwich, Fig. 73,
be described as a vaulted hammer-beam.
a cornice,
is
by a groined
tenoned to the
free
vaulting, carried
is
is
to cornice, with
becomes, in
to slender columns, with caps
and two
purlins,
without
winged angels applied, over the cornice,
Framlingham has a
of
effect,
ends of the hammer-beams, the latter being masked
down
simple, with ridge
any beautifying
one of a rare type, which
which
purlin,
between the clerestory windows and supported on carved

the vaulting
Timber Roof
the English
corbels.
collars,
and bases, placed

The roof above
arch-braced from ridge
at the feet of the arch-braces.
similar roof, Fig. 74, to St. Peter Mancroft, but differs in being
of the arch-braced collar type.
The
collars are fixed at purlin level.
supports the cornice and hammer-beams, to any extent,
is
doubtful.
That the vaulting

It
is
mainly,
if
not entirely, a decorative detail.

Fig. 75 has
cambered
collars arch-braced to
hammer-beams.
Fig. 71.
ST.
OSYTH, ESSEX, NAVE ROOF.
Collar-beams braced to hammer-beams.

79
The base
of each of
The Development of
English Timber Roof
the
Fig. 74.
FRAMLINGHAM, SUFFOLK.
Roof
of the
the wall-posts, above the corbel,

Saint.
Each hammer-beam
example
of
of this
is
is
to suggest a
1500).
carved in the form of a prone winged angel.
embellishment of hammer-beams
of the
Law
Another
will be noticed, later on, in the instance
Library at Exeter.
a roof of similar type to the preceding, with a resemblance strong enough
common
facsimile of another.
In no instance, however,
origin for both.
Here the one
collar
is
braced direct to
carved hammer-beam intervening.
in order has the
and the
(c.
niched, and carved with the standing figure of a
is
Westminster Hall and the roof

Fig. 76
Vaulted hammer-beam type
Nave.
collars are
not cambered.
Wetherden Church,
in
Suffolk,
hammer-beam pendentive
type.
with carved
and each
floral bosses,
Each
its
is
one church roof a
wall-post, but the next
wall-post
moulded king-post connects each
is
without corbel
collar to the ridge.
has an elaborate roof, Fig. 77, of the double
The collar-beams
is
are
moulded and cambered, centred
arch-braced to the upper
tier of
hammer-beams,
Early English Furniture and IVoodwork

the braces being taken so
to constitute a false
Each
collar
is
hammer-beam
principal, just below
junction with the
its
braced
hammer-post
past the next
ends
at the
ot the
form
the
hammer-beam, a
is
carried
lower hammer-beams,
in
pendentives carved
posts and are carved in the

this
is
considered
roof,
the
from
next
hammer-
same manner.
a rich and elaborate

as
an
constructional carpentry,
classed,
The
of standing Saints.
wall-posts correspond with the
Although
down,
by tenons
fixed only
tier,
and terminating
in
roof.
king-posted to the ridge-
From each
purlin.
back as
Ear
this point
illustration,
example
it
cannot be
of view,
Fig.
of
78.
Fig. 75.
with
ROUGHAM, SUFFOLK.
Here
Roof
Nave. Collars braced to hammer-beams.

Late fifteenth century. Span 19 ft.
of
we have
the true double
hammer-beam
to each intermediate principal, alterna-
ting
with arch-braced collars to single
hammer-beams, each
fixed to the princi-
pal at the level of the upper tier only,
and bracketed, rather than braced, back

to the principal itself
detail.
Each
a most unusual
collar with its bracing
is
centred with a heavy carved pendant.
The base
each wall-post
of
is
carved,
with an effigy of a Saint, in a manner

similar to the preceding example.
In Fig. 79
roof of Earl
of
Fig. 76.
KERSEY, SUFFOLK.
Roof
of
Nave.
single
is
illustrated the fine
Stonham Church,
hammer-beam
richly moulded, crenellated
Alternate arch-braced hammer-beams.
82
Suffolk,
form,
with
and cambered
collar-beams, arch-braced to the
nave
hammers
The Development of
the English
Timber Roof
Fig. 77.
WETHERDEN, SUFFOLK, ROOF OF NAVE.

Roof
of
Nave.
Span
False double
ji
ft.
hammer-beam, pendentive
Length 59 ft. o ins.
ii ins.
type.
Middle fifteenth century.
and centred with king-posts above and carved pendants below.

The spandrels
in the triangle formed by the principal, the hammer-post and the hammer-beam
are filled with tracery in masonic devices.
True hammer-beams alternate with
those of pendentive
and
corbels.
The
type,
rich
and the base
cornice,
of
each wall-post
which cannot be
is
carved with figures
clearly seen in the illustration, has
a carved and pierced band with winged angels above and below, and
to the
richest
is
connected
hammer-post by carved spandrels. This example may be classed as one of the

in the East Anglian churches, and Norfolk and Suffolk easily transcend any
other counties in the beauty and elaboration of their ecclesiastical woodwork, Devon,
perhaps, alone excepted.
The
roof of
Eltham Palace
Hall, Figs. 80
and
81, is of this
pendentive hammer-beam
and although beautiful from the decorative point of view, it has the inherent
defects of this method of construction.
This roof had decayed badly and the work
type,
83
Early English Furniture and JVoodwork

was commenced, about 1913, under the superintendence of Sir Frank
H.M. Office of Works. The chief source of trouble, however, was not so much
of restoring
Baines of
it
the decay in the timbers as the inherent faultiness in

Sir
Frank Baines' report
("
its
Report to the First Commissioner of H.M. Works,
the Condition of the Roof Timbers of Westminster Hall,

principal rafters are not in
to
jointed to
is
joint
it
two members but run
The collar-beams
the ridge.
To quote from
construction.
intersect
in
CD.
7436," p. 27),
is
"...
on
the
one length from the wall-plates
these principals about half-way,
(them) by means of mortices and double tenons.
the hammer-post, which
etc.,
and are
Immediately under
this
also double-tenoned into the principal rafters, thus
acting as a further source of weakness at a point in the principal rafter where the
greatest strength
is
required.
To make
this
weakness worse, the hammer-post
supported upon the hammer-beam, but continues down past

pendant, while the
'
etc.,
The roof
is,
beam
is
in reality,
secured to
it
by
a tenon joint
it,
is
terminating in a heavy
"
(see Fig. 44,
No.
21).
an elaborate collar-beam type of roof with the arched
superimposed as ornaments.
The
result of
my
not
examination of
this roof last
has shown
me
ribs,
year
that
it
has failed exactly as

a collar-beam type of
would
roof
be
ex-
pected to fail, namely,
by thrusting out the

walls and
by the
fracturing of the principal
rafters
at
the
junction of the collar-
beam.
Thus, in the
Eltham Palace
many
pals
roof,
of the princi-
have sprung out-
ward at their feet a distance of eight inches

in
the
short length
of the timber between
Fig. 78.
HITCHAM, ROOF OF NAVE.

True double hammer-beam type. Late 16th century.
Span 24 ft. 6 ins.
8+
the collar-beam and

Length 48
ft.
the wall-head."
The Development of
"... Throughout
the whole roof
distortion of the hammer-posts,
the English
Timber Roof
the dropping of the hammer-beams, the
and the springing
of the principal rafters, are consider-
able."
Frank Baines has kindly furnished two photographs of the Eltham Palace roof,
taken while the work of restoration was in progress. In the latter, the steel reinforceSir
ments to each
the roof.
truss
may
be noticed, and some idea formed of the defective state of
This photograph
is
unique, being taken while the
removed, thereby allowing of the entry of

Fig. 82
shows the
fine roof of the
light
were temporarily
from above.
Middle Temple Hall, of the double pendentive
Fig. 79.
EARL STONHAM, SUFFOLK, ROOF OF NAVE.

Single
tiles
hammer-beam, alternate pendentive type

Span 17 ft. 6 ins. Length 68 ft. 3 ins.
8s
(c
1460).
and JVoodwork
This
hammer-post type.
is
a late
and 1570.
does, from the years between 1562

roof.
It
measures 100
ft.
of a timber roof of this kind, dating, as
example
in length,
42
ft.
in
It is
it
a Renaissance, rather than a Gothic,
width, and with a height of 47
ft.
Although
the Hall building has the usual high pitch of roof, full advantage has not been taken
of this fact, as in the earlier fifteenth-century manner. A central purlin has been fixed
under the
collar-level.
and the
and boarded
in
above, giving the effect of a
This collar-purlin
is
reinforced
collars
are
collars
stiffened
by arch-braces
flat ceiling
below the
to the lateral tie-beams,
by four turned queen-posts, two on each
side of the
archbracing.
The lesson of Eltham Palace has, evidently, been learned in the case of this roof of
the Middle
Temple
Hall.
It is
arch-braces, rest full on the
in effect.
pendentive only
The hammer-posts, with
their
The
hammer-beams, with separate pendentives below.
wall-posts are unusually long, thereby distributing the thrust well
down on
to the wall
and renovation to the Hall has been necessary, at various

dates, in 1697, 1755, 1791 and 1808, but much of the work at the earlier dates was in
the nature of additions and alterations. The roof has survived with very few structural
Some
faces.
defects.
It is
restoration
not only rich in detail, but also sound
In Figs. 83, 84, 85 and 86
England,
This
is
in the
in design.
we have, perhaps, the most remarkable church
otherwise insignificant church of
Needham Market, not
far
a true double-aisled roof, and a comparison of this with that of
Barn, Fig. 45, will show the same constructive principal.
In
roof in
from Ipswich.
Harmondsworth
Needham Market Church,
however, the hammer-posts only reach to the beams, whereas at Harmondsworth they
continue to the
more
floor.
This remarkable roof
clearly in Fig. 85.
The crown
is
built with a lantern, or clerestory,
of the roof
below the clerestory windows to the wall-plate.

large
cambered collar-beams are
fixed,
is
shown
really low-pitched, with a sharp slope
Below the lantern or clerestory
level,
not from wall to wall in the form of true
tie-
beams, but between the vertical hammer-posts, a tenon three inches in thickness being
taken through the hammer-post, with the principal rafter as an additional tie. The
hammer-posts, which are of unusual height, are stiffened with longitudinal braced ties,
and at the wall, above the large cornice, a principal ashlar-post corresponds with the
hammer-post
itself.
Although, apparently, a pendentive hammer-beam, the pendants
below are suspended, the hammer-posts bearing upon their beams instead of on tenons
at their ends. Winged angels mask the junction of post and beam, but in Fig. 86 the
projection of the
hammer-beam beyond
its
post can be clearly seen, and also the distinct
character of the pendant below.

86
The Development of
As an example
repay close study.
the English
of intricate construction, the roof of
The
Timber Roof
Needham Market Church
will
sectional diagram, illustrated in Fig. 84, will assist the compre-
hension of the principles on which this roof has been constructed.
The low-pitched
roof-crown has a certain nominal outward thrust in the direction A, but this can be
ignored, as
tall
it
is
so small in amount.
hammer-post, which
indicated
by the arrows
at
The
direction of the
transmitted, via the
is
BB
B.
at its projecting end, the direction
downward
hammer-beam
pressure on the
to the wall-post,
is
The tendency is for the hammer-beam to be depressed

of which is shown by the arrows C C. Such depression
would cause the hammer-beam to pivot on the wall-post at D, thus exercising an upward
pressure on its outer end, which would be transmitted to the principal rafter on the
line
E, thereby effectively counteracting the
via the hammer-post to the
hammer-beam.
downward
The junction
pressure of the clerestory,

of the principal
with the
Fig. 80.
THE ROOF AT ELTHAM PALACE.

Pendentive type of hammer-beam.
Photo by H.M.
87
Office of
Works.
Early English Furniture and Ifôodwork

hammer-post
is,
weak part
really, the
latter being invalidated
of the
by the insertion
whole construction, the strength of the
of three tenons
and the main tie-beam, the three-inch tenon
of the
from the principal, the purlin,
beam
being taken through the
The small tie-beams, G, inadequate as they appear,

are strong enough to correct any tendency in the hammer-post to bend in the lengthwise direction of the roof, which might occur owing to the enormous downward strain
hammer-post to the principal
even when partially relieved by the upward pressure of the principal, carrying,
upon
it,
as
does, nearly the
it
at F.
whole
of the
superimposed weight of the
Actually, in spite of the rake of the principal and the

the clerestory
down
to the wall-head, there
is little,
or no
roof.
common
rafters
from below
outward thrust from
Fig. 81.
THE ROOF AT ELTHAM PALACE.

Photo by H.M.
Office of
Works, taken when
tiles
were removed during the recent work of restoration
to the roof.
this roof.
Fig. 82.
THE HALL OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE.

1562-70.
Earl\ English Furniture and Woodwork

Its
stability
against decay, especially in the
hammer-beams
the
pression.
hammer-beams and
are. in reality, the
As an example
members
the others are in com-
only tcnsional
of clever construction
carpenters this roof of
The great curved rib, as in

hammer-beam, marks the zenith
of
the wall-posts.
and the safeguarding

The huge cornice and
depends solely on the permanence of
is
Fig. 44, No. 24,
its
joints.,
on the part
of the fifteenth-century
a truly astonishing achievement.
when used
in
conjunction with the
The view
of timber-roof construction in England.
Gainsburgh Great Hall, illustrated
in
Chapter VII of
this
volume, shows the rib
moulded arch-brace, springing from the wall-corbels to the collar. This Hall
a timber building, and the stress of the entire roof is carried on great posts from
as a great
is
in
the ground, tenoned into the ends of the principal rafters.
These posts appear, on the
outside of the Hall, as great timber buttresses; on their inside faces
probably a branch growth on the original

for the purpose,
Above
on
tree itself,
is
which was especially selected
which the continuation of the arch-rib to the corbel
this springing, the arch-rib rises, in
two
sections, to its apex,
Fig. 83.
NEEDHAM MARKET, SUFFOLK, ROOF OF NAVE.

Double-aisled
29
a solid abutment,
ft.
9 ins span.
17
hammer-beam
ft.
type, with clerestory

59 ft. long over
between hammer-posts.
Built about 1460.
90
all.
where
is
moulded.
it is
tenoned
The Development of
into the collar.
rafter,
At the point
they are housed into
of junction of the
it
the English
two sections of the
Timber Roof
rib
with the principal
with long slotted tenons, secured by wooden pegs.
the solid abutments to this arch-rib,
it
be seen that the corbels have no function
will
other than an ornamental one, and even this latter
is
questionable
when
it is
that the original carved corbels have disappeared and have been replaced
cast iron in the ornamental style of a
iron
was never put

It
to
more ignoble
With
modern
girder railway bridge.
remembered
by others
of
Surely even cast
use.
has been pointed out, at the outset of this chapter, that the chronological
arrangement of timber roofs does not show their progressive development. Of the three
remaining examples of the English timber roof still to be considered, Westminster Hall
(1395)
is
the earliest.
but which
is
The
roof of the Exeter
Library (the date of which
is
obscure,
and Gainsburgh Hall, completed in 1484, would follow in

method would involve taking the most complicated and the
certainly later)
order, but to adopt this
largest timber roof in existence
type of Gainsburgh Hall.
The
roof construction can be solved
The
Law
roof of the Exeter
of being copied
and
to
descend from
latter, also, is a
by means not
Law
this to the
comparatively simple
timber-framed building, and problems of
possible in the case of walls of stone or brick.
Library, Figs. 87, 88 and 89, has every appearance
from Hugh Herland's great roof
in
Westminster Hall.
Similar winged
Fig. 84.
SECTIONAL DIAGRAM OF NEEDHAM MARKET ROOF WITH STRESSES INDICATED.

Ernest R. Cribble, Delt.
91
Early English Furniture arid Woodwork

hammer-beams, the same form
angels are carved on the ends of the
commences from
corbel,
where
it
of great arch-rib
hammer-post and continues to the wall

with the arch-brace from the hammer-post.
In Westminster
the collar, intersects with the

joins
at about half
Hall, however, the arch-rib intersects with the
hammer-post
and with the hammer-beam well away from
wall-end, thus bracing the upper and
lower portions of the
compound
roof together.
back, and instead of intersecting with the

into the rib
root
is
itself, in
the
same manner
tenoned into the principal.
its
In the Exeter roof the rib
hammer-beam, the
as one of an
It is
upper
here where the
tier in
first
Hall.
spandrel
In
the
behind
the
Exeter Roof
below the hammer-beam
it
this
is
rib
is
above
the
kept further
actually tenoned
hammer-beam
a double
There
hammer-beam
quite small, with
is
height
important difference between
the Exeter and the Westminster Hall examples occurs.

traceried
latter
is
its
is
as
no large raking
in
Westminster
a simple pierced panel,
and
solid.
Above the cambered

waggon
formed under the
ceiling,
which
collar
is
collar-
is
arch-braced to the great
purlin, thereby
forming the ribs to this
purlin,
barrel ceiling.
In Westminster Hall, with
enormous height and pitch of roof,

there is an upper and a lower collar,
its
braced
together with
collar-posts
and
completely traceried up to the ridge.
Between
trusses
of
each
the
principal which
brace, cut
of
the
Exeter roof
finishes
from the
four
is
main
a sub-
with a forked
solid,
on a small
carved hammer-beam, projecting at an
upward angle from the

tilt
wall-plate, this
dispensing with any braces below.
Across this sub-principal, at

is
a small moulded purlin,
the intersection
centre,
and from
two raking struts are
taken to the Jjunction of the arch-ribs
Fig. 85.
with the Wall-plate. The Central meeting-
NEEDHAM MARKET.
View showing windows
its
point of the principal purlin and raking
of clerestory,
92
The Development of
the English
Timber Roof
Fig. 86.
NEEDHAM MARKET, SUFFOLK.

View showing
details of
hammer-beams, hammer-posts, tie-beams and
93
ashlaring,
and carved cornice.

struts
is
behind
human
covered by a boss carved with the representation of a
which
this sub-principal,
is in
Jl
oodwork
From
head.
the form of a large flattened arch-brace (see Fig.
two other braces, with traceried spandrels, carry down from the great purlin to the
89),
hammer-posts, at some distance from the hammer-beam, joining others which

apex of the great arch-rib
rise to the
(see Fig. 87).
imitation of Westminster Hall, this Exeter roof
in
Although obviously designed
from
its
clumsy manner, with heavy baulks
of
differs largely in its construction
model.
framed
It is
timber,
very solid and rather
in a
and lacks the grace and
scientific
devising of the Westminster original.
The
roof
is
carried, mainly,
on the huge piece of timber, which contains,
one piece, the wall-post and the lower section of the inner or large arch-rib.
in the
This
is
tenoned into the principal, and has a solid abutment from which the upper sections
of the rib continue.
The
principal rafter
is
tenoned into the hammer-post at
its
upper
extremity and at the other end into an extension of the hammer-beam on the wall side
of the arch-rib.
The hammer-beam proper, being tenoned
has no definite connection with this extension piece, which
face,
on to the upper end of the wall-post, held firmly to
beam
is
into the arch-rib on its inner
its
is
tenon by pegs.
extension piece takes the thrust from the principal rafter.
The
tenoned into the lower section of the arch-rib or the wall-post,
same, as both are contained in the one solid timber,

internal rib-brace, which
is
wall-post at the other.
The main collar-beam
and
is
tenoned into the hammer-beam at
by being mortised
This false hammer-
fixed
real
hammer-beam
which
are here the
supported by the lower

its
one end, and into the
which bridges the hammer-posts at their upper extremities
the upper section of the arch-rib, and the upper rib-braces with their solid abutments
are
all
framed together with tenon-and-mortise
reinforced
by moulded laminations, with butt
of the rib itself.
common
bays.
joints.
The main
arch-rib
is
further
joints arranged so as to overlap well those
These laminations are secured to the
rib
by wooden
Both the
pegs.
and the ashlaring are concealed behind the plastering between the
Above the collar is the typical Western form of waggon ceiling which has already
rafters
been described.
This Exeter roof
Westminster Hall, as
is
remarkable, as
for its
many
sidered to bring this chapter to
The
among
much
for its details of similarity to that of
points of variation.
its
The
latter has
now
to be con-
conclusion.
roof of Westminster Hall, drawings of which are

given in Figs, go
other claims to distinction,
is
easily the largest

94
and
91,
and the most elaborate example
The Development of
the English
Timber Roof
g
w
u
z
nf
u
H
U
oo
si
a
<
a
n
5
-j
u
X
95
and Woodwork
The Hall
of its kind existing.

in
itself
was
built for
William Rufus, and at Whitsuntide,
the year 1099, he held Court in the Palace of Westminster, as
We
that
it
was
was
in
built,
and
was
in that
in
wooden posts
double-aisled form, with
Hall.
for a vast hall,

It
was then
have no exact knowledge of the original roof of the Hall, but
York Guild
Hall
it
styled.
conjectured
to the floor, in the
Considering the standard of moling science at the date

this
form of construction
238 feet
in
is
manner
of
when the
the only one which can be imagined
length by 68 feet in span.
1394, in the reign of Richard II, that
year,
it is
John Godmeston,
it
was decided
"
is
Clerk,
the Palace of Westminster to be repaired."
appointed
Hugh
roof,
Herland, the King's Master Carpenter,
Fig. 88.
96
renew the
to cause the Great Hall in
THE ROOF OF THE EXETER LAW LIBRARY.

View looking up
to
at a Bay.
The Development of
the
English
Fig. 89.
THE ROOF OF THE EXETER LAW LIBRARY.

Detail of a Truss.
97
Timber Roof

was entrusted with the control
all
of the
work, to enroll
men
of the various trades
parts of England, excepting in the fee of the Church, and to
any contrariants."
The timbers
and imprison
arrest
of the Hall roof are of Sussex oak, Qucrcus peduncidata, chiefly
wood
roof at close quarters, or
The
of Pettelwode.
the timbering could only have been
now
from
the King's forest or
the timbers
"
made by
was used
assertion that chestnut
who had
those
from
for
either not inspected the
had been deceived by the surface colour or bloom which
exhibit, the result of a superficial surface rot.
Elevations of a principal truss, and a bay are illustrated in Figs, go and 91,
together with a plan of the Hall.
this page.
roof.
to act
general view
It is impossible, here, to give
is
also given in the illustration facing
more than a
brief description of this
wonderful
To begin with, it was obviously impossible to obtain timbers of sufficient length

as main tie-beams or principal rafters. The roof, therefore, begins with an upper
by the main and upper collar beams, the ridge

with its bracing, the collar-post and the compound main and upper purlins, and the
crown-post supporting the heavy ridge, together with the principal and common rafters
down to main purlin level. This upper structure is carried on triangulated cantilevers,
triangulated framed structure, formed
formed by the hammer-posts, the hammer-beams, the wall-posts with their arch-braces,
the lower principal rafters and the
compound
the great curved rib or arch-brace
is
the feet of the wall-posts and rising to
hammer-beam and
secting both the
wall-plate.
To
tie
the whole roof together,
introduced, springing from the stone corbels at

its
apex at the centre
the hammer-post on
its
of the
main
collar, inter-
way.
Those who have read and understood the construction principles of the various
which have already been described,
roofs
will see that in
types have been compounded into the one.

given here, necessarily to a minute scale.
139
Extract.
Jan. 21.
Westminster Hall several
Sections of the various roof
The
following
list
of sizes
members
are
and scantlings
Patent Rolls.
17 Rich. II.
WESTMINSTER HALL.
M.
3.
Appointment of John Godmeston clerk to cause the great Hall to be repaired, taking the necessary masons,
carpenters and labourers wherefor whenever found except in the fee of the church, with power to arrest and
imprison contrariants, until further order and also to take stone, timber, tiles and other materials for the same
as the old timber from
of the said works for
and
to sell branches, bark and other remnants of trees

provided for the said hall, as well
and from an old bridge near the palace by view and testimony of the King's controller
the time being accounting for the moneys so received and receiving in that office wages and
at the King's charges
it
fees at the discretion of the Treasurer of
England.
By
98
Bill of Treasurer.
The Development of
the English
WESTMINSTER HALL.
An
eleventh-century Hall with a late fourteenth-century Roof.
99
Timber Roof
Fig. 90.
WESTMINSTER HALL ROOF.

SECTIONAL VIEW OK A PRINCIPAL SHOWING THE GREAT ARCH-RIB.
The view
of the Principal,
Bay and
Details from a drawing
by H.M.
Office of
Works, prepared
Fig. 91.
WESTMINSTER HALL.
VIEW OF A EAY AND PLAN OF HALL,
from an original measured and detailed drawing by Ernest R. Gribble and W. Rennie, 1910.

may
be of service
this
wonderful rool
in
giving
some idea
of the gigantic dimensions of the timbers in
Chapter VI.
Woodwork and Colour
Gothic
is
Decoration.
only during recent years that some degree of accurate knowledge
has been
regarding the original states of
acquired,
much
of
the
and woodwork which has persisted to the present day,

artistic legacies from centuries gone by.
During the nineteenth
furniture
as
much
century, especially,
We know
of restoration.
example, that nearly
for
now,
harm was done under
irreparable
all
the guise
the early silver, of the
decorative kind, was gilded, and yet, under the mistaken impression that
it
was a
was often ruthlessly stripped. No one, of any

silver and compared it with the cold uninteresting
late addition, this fine water-gilding
who has
taste,
seen this original
tone of the raw metal, can
There
former.
is
fail
also a real
of frequent cleaning to
as
it
To
There
is
it
obviates the necessity
fine
silver is
condemned,
with powder, however refined,
chasing or delicate ornament.
In any case, this gilding was
strip the gold
would be
purpose served by this gilding
of labour, frequent cleaning
the original finish intended

respected.
to appreciate the superior decorative qualities of the
remove the inevitable tarnishing to which
and, apart from the saving
must ultimately ruin
gilt
by the
silversmith,
from the
and
its
fine early silver is
integrity should have been
about as just to the craftsman
remove the over-glazings from a Reynolds or Gainsborough portrait.

little doubt that much of the Gothic, and even the later oak woodwork,
was decorated
to
in
polychrome.
In the case of the former, there are examples remaining,
such as will be illustrated, in only a small degree, in this chapter, which show that this
must have been the usual
finish, in
nearly every case.
We
have no right to assume
that chancel screens, pulpits, and even roofs, of the fifteenth century, decorated in
polychrome, were the exception.
There
is
hardly a Gothic screen to be found, in
churches of this period, without traces of colour being visible in the quirks and interstices.
To say
that this
is
later
in the case of secular panellings,
character of the oak,
daubing which has been removed,
is
absurd, although,
such over-painting, in the desire to relieve the sombre
may have
been of frequent occurrence.
Yet even here there
and other ornamentations on panellings still existing which

show that there was an original desire for colour decoration. The attempt was often
are examples of stencilled
made
in
another way,
by inlay, to achieve a
103
relief
why
should decorative painting
r
Early English Furniture and Jl oodwork
have been ignored
That nearly
all
either originally or at a Liter date,

figure, or
it is
cut,
paint
is
oak work, especially panellings, has been painted,
we know from the evidence
medullary ray of quartered oak,
and
this rax
is
does not darken appreciably with exposure to the
some
removal, to have darkened the ray, and
figured oak, even
oi
wry long time,
in
to
some
years,
cases, especially after the paint has
have turned
oak rooms
a lead
be found, on
will
it
in the Victoria
been
We hardly ever find
quite black.
it
the seventeenth century, without this darkened ray.
to be present in every one of the
When
air.
The
itself.
wood when
lighter than the surrounding
applied, however, and allowed to remain for
allowed to remain for
wood
of the
This will be found
and Albert Museum, thereby
proving that they must have been painted over, either originally, or at some later period.
The crudest daubing will achieve the same result as the most artistic decorative
say when this painting was original and where of subse-
painting, and
it is
quent date.
In a later chapter,
difficult to
dealing with secular panellings, will be found two
mantels from the Herefordshire mansion of
Rotherwas, where the panels are emblazoned
WE^^^^T^^^
in colours.
They were made
delighted in bright
costumes.
Why
an age which
in
hues in fabrics and in
should certain panels have
been relieved by bright colours, and the
mainder of the woodwork
left in
re-
sombre oak
Whether painted decoration on secular

panellings was the rule or the exception,
can only be surmised.
of conscientious stripping
removed too much
Parlour at
over
Thame
carved
enough
is
and
it
104
it
bright
in pictorial
many houses
can be said that such
polychrome decoration
if
is
Stone, plaster and
patterns or repeating designs, in
even
Cardinal
Hampton Court
polychrome.
England, and
Abbot's
decorated in colours
wood can be found, painted over

in
comprehen-
frieze of the
woodwork,
Wolsey's Closet at
in
and scouring has
to allow of a
The
sive statement.
century or two
was not unusual,
were not general.
Gothic
With church woodwork,
especially that prior to the
there exists a wealth of evidence to
show that
dawn
of the sixteenth century,
was not only
this
originally decorated
with colours and gilding, and even ornamented with raised gesso in many instances,
but also that the carving was finished (or rather left unfinished) with the intention of
such decoration being applied.

is,
in nearly all examples,
The
late seventeenth-century
completed by the carver, with no attempt at
clean cutting of his gouge.
It is
water while the preparation

is
is still
and the
To
moist.
In the same
to destroy all its finish.
demands the gesso-worker and the luminer.

for decoration,
and without
To examine and
originally decorated,
remained.
the design
church must have been rich
beyond the
sticks,
still
of the earlier Gothic
and surfaces are
this
woodwork
left fiat, specifically
not complete.
woodwork
as
it
exist,
if
of the
fifteenth century,
if
if
the original gold, colours and gesso
damage and
which, with due allowance for the
show that the fifteenth-century
will serve to
in decoration,
used with
and preparation from
perished either with time, neglect or through wilful
mellowing influence of four centuries,
it
is
with his pointed
way some
Fillets
necessary to view
deplorable ignorance, but examples
It is difficult, if
like
strip the gold
to appreciate the finer
it is
Much has
it,
finish
the gilder who, with his heavy preparation of whiting or
lead, puts in the finer details of veining
work
carved and gilded furniture
not positively rioting with colour.
not impossible, to visualise the church of the fifteenth century, as
was at that period, without an accurate knowledge
of the social
life
of the English
The church was not only the place of

meeting-place of the village or parish. The
people before the accession of the Tudors.
worship
earliest
was
the nave
also the hall or
churches must have been mere shrines or sanctuaries which evolved into the
chancel with or without chapels.
many
day, in
upheld from
villages,
its
if
not in
This was the church proper, and even at the present

all,
the chancel
is
church property, maintained and
funds, whereas the nave belongs to the parish, and any expense of
additions or renovations are paid for with parish money.
why
the chancel
It is
is
when
is
this
This
is
one of the reasons
nearly always richer in decoration than the nave.
dual ownership of the village church evolves, that the chancel opening
screened off from the nave, and although an opening (rarely a door)
the chancel screen, a massive
sanctuary beyond
The
or serf,
and
life
is
is
provided
in
placed across to remind the undevout that the
not to be invaded, but approached with reverence.
of the fifteenth century,
was rude, but not
diet
cill
is
was limited
as hard as
in variety.
whether
it
of
craftsman or hind, franklin, freeman
became under the Tudors.
As a compensation, food was
Desires were few
plentiful
and cheap.
and JJ oodwork
in
U
i*
a.
o
z
<
o
Q
Z
<
ID
J
J
<
E-
ro
<
K
Q
W
X
H
<
o
K
u
H
U
S
o
z
06
Fig. 94.
CHESTER CATHEDRAL, THE CHOIR, WEST.
Fig. 95.
CHESTER CATHEDRAL, THE CHOIR STALLS, DETAIL

Late fourteenth century.

There was
for
it
little,
Henry VIII
any want, even among the vagrant
to set the spectre of
class, at this date.
remained
It
famine stalking through the length and breadth of
The population suffered from plagues, due, in all probability, to an

incredible lack of cleanliness of person and certainly contributed to by a total lack of
sanitation.
Yet the age must have been a happy one, at least, for the craftsman,
broad England.
The Golden Age
however humble.
side with
want or
serious oppression.
brutal as they afterwards became.

influence of the Church,
mighty abbey,
shadows,
and
must have
and the
priories
woodwork could not have existedside by
of English
Laws were harsh and
Over
all
lot of the
strict,
handicrafts was the guiding and gentle
who
craftsman
lived in the
and abbeys were numerous enough
been a happy
if
but not savagely
uneventful one.
If
his lord,
the
shadow
of a
many
such
to cast
the warlike expeditions of

either in England, or in
English
the
across
provinces
Channel, called him to arms, and
caused him to exchange tool and
^^^
apron for long-bow and leather jerkin,
was but a diversion
this
in a
some-
what stagnated existence. In times

of peace he had his guild, or met
his fellows in the village
church at
when strong ale or other

was by no means unknown.
close of day,
liquor
This was his leisure
life,
enlivened
with occasional feast or saints' days,
when carousing was

indulged
the
liver,
and
flock should,
more deeply
All legends agree that
in.
Churchman
good
still
of this
his flock,
dutifull}
day was a
as a
good
followed his
example.
The reaction
of this life is seen
in the craftsman's work, especially

in that of the
woodworker.
There
Fig. 96.
culbone, somerset, chancel screen.
is
more than
chancel
Fourteenth century.
108
skin
screens,
evidenced
pulpits,
in
timber
Gothic Jlroodwork
roofs
and
and Colour Decoration
the embellishments of the village church.
all
produce something
fine,
There
is
the earnest desire to
which should defy the centuries, and the
spirit of
emulation
and rivalry which prompted the craftsmen of one village to vie with, or to out-do the
inhabitants of a neighbouring hamlet in the enrichment and the beautifying of their
church. 1
In no instance
inspiration or
ecclesiastical
is
skill,
this
thoroughness of workmanship, as distinguished from either
more evident than
woodwork
in the colour decoration as applied to
or in conception (although in both qualities

1
The Church, which was,
of the fourteenth century.
it is
It is
not that
unrivalled) so
it
is
much
fine in
Gothic
execution
as in the fact that
was torn by violent schisms in the last quarter

two Popes, Urban VI at Rome, and Clement VII at Avignon.
the latter.
The Council at Pisa, in 1409, elected Alexander V, and
of course, Catholic at this date,
In 1377 there were
England adhered to the former, Scotland to

at this date there were actually three titular heads
of the Church.
Fig. 97.
LAVENHAM, SUFFOLK, CHANCEL SCREEN.

Mr. C.
109
J.
Abbott, Photo.
wm
rassassEi
Fig. 98.
DETAIL OF THE CHANCEL SCREEN,
Fig. 97.
most brutal and ignorant

kind, or purposed and law-sanctioned destruction, not on one, but on three noted
occasions at least has the colours and gilding mellowed by time, but as pure and trans-
what has
persisted
in spite of neglect
and iconoclasm
of the
parent as the day they were applied.
That the same
may
be said of the pictures of
Van Eycks we know, but we do not know the immense trouble which Jan Van Eyck
took to make his colours and his vehicles pure and permanent.
the
With whiting prepared from finely powdered chalk and carefully freed from all
impurities by elutriation, and with size made from parchment, the oak was prepared
Coats were applied in succession, each carefully rubbed down, when
for its decoration. 1
dry, until the grain
was
filled
and the surface rendered
level
The
and smooth.
parts
intended for gilding were then prepared with bole-armoniac (called bole armeny in
documents
employed
of the time) a yellowish
at that time for the staunching of blood.
earth, impregnated, as
lustre.
The
into
according to
it,
unctuous clay, which, curiously enough, was also
it
brownish or yellowish
with oxide of iron, which gives this old gilding
was formed
by building up on
whether the ornament was to be in relief
raised gesso
is,
It is this
either
Grounds prepared entirely
in oil colours are also not
its
its
warm
ground, or by cutting
or intaglio.
uncommon.
The chancel
Gothic JVoodwork
screen of Bramfield, Fig. 126, will serve to
show how
original gesso.
delicate
was nearly
all of this
and tempera, yolk of egg or size, appear to have

been used indifferently, according to whether a luminous or a non-reflective finish was
desired.
Colours darken, after years, when used with oil mediums, but this is due to
Of pigment mediums, both
the
oil
not being sufficiently refined.
oil
first
to use oil colours for his pictures, 1
way
of refining his oil
illuminating,
'
Note
if
not
my
may
be quoted here from the
"
and
Cloister
the Hearth," as
being
literally correct.
brother Jan's pictures
his colours bright as the
it is
Jan Van Eyck is usually credited with being the

and Margaret Van Eyck's account of her brother's
day they
left
time, which fades
Later research has established the fact that the use of
by no means certain whether they used
vl
il
oil
The reason
the easel.
mediums
for
oil
with pigments
many
all
other paintings, leaves
is,
he did nothing blindly,

older than the
is
Van Eycks, and
of their pictures.
vl flfi
Fig. 99.
ATHERINGTON, DEVON, CHANCEL SCREEN.

Ill
Fig. 100.
GRUNDISBURGH, SUFFOLK, CHANCEL SCREEN.

Fig. 101.
GRUNDISBURGH CHANCEL SCREEN, DETAIL.
Fig. 102.
BARKING, SUFFOLK,
S.
CHAPEL SCREEN.
Fifteenth century.
Fig. 103.
BARKING, SUFFOLK,
N.
CHAPEL SCREENS.
Fifteenth century.
Fig'.
LAVENHAM, SUFFOLK,
N.
104.
CHAPEL SCREEN, DETAIL.

Mr. C.
J.
Abbott, Photo.
mm
mm
jl
****"
NIMH
I1IMII
Fig. 105.
LAVENHAM, SUFFOLK,
N.
AISLE PARCLOSE SCREEN, DETAILS
Mr. C.
J.
Abbott, Photo.
H roodvcork
Gothic
or saw
He
in a hurry.
nothing
trusted to no hireling to grind his colours
Most
a year before he laid his colour on.
sucked up and
Above
warn you
that vegetable dross into
its
death to colour.
oil is
impure
to use but little
No
with a glass
are mistaken.
lid fitting tight.
this trough with water,
"
Reicht, fetch
When
your
oil
and put the trough
he did
it
himself,
will
painters are always in a hurry.
and never
it is
boil
it
boiling
melts
it
our business to clear away
for
and pour it into a bottle with water.

that is muck from the oil. Pour the dirty
take your
muddy
away, and add fresh. When
You
oil is clear.
oil,
very heart, which
In a day or two the water will turn
water carefully
Bad
sooner than not be in a hurry.
lost,
Gerard,
all,
of
show you how

them are quite content to have their work
His panel was prepared, and prepared again
done.
it
oil
that
me
is
that
poured away you

"
!
will
fancy the
Reicht brought a glass trough
has been washed in a bottle, put
in the
sun
all
day.
You
will
it
into
soon see the
But
water turbid again.
mark, you must not carry

this
game
sun
will turn
too
far,
your
When
varnish.
or the
it
too luscious, drain
and cork
Grind
your
it
as
is
and not
clear as a crystal,
fully,
*fer
oil to
up
caretight.
own
prime
on
and
them
colours,
lay
with this
Hubert would put
live.
sand or
to
salt in the
clear the
But
"
and they shall
oil,
used
Jan
Water
oil
do
will
water
quicker.
to
say,
it
best,
water time."
give
Van Eyck was never

hurry, and that
world
in a
why
the
not forget him
will
'
hurry
is
Jan
in a
"
'
The old luminers
of
Gothic Woodwork appear
Hereford, all saints^ church, stalls.

Late fourteenth or early fifteenth century.
115

to
of mineral
pigments, together with
gold
used
in
reverse
employed
accordance
rarely colour
heraldic
in
with tinctures
sequence:
(or)
with
and
red
and black
i.
as
(vert),
Yellow
ranks, in heraldry, as a metal.
is
That
gold)
colour
emblazonry,
It
were nearly always
on
and
well,
blue
(azure),
sometimes used
this
metal,
or
the
probable that these luminers were also
is
they
would be
Of colours and metals we
application.
green
powder (brush
of
colour.
emblazonry
their
(gules),
(sable
upon
or
law
the
These
or vegetable basis completed the gamut.
leaf
in
oodwork
Their palette was restricted; the earth colours,
have learned much the same lesson.
and here and there one
JJ
white
for
for
work
well
acquainted
get the following
silver
(argent),
of lesser importance.
gold
It
law of emblazonry of metal on colour or colour
upon metal was not rigid, even among heralds themselves, may be seen in early coats.
"
Thus the arms of the kingdom of Jerusalem are
argent a cross potent between four
crosses, all or
"
;
of Leycester of
De Tabley,
"
azure, a fess gules
between three
Fig. 107.
CHUDLEIGH, DEVON, THE WESTERN TYPE OF ARCHED SCREEN.

116
fleurs-
Fig. 108.
CHUDLEIGH, DEVON, DETAIL OF SCREEN.

Fig. 109.
BRADNINCH, DEVON, DETAIL OF SCREEN.

117

de-lys
or";
d' argent, a
of Sir
imr
fesse
Richard de Rokesale (temp. Edward
"
II)
d' azure,
a six lioncels
de gules."
Pictorial representations of figures
were usually coloured
"
proper," that
is
with
the natural hue, especially of flesh, but the heraldic system of alternation and counter-
change was adhered
to
where possible,
Of vehicles or mediums
it
is
in the
majority of instances.
impossible to state, with accuracy, whether
oil
or
The Van Eycks have been credited with the first use of an oil
medium, but the evidence for this is dubious. The late Professor Ernest Berger (who
was, perhaps, the greatest European authority on the Van Eyck school) was of opinion
tempera was employed.
that the
medium used by
the brothers was an emulsion of egg and varnish.
ceivable that oil could have been
unknown
as a
medium
It is incon-
before the end of the fourteenth
by Theophilus in the twelfth century, and in the Cathedral

accounts of Ely, Westminster and elsewhere, there are references to purchases of oil for
painting. That oil was a treacherous medium unless thoroughly purified was also known
century.
It is referred to
Fig.
BARKING, SUFFOLK,
E.
no.
SIDE OF CHANCEL SCREEN.
nS
Gothic
in the fifteenth century, or before,

and the greatest care was taken
in its refining.
obviate the danger of the darkening or discolouration of pigments, a tempera

of
To
medium
egg emulsion was often preferred, the work being subsequently varnished.
If
the Chancel
as the Sanctuary.
is
older in inception than the Nave,
it is
also of greater
Its chief treasure is the Altar, the centre
importance
round which the liturgy
Church has grown. From this the Eucharistic sacrifice is offered and the sacrament administered to communicants. These Altars were of wood, in the earliest
of the
churches, but in the fourteenth century these were replaced by stone in nearly every
instance, in obedience to the clerical law.
mand
It
remained
that these stone altars should be taken
tables,
for a later secular edict to
down and
replaced with plain
wooden
under pain of severe penalties, and very few of the early examples remain at
the present day.
These early altars must
have been richly decorated,

surmounted, frequently, by
a
or
retable
reredos
of
carved wood or sculptured

stone, painted
and
gilded.
In the case of high altars

this reredos often occupied
the full height and width

of the chancel. 1
Side altars
were also placed in the nave

or aisles, as at Ranworth,
and sometimes on the rood

These
loft.
were
altars
subsidiary
usually
dedi-
cated to particular saints,

and, unlike the high altar,
were
they
enriched
and
maintained at the expense

of the parishioners.
The reredos was some1
As
Chapels.
com-
in
some
of the
Fig. 111.
Oxford
BARKING, SUFFOLK, W. SIDE OF CHANCEL SCREEN.

119
Early English Furniture anil

times
in
the form of a triptych, with central and hinged side panels which could be
Of Gothic painted super-altars very few have survived.
folded hack or closed.
triptych form was more usual
The coloured
oi
was owing
in
in
the churches of Italy
and Germany than
1S47,
it is
said,
with
its
face
downwards,
in use as the top of a table.
and Norwich Archaeological Society that it was

a deplorably mutilated and incomplete state.
to the efforts of the Norfolk
Originally, this super-altar
was formed by
five horizontal
three-quarters of an inch in thickness, with an applied
at
England.
volume shows a fragment of a coloured retable

the fourteenth century, now preserved in Norwich Cathedral.
It
rescued and preserved, although in
with pegs.
in
The
frontispiece to this
the last years of
was discovered
It
Jfoodwork
The
five
boards of quartered oak,
moulded framework, fastened
panels were formed by four vertical moulded mullions, mitred
the intersections, of which only one remains.
In the five panels, on a carefully
prepared ground of gilded and finely patterned gesso, are shown
(1)
The Scourging
Fig. 112.
RANWORTH CHANCEL SCREEN WITH PAROCHIAL ALTARS.

Gothic Jf oodwork
The Bearing of the Cross
The Ascension. The upper part of
at the Pillar
and
(5)
(2)
(3)
may have been somewhat higher than

On the bordering framework the beads
in gold as a relief.
sections,
of the top length
heraldic paintings on glass.
them the date
These
is
(4)
The Resurrection
and the central
the others.
were, originally
and
red,
band
of
in alternate blue
The outer framing has a
and the whole
Crucifixion
this super-altar is missing,
panel
chamfers between picked out
The
flat
gilt,
with the
fillets
or
with small flowers stencilled
ornament, of which the corner
missing, on which are the remains of small
are, evidently, the coats of the donors,
of the production of the altar-piece can be deduced.
Mr.
St.
and from
John Hope,
M.A., in a paper read at the meeting of the Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society,
in
1897 (Society's Proceedings, Vol. NIII), stated that he had deciphered such of the
They show the arms of Henry Despencer, Bishop of

Norwich, 1370-1406, Sir Stephen Hale, Sir Thomas Morieux, Sir William Kerdeston
(or a later member of the same family), Sir Nicholas Gernon and Sir John Howard.
coats and banners as remain.
Fig. 113.
RANWORTH, NORFOLK, DETAIL OF FIGURES
IN
BASE OF CHANCEL SCREEN.

121

It
more
is
difficult
or less, alone.
inspiration,
but
in
to
this
resolve
Dr. Tancred
JWoodwork
painted super-altar into any school, as
Borenius
is
of opinion that
it
may
it
stands,
be French
in
the closing years of the fourteenth century, the greater part of
work could have emanated, were English

points out that the possibility of its English origin must
France, at least those districts from which this

possessions.
Dr. Borenius also
not be ignored.
and
it
is
known
It
may
be the work of a Church luminer rather than of a pictorial artist,
that an English school of religious painting did exist at this period,
the works of which have perished in nearly every case.
may
it is
be an almost solitary survival of such work.

prior in date even to
works.
He was
Hubert Van Eyck,
It
This Norwich retable, therefore,
must be remembered,
also,
at least to the period of his better
that
known
court painter to the reigning Prince of Burgundy, Philip the Hardy,
from 1410 to 1420.
True, he must have been between forty and fifty years of age at
Fig. 114.
RANWORTH CHANCEL SCREEN
Fig. 115.
N.
RANWORTH CHANCEL SCREEN
ALTAR
AND REREDOS.
REREDOS.
122
:
S.
ALTAR
Fig. 116.
RANWORTH, DETAIL OF PAINTED VAULTING.
Fig. 117.
Fig. 118.
RANWORTH, SOUTH PARCLOSE.
RANWORTH, DETAIL OF FLYING BUTTRESS.

Mr. Fredk. Sumner, Photos.
123

and must have had
this date,
that he
was the
was influenced by
We know
case.
and England
in
this
long painting career behind him, but
Norwich school
of religious painters
JJ
it is
oodwork
more probable
than that the reverse
was considerable intercourse between Burgundy

This Norwich retable is
the reign of Richard II.
that there
the last years of
contemporary with the wonderful roof of Westminster Hall already referred to and
described.
A considered judgment must conclude that

.mil painting,
one of the few,
if
inspiration, considering that
of English
is
workmanship
not the only remaining example of a school of religious
painters of the late fourteenth century.

its
this retable
it
is
remarkable for
It is as
its
technique as for
within half a century of Cimabue and Giotto.
must have inspired much of the fifteenth-century work

which have now to be considered and illustrated.
In the Church of St. Michael-at-Plea, Norwich,
is
in the
a reredos
panels of chancel screens,
formed
of several painted
panels which, although upwards of a century later than the Norwich example,
Fig. 119.
SOUTHWOLD, SUFFOLK, CHANCEL SCREEN.

124
It
still
H roocIuCork
r
Gothic
show the same manner perpetuated
One
in this pictorial decoration of
of these panels, representing the Crucifixion,
There
south wing of the reredos.
is less
is
shown here
Church woodwork.
in Fig. 92.
same intricacy in the patterning of the gesso

a more free and flowing manner. The drawing
one would expect at this date. St. Michael-at-
in
archaic, as
Plea possessed a magnificent screen in earlier times, of which this panel
Of
formed a part.
this screen
forms the
It
the
is
ground as at Norwich Cathedral, but

of the figure of Christ
arid Colour Decoration
nothing
now
remains,
if
we except
may have
In
these panels.
1504 the will of Katherine, widow of Alderman Thomas Bewfield, leaves 5 marks for
the painting and gilding of the rood-loft.
at this date,
and was
sum
or
in the reign of
of gold
Henry VII and up
son began to debase the coinage, as in those days
improbable that a gold mark was indicated

of such
mark
weighed eight ounces
pounds, thirteen shillings and fourpence in the
in value sixteen
coin of this time, a large
A mark
to the date
money purchased
in this bequest, as the
It is
much.
with the chancel screens of the
which has
already been described, that both Gothic
woodwork and
its
colour decoration reach
their highest limits in England.
was
and
to
also to support a rood-loft,
beam
the
of
altar,
on the rood-
which was displayed the image
crucified
Christ,
with other
date,
Their use
guard the sanctuary of the
Mary and
St.
flanked,
at
representations
of
later
of
St.
The
John the Evangelist.
of great antiquity, the name

rood
being of Saxon origin, and was the object
itself
is
of
much devotion
At
tapers were
or
and
a
festivals,
in
light
Middle Ages.
numbers
fixed
some churches,
to
of lighted candles
the
rood-beam,
as at Burford,
Oxon,
was kept burning continually on
the rood-loft.
uses,
in the
These
lofts,
among
other
southwold, parclose screen.
were often the pulpits and the reading
125
It is
for the painting
of a rood-loft.
fifteenth century, the purpose of
his
present-day value
would be well over one thousand pounds, an exaggerated sum
and gilding
so
when
Fig. 121
SOUTHWOLD CHANCEL SCREEN.

Detail of figure paintings.
T26
Fig. 122.
SOUTHWOLD CHANCEL SCREEN.

Detail of figure paintings.
127
Fig. 123.
ST.
ANDREW'S, BRAMFIELD, SUFFOLK, CHANCEL SCREEN

Width, 20
ft.
Height, S
in.
ft.
10
in.
Fig. 124.
Fig. 125.
BRAMFIELD SCREEN.
BRAMFIELD SCREEN.
Detail of figures.
Detail of figures.
128
Fig. 126.
BRAMFIELD, SUFFOLK, DETAIL OF PAINTED VAULTING.
Fig. 127.
BRAMFIELD, SUFFOLK, DETAIL OF GESSO-DECORATED TRANSOM.

129
Fig. 128.
YAXLEY, SUFFOLK, CHANCEL SCREEN.

Width between arch
ft.
10 in.
Overall 12
ft.
.Mid-fifteenth century.
Fig. 129.
YAXLEY SCREEN, DETAIL.

Top
of
cill
to top of transom 4
ft.
3 in.
10
in.
Gothic
desks of the Middle Ages, and the primitive musical instruments of the time, including
the organ, were played from them.
There
rood-lofts,
no doubt that many superstitious practices were indulged in from these

and their removal was ordered in Commonwealth times, and William
is
1
"
"
may be quoted here. Gilbert Burnet,

History of the "Reformation
as Bishop of Salisbury, would hardly be unduly biassed in these matters. Writing of the year 1537, ne says
"
The}- discoyered many impostures about relics and wonderful images to which pilgrimages had been u
to be made. At Reading they had an angel's wing, which brought over the spear's point that pierced our Saviour's
1
The following extract from Burnet's
side. As many pieces of the cross were found as, joined together, would have made a big cross. The rood of grai e
at Boxley (Bexley), in Kent, had been much esteemed, and drawn many pilgrims to it. ft was observed to bow
and roll its eyes, and look at times well pleased or angry, which the credulous multitude imputed to a Divine power
but all this was discovered to be a cheat, and it was brought up to St. Paul's Cross, and all the springs were openlv
;
showed that governed its several motions. At Hales, in Gloucestershire, the blood of Christ was shown in a phial,
and it was believed that none could see it who were in mortal sin and so, after good presents were made, the
deluded pilgrims went away satisfied if they had seen it. This was the blood of a duck, renewed every week, put
111 a
and either side was turned towards the pilgrim, as
phial very thick of one side, and thin on the other
the priests were more or less satisfied with their oblations. Several other such-like impostures were discovered,
which contributed much to the undeceiving the people."
;
Fig. 130.
LUDHAM, NORFOLK, CHANCEL SCREEN.

Dated 1493.
'31

East Anglia, did his work of
Dowsing, the Commissioner of Parliament appointed to
destruction very effectually, with the result that the wonderful screens of Ranworth,
Southwold, Bramfield and elsewhere were ruthlessly despoiled of their lofts. The edict
forth under Edward VI and had been obeyed
againsl the use of altars had already gone
even more thoroughly. 1
"
him against some remainders of the former super(Ridley) also carried some injunctions with
come
often
to the sacrament, and that altars might be
and
to
to
the
alms,
stition, and for exhorting
give
people
of
the chancel. In the ancient Church their
the
most
convenient
room
in
their
in
11
tables
and
place
ed,
put
1
[n 1550,
but the sacrament being called a sacrifice, as prayers, alms, and all holy oblations were,
ame to be called 'altars.' This gave rise to the opinion of expiatory sacrifice in the mass, and thereadvised the curates to do
thought tit to take away both the name and form of altars. Ridley only
some contests arising concerning it, the council interposed, and required it to be done, and sent
but,
.
they
>
He
wood
this
upon
with their order
since the opinion of
paper of reasons justifying it, showing that a table was more proper than an altar, especially
"
an expiatory sacrifice was supported by it." Burnet,
History of the Reformation."
Fig. 131.
LUDHAM, NORFOLK, CHANCEL SCREEN.

Detail of painting and buttresses.
>3 2
C *jK2 *M *Mt *M yf *Xt A' *JE 'Jf JL'

v
'
'Jk'
JL'
Jft'
'A' 'A' ^JP ^K' kA' *&' kJJk' tA' iJC Jf'
'
Fig. 132.
ATHERINGTON, DEVON, DETAIL OF VAULTING.

(See also Figs.
3,
and
5.)
Fig. 133.
ATHERINGTON, DEVON,
E.
SIDE OF
FORMER CHANCEL SCREEN.
Mr. Fredk. Sumner, Photos.
'
roodwork
JJ
These rood-lofts were reached, sometimes by a wooden stairway, more often by

-tone stairs from the aisles, or even built into the outer walls of the north and south
aisles,
It
when
was part
the screen stretched, as

of the ritual,
it
did in
cases, right across
many
nave and
aisles.
on Good Friday, for the worshippers to ascend one of these
staircases, to pass across the rood-screen
and
loft,
and to descend by the
stairs
on the
"
Wagner has nobly commemorated this Good Friday ritual in Parsifal."

"
tied
At St. Michael-at-Plea is buried Thomas Porter who by his will dated 1405,
his messuage in this parish ... to find a wax candle burning on the rode-loft daily at
matins, mass and vespers, before the image of the Virgin." John Hebbys, mercer, who
opposite side.
lies in
lamp
the Chapel of St.

for ever
on the
John
in the
rode-loft, to
same church,
"
in 1485,
burn daily from
charges his house to find
six in the
morning to ten
in the
forenoon."
In
some
of these rood-lofts, particularly those in the south-western counties,
where
Fig. 134.
ATHERINGTON, DEVON, DETAIL OF BRESSUMMER, W. SIDE.

Early :>ixteenth century.
Mr. Fredk. Sumner. Photo
134
Gothic
they were often of great
it
size,
an altar was frequently installed
in the loft, in
which case
was used as a small chapel.

Whether the earlier chancel screens were always enriched with colour or
difficult to say.
it is
remains of paint
If
exist, as, for
example,
the late fourteenth-century screen at Appledore in Kent, this
woodwork was painted over
the
to tone with the Church.
gilding
in the original part of
may
only indicate that
Traces of the original bright
red with which the entire nave of this church was daubed have been found under
numerous coats
white-
of
The chancel and
wash.
chapel screens do not appear

as integral parts of church
woodwork
first
before about the
years of the fourteenth
Some crude
century.
ex-
amples, such as at Pixley

Herefordshire, and
in
the
fragment at Ivychurch
in
Romney Marsh may
the
The timbering
massive and there is
be
earlier.
is
little
attempt at ornament
beyond rough moulding

mullions.
of
It is difficult to
imagine, however, in an age
where the love
colour
of
was one
of its chief charac-
teristics,
that great masses
of
oak timbering would have
been
left,
in
the
i^m^^^^-i^^^^û-
--*
mM
^L^M^MLii^^^^Li^kL^xî^M
natural
wood, with no attempt at

decorative
painting,
how-
ever crude.
Fig. 135.
In the early years of

the
fourteenth
century,
ATHERINGTON, DEVON, DETAIL OF TABERNACLE

WORK ON W. SIDE.
Early sixteenth century'.
carvings and tracery are
Mr. Fredk. Sumner, Photo-
'35

in
worker follows closely
in the steps of
wood
in
the
same
oodwork
The wood-
the decoration of these chancel and chapel screens.
already well advanced
of solid
JJ
the stonemason, hewing his
ornament from masses
some noteworthy results, as in the late

Winchester, which show comparatively few traces
of the renovations of Bishop Fox in the early
fashion, but achieving
thirteenth-century choir stalls at
The canopies
sixteenth century.
thirteenth-century wood-
stalls are typical of late
work
of
of the
of these choir
more elaborate kind, such as William
Wykeham's Cathedral would have

main
The
supporting
are
posts
possessed.
beautifully
crocketted and niched, the intermediate balusters
The
turned in simple and graceful form.

characteristic, however,
is
to each stall, crocketted
chief
the pinnacled canopy
above and
filled
below
with arches and tracery cut from solid timber.

This
is
the stonemason's method.
or no construction in these
are
There
is little
huge canopies
hewn out with the maximum amount
they
of time
and patience which could have been expended

on them.
It is
otherwise with such examples as
the grand canopies at Chester, Figs. 94 and 95, for
example, which are about a century later
Here we have construction
fully developed,
a due appreciation of the qualities of

tracery, pinnacle
stone.
intricate.
canopies
and crocket,
The design
is
in date.
with
wood
in
compared with
amazingly delicate and
as
Contrasted with the lofty choir these
appear
rather as
lace-work
than
as
creations of the woodworker.
From Cathedral
same system
applies.
to lowly parish
church the
As the fourteenth grows
Flg- 136-
into the fifteenth and again into the sixteenth

PART OF OAK SCREEN DOORS FROM
A former bishop's palace at exeter. centuries, we get progressive skill in construction
7 ft. 10 in. high by 3 ft. 5 in. wide.
with methods of ever-growing ingenuity, combined
Victoria and Albert
Museum.
with a corresponding economy of material,

136
until,
Gothic JJ oodwork
in
the
later
and debased Gothic,
become almost impossibly
traceries
delicate in
proportion and bewildering in the intricacy of their ornament, as at Westminster
Abbey,
An
of the
for
example.
account of colour decoration
development
of the
in
Gothic clerical woodwork
ornament and construction
itself.
is,
perforce, also one
Whether colour and
gilding were an integral part of the early work, or whether such decoration
as a super-refinement, after the climax of the carpenter
it is
not possible to say, after so
much
and carver has been reached,
painting, whether original or of later date, has
been removed.
Fig. 137.
PILTON,
DEVON, PARCLOSE SCREEN.
N.
10
ft.
was applied
high by 13
ft.
wide.
137
Fig. 138.
BOVEY TRACEY,
S.
DEVON, SCREEN.
Fig. 139.
HALBERTON,
S.
DEVON, SCREEN.
133
Fig. 140.
CHULMLEIGH, DEVON, SCREEN.

Late fifteenth centurv.
*t88s&ii
Fig. 141.
Fig. 142.
CHULMLEIGH, DETAIL OF BASE.
CHULMLEIGH, DETAIL OF VAULTING.

'39
Early English Furniture and JFoodwork

church of
In the little parish
Culbone
in
Somerset
the
is
fourteenth-century screen
little
illus-
Another
trated here in Fig. 96.
example is in Appledore Church,

as far removed as the Romney
Marsh,
very similar
of
detail,
which shows that the type must
have been general
this date.
at
The main frame
of these simple
screens consists
of
till,
posts
and a head or upper plate, all

mortised and tenoned together.
The heavy
traceried heads
are
tenoned to the balusters instead

of being
i<fr~
grooved between vertical
mullions
Fig. 143.
in
These heads
COLDRIDGE, DEVON, SCREEN.
the
are,
later
therefore, cut
from the one piece
Detail of vaulting.
pierced
with
fashion.
of
circles
timber,
and
with
simple patterns, without cusping.

In some of these early screens the shafts are turned
they are moulded.

of the
There
is
in others, as in
this
example,
rarely any other decoration beyond a crude moulding
framework.
In the fourteenth-century screen at

in constructive
methods, but Suffolk at
development than Somerset.

pinnacles tenoned
Lavenham,
this date
Fig. 97,
was
in a far greater state of artistic
between head-beam and transom, with crocketted ogival arches
tenoned into the beam above, and are
The
we have a marked advance
Here the moulded mullions are crested with crocketted
abutting on to them and bracing them firmly together.
shaft.
filled
These arches, at their centres, are
with tracery supported on a central slender
detail can be studied in Fig. 98.
At Atherington,
Fig. 99, the tracery is
grooved into the mullions, both the ogee and the tracery being cut from the
Interlaced cusped arches are introduced into the lower panels, supported on
solid.
moulded
which mask the panel-joints. It will be noticed that all these early screens of this
type have square heads, the mullions being mortised directly into the beam, and with
ribs
140
Fig. 144.
LAPFORD, DEVON, SCREEN.

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irf fj.t
5
.
>j&f> ,*>$*' y-ffri
-v"-~ ii :-'<V->?*l?cY
:?-*
-ye.-.-;'?/-
"fit.
i^^N^fe
Fig. 145.
Fig. 146
LAPFORD, DEVON, DETAIL OF VAULTING.
LAPFORD, DOUBLE VAULTING.

Looking up.
Mr. Fredk. Sumner, Photo

In
traceried spandrels in the upper portion of the openings only.
these openings were completely
At Grundisburgh, Figs.
(1.
filled
too and
JJ
some
oodwork
rare instances
with tracery.
mi,
a further
Alternate mullions are carried through from
advance
cill
in
construction
head
to
in the
form
is
to be
of posts
with the intermediate mullions acting as framing members, dividing each bay into two
lights or openings.
The
tracery, carried
to the tracery,
Lavenham and Atherington,

decorated archway.
to the head,
is
taken through these inter-
The crocketted ogival arches are

and supported on abutments formed on the mullions.
mediate mullions, which are forked over
pegged
up
it.
the entrance from nave to chancel
The chancel
is
applied,
Unlike
through a finely
begins, at this date, to lose its former rigidly exclusive
character.
The chapel screens
at Barking, Figs. 102
and
103,
show
a further development in
Fig. 147.
SWIMBRIDGE, DEVON, SCREEN.

142
Gothic JVoodwork
design, the tracery with
its
applied ogee arches being arranged in double and triple
pendentive form, although the original carved
finials are missing.
are enriched with applied tracery, grooved into the posts
moulded
rib.
At Lavenham,
somewhat
gabled
in a
solid,
manner reminiscent
The applied mouldings to some
the pendants have disappeared.
all
from the
with
In the N. aisle parclose screen, Fig. 105, of
earlier date, the tracery is pinnacled or
of the stall canopies of the period.
and
and divided by an applied
Fig. 104, the traceried heads are cut
applied arched ribs, grooved into the mullions.
The lower panels
of
many
of the gables are missing
Apart from the strong suggestion
of foreign
two examples, the Gothic is here fast losing its former logical character,
degenerating into mere ornament. The stall canopies of All Saints, Hereford,
influence in these
and
is
Fig. 106, will
show the standard reached before
this decline.
Here the ogival arched
heads break forward and form niches, richly traceried above and crocketted below.
There
is
the straight
beam above, with both
shafts
and pinnacles tenoned
into
it.
There
Fig. 148.
SWIMBRIDGE, DEVON, DETAIL OF SCREEN BASE.

M3
Early English Fwniture and
JJ
oodwork
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144
Gothic JWoodwork arid Colour Decoration

not the massive grandeur which
is
is
noticeable in the design of the Winchester
where the canopies are hewn from great masses
of timber.
Here the
effect
is
stalls.
achieved
by constructional methods, although with some loss in dignity and splendour.

The chancel screen at Chudleigh, Figs. 107 and 10S, introduces the arched type of
the West. It is formed of five bays, the arched moulded heads of stout section, tongued
between head and
post.
The tracery
of each
bay
is
ported on three moulded shafts, with caps and bases.
grooved into the head and supThere
is
a strong suggestion of
the fourteenth-century influence
the
still
remaining
which
heads,
traceried
solid
heavy
in
carried
are
behind the foliated spaninto
drels
the
In
posts.
the base panels, formed by
crocketted
tenoned into a
large ribs
bottom
a
rail
series
of
circles, are
with
with
tracery,
quatrefoils
below
with
simplicity
but with considerable
in
painted figures
inscriptions
executed
with
carved
taste.
similar treatment will be
noted
the screen from
in
Bradninch,
Fig.
109,
but
here the character
is
what
mullions
later,
the
some-
being taken" thro ugh to the

cill,
with
the
quatrefoil
over
tracery
applied
panels.
The painted
the
figures
are in late fifteenth-century
tarn
costume.
The screens surmounted
by
Fig. 151.
COLDRIDGE, DEVON, PARCLOSE SCREEN.
rood-lofts offer different
45

constructional
survived
the
overhang,
those
where
that
the
is
where
hung
loft
The
side.
rood-lofts
destruction
purposed
single
and west
These
problems.
cill
tin-
over
or base
Puritan
of
loft
the
or
an-,
times,
of
projected on
line
of
the
for
were,
two
the
screen
classes,
Fig.
are strongly mortised into the
four feet from
The heads are
The
loft,
the
floor,
are
equally on
The
its
its
east
stiffened
posts, with
121, or with flying buttresses as at

cill
and the beam, and
by the
traceried, either between, or
where
those with
was nearly always continued across the whole width,
buttresses as at Southwold, Fig.

1. vi.
have
nave side only, and
forming a step or threshold across the opening from nave to chancel.

solid
few
very
insertion of a
on moulded
Ludham,
at a distance of
heavy
rail or
ribs fixed to the
about
transom.
transom below.
overhang was on both sides of the screen, was supported on
placed transversely across the beam, either notched over, or tenoned into
it,
joists,
these
Fig. 152.
BRUSHFORD, SOMERSET, CHANCEL SCREEN.

146
Gothic JVoodwork
turn being tenoned into the bressummers which supported the fronts of the
joists in
These beams were housed, generally, into the walls
loft.
extended right across the nave, into those of the
lofts
the
to
given
by means
joists
brackets
of
the
to
of the chancel, or,

aisles.
posts
where the
Further support was

the
of
screen,
and on
The handrails or upper beams of the

the same manner as the bressummers, and
the groining or vaulting was applied.
these
rood-loft were fixed into
the walls in
vaulting, which sprang from the
The
the upright muntins were tenoned between.
was formed by shaped
face of the posts to the base of the rood-beam,
and tenoned into the beam above, grooved or rebated
to the posts,
pegged
ribs,
to
the
receive
panels.
The groined screen

this type, the
deep tracery being pierced
ribs of the groining,
which are fixed
tracery, breaking each

for strength
suffered
no
of Barking, Figs,
bay into a
and decoration.
much
The
mutilation, but
in
and in, shows an early development
of
arcaded form and stiffened by the inner

Mullions are inserted to support the
to the posts.
triple light, small
beads being pegged to both faces
and the carving has

not vaulted, exhibits some
delicate carved ogees are missing
the
east
side,
which
is
upon the entrance arch, which is

decorated with crockets, in quaint bird form, and is full of that whimsical creation
in which the mediaeval woodworker delighted.
Fig. in shows the vaulted side
and
beautiful carving in the spandrels,
of
the
screen,
construction
its
of the
and the mortise
ribs,
former rood-loft
especially
now
these
by a modern
cresting.
The
vaulting can be seen, where the panels are missing from the
in
the stone arch, which can be seen on the
the position of an earlier rood-beam, of
when
replaced
beams were
fixed
across
a date
prior to
left,
may
indicate
that of the screen
itself,
chancels without lofts or screens below (see
Fig. 149).
The decorative painting
of these fifteenth-century screens varies considerably in
different localities, not only in quality, but also in type.
made between
general distinction
may
be
The East Anglian screens are distinand delicacy and refinement of proportions in
those of the East and the West.
guished by their lightness of structure,
They are more lofty than those of the Westcountry, and in design and treatment are more restrained. The lofts, where they exist,
are narrower than those of the West.
The painting, as a rule, is exceedingly rich in
tracery, cusping,
and similar
details.
quality and detail, a lavish use being

the vaultings and the mouldings at
123 to 127).
made
of little blossoms in gold
Ranworth
strong sense of general colour

147
(Figs. 112 to 118)

is
also preserved,
and
colour, as in
and Bramfield
(Figs.
which prevails over
and Woodwork
Fig.
TAWSTOCK,
N.
DEVON, THE GALLERY.
Length 16
l'.arlv
the entire
harmony.
Thus Ludham,
153.
ft.
in.
sixteenth centurv.
Figs. 130
and
131, has red as the principal note,
whereas at Bramfield blue predominates, in each instance relieved with gold.

of heraldic colouring, of
The use
metal on colour, or colour on metal,
is
HOLBETON, DEVON, SCREEN.

148
rule
usually rigidly observed.
of gilded gesso with tiny patternings of geometrical or free form,
Fig. 154.
The
is
the chief
Gothic JVoodvcork
^.-V
SHRE&ft^
"**
$&&&&&&
te
Fig. 155.
HOLBETON, DEVON, DETAIL OF BRESSUMMER.

of
characteristic
and
a
122,
ground
or
the finer examples,
Yaxley, Figs.
for
the
painted
moulding members, or
at
devices,
or
Bramfield,
as
of the buttresses, as at
the
actual
Southwold.
MM.
if
,#***-
&-#
Southwold, Figs,
ng, 121
This gesso ornament was used, both
128 and 129.
*$*$
i'Mi
as
decoration
of
fillets
as
and
H roodwork
Si
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Gothic
At Ranvvorth, a small Norfolk
is
probably the
finest in

village at the
East Anglia.
It is of
head
of
Ranworth Broad, the screen
the late fifteenth century, of delicate
proportions, and extends across the chancel in the form of eight bays, the opening of
Beyond the screen are retables on

below, and projecting into the nave are
the chancel being contrived in the central two.
the north and south, with subsidiary altars
parclose screens with flying buttresses, Figs. 117 and 118, which shield the parochial
altars.
of
The groining
to the loft, Fig. 116,
was formerly
in the
form
of a
which the outer members have disappeared, together with the
groining seen in the illustration continued
downwards
in
double vault,
loft
itself.
The
pendentive form, then sprang
upwards and outwards to the loft-beam. The mutilation has been partially masked
by the modern cornice. Originally the effect of this double vault must have been unique
The parclose screens are of panelled framing, the principal
in its rich decorative effect.
The outer sconce-posts are braced to

buttresses, one of which is shown in Fig. 118.
posts assisting in the support of the loft-beam.
those behind by richly decorated flying
1U
Fig. 158.
LAVENHAM, SUFFOLK, THE OXFORD PEW.

15'
Mr. C.
J.
Abbott, Photo.
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Gothic
Woodwork and Colour
Fig. 160.
UFFORD, SUFFOLK, THE FONT COVER.

'S3
Decoration
U roodwork
and
The double groining was supby the insertion of an

ported
bressummer or
intermediate
in
the
of
floor
the
original effect of
its
double-
the
the
chancel,
complete with their
retables
tabernacled
cately
screen, with
this
before
vaulting
The
loft.
pendentive
painted
joist
niches,
deli-
pierced
cusped arches, and decorated vaulting above, the whole surmounted

rood-loft
by a
of
must
of
design,
of
extreme
richness
equal
The
beauty.
figure
the whole
paintings upon
one
been
have
the
of
charm
screen are of wonderful
of
colour and spirituality of drawing.
They appear
have been painted
to
tempera upon a gesso ground.

The figures upon the North wing,
in
Fig. 114 (Retable to the

St.
John), are St. Etheldreda, St.

of
Mary
St.
upheld by an angel on
lower
representations
apostles,
Gothic
each.
UFFORD FONT COVER, DETAIL.

154
in
their
the
devices.
floral
the
of
screen
the
following
names
characters
the
in
panels
central, portion of
Fig. 161.
to
of
the
with
form
the
in
is
panel painted with

In
and
Agnes
The background
Barbara.
dossal,
St.
Egypt,
each figure
m^ffitfc-.-.;;::.-,;.
Chapel of
are
twelve
order,
written
in
accompanying
Gothic JJ oodwork arid Colour Decoration
Fig. 162.
UFFORD. SUFFOLK, THE PAINTED ROOF.
'Sancte Symon (emblem: a fish).

Sancte Thoma (emblem spear).
St.
North
Bartholomee Sancte
side
of doorway.
(knife
and book).
Sancte Iacobe
(pilgrim's staff
Sancte Andea
(cross
Petre
and book).
and pouch
(keys and book).
Here
is
the
Chancel opening
Sce Paule (sword and book).

Sce Johes (chalice and dragon).
o
Sce Philippe (basket
Sce Jacobe
Sce Jude
co
at his girdle)
(fuller's
of loaves).
club).
(boat).
Sce Matthee (sword).

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156
Gothic IVoodwork.
The
retable to the South Altar, Fig. 115 (Chapel of our Lady), depicts saintly
motherhood.
Child, St.
Salome with SS. James and John, the Virgin Mary with the Holy
Mary Cleophas with her four sons, James, Joses, Simon and Jude, and St.
Margaret,
all
St.
with angels above supporting flowered dossals.
On
the parclose screens
the outer sides are painted with saints and fathers, the two most masterly paintings
being St. Michael on the South, Fig. 117, and
The
St.
George on the North.
detail of the paintings of the twelve apostles, six of
113, are both choice
dark brown and red.
and
The under robes
curious.
The patterning
of these robes
which are shown
are gilded
is
and outlined
in Fig.
in black,
an instance of the love of the
early painters for quaint conceits in the introduction of figures of beasts or birds into
their floral or conventional
St.
Simon on the extreme
diaper patterns.
An example
ornament.
left.
The small
The backgrounds
of this can
be seen in the robe of
are of dark green
and
red,
with
flowers introduced everywhere, on the mouldings
floral
and the
panels of the vaulting, are faithful representations of the wild blossoms of the locality.
Though sadly mutilated, the screen
at
Southwold, Fig. 119, presents, even in
its
present condition, a good example of the refined design and skilful construction of the
mediaeval woodworker, and the taste in painted decoration and gesso work of the
artist craftsman.
shows, also, the high level to which these arts attained in the late
It
fifteenth century.
It
extends the whole width of the Church at the
nave arcade, forming chapels to the North and South

from the chancel by elaborate canopied parclose screens
The portion spanning the nave
aisles,
of
first
column
of the
these being partitioned
which one
is
shown
in Fig.
somewhat higher than that of the aisles, and is

of very graceful proportions, the detail of the base panelling, and applied mullions
ornamented with diagonal pinnacles, richly moulded and capped, being extremely fine.
120.
The groining
of the destroyed loft, judging
the pierced vaultings with their

at
Ranworth.
screen,
is
The fragment
by the delicate beauty of the fragments of

carved finials, was probably of similar form to that
of the groining,
undoubtedly formed part
which
of the loft front,
is still
attached to the head of the
which was evidently designed with
a series of vaulted niches, probably decorated with
floral forms,
and the panels with
figures of saints.
The decoration
which, though
still
of the chancel screen
is
much
of great beauty, are less ornate,
whole of the wainscotting, Figs. 121 and 122,

a fine spirit and sense of decoration.
richer than in those of the aisles,
and comparatively quiet
is filled
in tone.
The
with painted figures, drawn with
Those on the principal part of the screen, repre-
senting the twelve apostles, are painted against a dado of beautifully modelled and gilt
iS7

gesso diapers,
the
little
and diamond
The
cresting
oodwork
fruit
in
an
alternate panels.
in
the
to
patterns [being
formed of the vine leaf and

Ogee
Jf
dado consists
forms'
delicate
traceried
designs.
The colouring
of
of
of
varying
the panelled
and pierced base is a combination of red,

blue, green and gold, arranged in beautiful
and harmonious counterchange, a figure
having a green or blue robe being against
an
upper
versa
blue
(e.g.
background
St.
Philip has
background
behind
of
behind
tracery above
red and vice

a red
cloak,
nimbus,
and red
at
red
the
Fig. 166.
ST.
PETER MANCROFT, NORWICH, FONT COVER.

The next panel is occupied by St.

Matthew who wears a purple robe, with
base.
red behind the nimbus, dark blue behind

the tracery above, and blue at the base).
The
gold
in the
same manner
are painted
and
under-robes
as
of
the
at
figures,
Ran worth,
with rich designs in black
red, after the style of the elaborate
fabrics
robes
of
are
the
period.
embroidered
These coloured
with
patterned
borders and are finished with decorated
and gold and jewelled

The paintings, as far
collars
Fig. 167.
ascertained
SWIMBRIDGE, DEVON, FONT COVER.
in
their
are as follows :

i
si
clasps.
as
can
be
defaced condition,
Gothic
North Side (Fig. 121.)

i.
St. Philip, cross, staff
z.
St.
Matthew holding
3.
St.
James the
and basket
of loaves.
a sword.
Less, holding a club.

(Fig. 122.)
St.
James the Less repeated
4.
St.
Thomas, holding spear and book.
5.
St.
Andrew, with cross
in this illustration.
(saltire)
and book.
(The Mils/rations do not show the following.)

6.
St.
Peter with keys.

Chancel Opening
8
9
10
ii
12
->
St.
Paul, with sword and book.
St.
John, holding chalice with dragon issuing from
St.
James the Great, with
St.
Bartholomew, with knife and book.
St.
Jude, boat in
St.
Simon, spear and oar.

On
left
hand
5:
it.
staff.
in right,
N.
the Screen across the
compass and square.
aisle.
THE HEAVENLY HIERARCHY.

On
/he Screen across the S. aisle.
David, Amos, Isaiah, Jonah, Ezekiel, Moses, Elias,

Jeremiah,
Of the enrichments
much
again
in evidence,
Xahum, Hosea, Baruch.

of
Fig. 168.
the mouldings the wave-design
is
showing gold stencilled flowers on the
black or dark green undulations, and the wild pink rose on the
white.
barber 's-pole pattern
black, a red
member with
with a twisted
gilt
little
in a
MICHAEL -AT -PLEA,

NORWICH, THE POSTREFORMATION TYPE
OF FONT COVER.
ST.
running chequer of red and
flower at intervals in gold, and a gold bead decorated
gesso pattern, are
all
introduced with beautiful
effect.
In the hollows
surrounding the panels, on the sides of the buttresses, and running up the tracery, as at
Ranworth, are
little
flower-forms upon a white ground
blue with
warm brown and
pink with green leaves, suggestive of the blue cornflower and the wild dog-rose, so
abundant
in the fields
L p the
remains
of
and hedgerows
faces of the buttresses,
Gothic
forms,
of the Eastern Counties.
which are richly encrusted with gesso, are the
representations
59
of
cusped
and
traceried
niches
with

minute
in
black
their
small
painted
figures
"windows," some with
upon
gold,
pieces of
and
work
tabernacle
also
even
remaining amongst the rich
glass still
patterning.
of
The following extract from Dowsing's Journal, a.d. 1643, gives a

the destruction which took place in this fine East Anglian Church.
"
Andrew and
St.
pictures.
orders to take
down
down
four crosses on the four corners of the vestry
the cover of the font."
and
to take
of vaulted screens,
It
was
angels,
is
perhaps that at Bramfield, Figs. 123 to
originally designed with parochial altars to
Ran worth, but
the two bays at the north and south as at

the destroyed rood-loft there
down twenty
and gave
and to take
;
one of the best preserved.
is
account
brake down one hundred and thirty superstitious
thirteen cherubims,
Of beautiful examples
127,
We
Southwold, April the 8th.
terse
no pictorial record, but
these have disappeared.
this
must have been
Of
of elegant
pendentive design and exquisite proportions, and was probably enriched with paintings.
The screen consists of ten bays, its mullions springing into a beautiful heme vaulting,
and forming cruciform panels elaborately cusped. The predominating tone is

The little flowers painted in sprays along
blue, relieved with white and gold.
Fig. 126,
a rich
the mouldings and groining are exquisite in drawing and

of the vaulting
is
drawn
delicately
full of life,
and
in
each panel
upon the blue background, a tiny angel in gold, with detail

Of the lower portion of the screen, the mouldings of the
black.
depicted,
in
transom, Fig. 127, are especially
rich,
and
are encrusted with fine gilt gesso decoration,
forms upon dark red and white grounds, and a pattern of

The buttresses to the mullions are also adorned with
g3ld fleurs-de-lys on blue.
The panels of the wainscotting have
beautiful tracery pattern in gold gesso.
painted with dainty
floral
places from purposed defacement,
but
suffered
in
and
Mary, with their rich gesso background,
St.
show
of
the
the
fine
saints
On
quality of the painting.

are
crockettings, the hollows red
and blue
in
which are
in
fair
Evangelists
preservation,
a dado behind the figures, the
The tracery
decoratively inscribed.
the
the figures of
is
gilt
alternate bays, and
on
its
names
fillets
and
ornamented with tiny
gilt flowers.
Of the saints pictured on the panels, such
as are
still
recognisable are given on
page 162.
1
The
significance of this will be noted later in this chapter.
160
Gothic Jlroodwork

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161
Early English Furniture and llôodwork

Bramfield Screen.
North Si ilc.
?
(Effaced).
(Effaced).
St.
Mark.
St.
Matthew.
'hancel opening.
S
PI
South Side.
St.
Luke.
St.
John.
St.
Mary Magdalene.
H
2
(Effaced).
That Bramfield Church was most

decorated in
lavishly
no
doubt,
colour there
is
and another extract from
Dowsing's Journal of 1643, shows the
havoc wrought by Puritan vandals.

"
Twenty-four
and
one
crucifix,
superstitious pictures,
picture of Christ and twelve angels on
April
1643.
7th,
the roof (rood), and divers Jesus's in

capital letters (IHS) and the steps of
the Altars to be levelled
Brook."
At
by
Sir
Robert
Yaxley,
Figs.
128
and
129,
the destroyed loft-vaulting reveals the

screen having
been
construction,
this
originally of
the double-sided groined
The tracery has lost its ogees,

niche bases and canopies, but some
type.
idea of the wealth of ornament which
existed
head
the
Fig. 171.
KENTON, DEVON, PULPIT.
may be gained from the elaborate
to the
opening and the tracery of
wainscotting
panel from the

Mr. Iredk. Sumner, Photo.
162
left,
below.
Fig. 129,
The
shows the
"
Suckling,
third
History of Suffolk."
Gothic
Fig. 172.
KENTON, DEVON, DETAIL OF PULPIT.

Mr. Fredk. Sumner. Photo.
only remaining ogee which possesses the original rich applied crocketting.
screen has suffered so severely,
much
of its painted
and
gilt
Although
decoration clings to
it.
this
The
buttresses which exist
upon some of the mullions still show traces of having been once
richly ornamented. The gilt gesso dados behind the figures in the panels are reminiscent of
Southwold and Bramfield, as is also the delicate treatment of the little sprays of flowers
in the
wavy
refined taste, in
there
is
sufficient
figure of St.
The painting of the figure subjects shows

drawing and pattern enrichment, and in spite of much obliteration,
of the work remaining to enable one to appreciate its fine spirit. The
design upon the mouldings.
Mary Magdalene
is
shown here
in
an embroidered and scalloped stomacher
she holds a richly adorned pot of ointment in one hand, while with the other she clasps
the jewelled
Dorothy and
lid.
The other
figures
on the panels are SS. Ursula, Catherine, Barbara,
Cecilia.
163

At Ludham,
in
Norfolk, Fig. 130, the screen (dated 1493)
is
of fine design, rich in
and aglow with gold and colour. It has, in common with all these East Anglian
The cill is almost entirely perished, and
screens, suffered from ill-usage and neglect.
detail,
the vaulted loft
is
i)\ feet in height,
is
rich cusping.
structure, measuring about 15^ feet across
and nearly
divided into eight equally spaced bays, the chancel opening being,
formed of two of
as usual,
The
missing.
The tracery
these.
The mullions
are supported
composed
by pierced
of simple crocketted ogees
and
buttresses enriched with recessed
of the tracery in the wainscotting of the screen
The carving
panels delicately cusped.
is
and workmanship, but unfortunately the ornament and crocketting

on the ogee-pinnacled canopies of the panels have disappeared, together with the finials
is
of fine design
of the intermediate buttresses.
The
They
figures are
extremely decorative
are represented in dignified
The
grace and charm.
in composition, finely
and natural
names
inscriptions of the
and from
lettering are at the base of each panel,
and yet
positions,
drawn and coloured.

the mediaeval
full of
of the saints in decorative black
left to right are
represented SS.
Mary
Magdalene, Stephen and Edmund, then follows Henry VI, succeeded by four fathers
of the Church, SS.
Jerome, Ambrose, Augustine and Gregory, and SS. Edward the
Confessor, Walstan, Lawrence and Apollonia
behind the traceried heads of the panels
below
is
is
The background
the remaining spaces.
fill
painted in blue with gold decoration, while
The general impression given by the

In the beautiful
effect of red and gold.
a patterning of red and green alternately.
glorious colour-scheme of the whole

foliated motif of the running leaf
"
made
which ends,
a rich
is
which decorates the moulded transom
in the yere of
ower Lord God
is
an inscription
MCCCCLXXXXIII."
are, as
a rule, not so lofty as those of East Anglia, and
the proportions are generally heavier.
Carving details are usually very elaborate with
infinite variety in the use of vine-trails
and other Gothic ornaments
The West-country screens
and vaultings, as at Atherington, Figs. 132 to

its canopied and vaulted rood-loft practically
century
is
This
135.
Fig. 132.
The
influence of the Renaissance
Gothic details persist for
many
was
felt
a magnificent screen, with
The presence
intact.
evident in the Renaissance ornament which
is
fills
it is
very early in Devonshire, although
years in clerical woodwork.
recognisable in an unmistakable
the Norfolk or Suffolk work
come from
is
lacking.
of the sixteenth
the spandrels of the vaulting,
influence from other counties to be found in this Devonshire
but the fact that
in frames, cornices
There
is
curiously
woodwork.
way shows
Thus the two screen doors,
little
It is rich,
that the variety of
Fig. 136, said to
have
a former Bishop's Palace at Exeter, but, obviously, belonging to a church

164
Gothic
screen, do not need
work.
any reference
comparison of
show almost an
skill of
two examples.
Devonshire
as
it
usual to describe the
advances
in intricacy,
the highest order can be seen in the gorgeous bressummers with their
Coldridge, Fig. 143, Lapford, Fig. 145,

time, the tendency towards
The creation
It is
certainly loses in dignity as
it
bewildering wealth of carving, as at Atherington, Fig.
same
stamp them
with the Atherington screen, Fig. 133, will
this illustration
and
arid Colour Decoration
to a place of origin to
identity of design in the
later Gothic as depraved,
but technical
Woodwork
and Swimbridge,
monotony,
Chulmleigh, Fig.
Figs. 149
in these richly carved
work must have been
of this elaborate
134,
and
beams,
restricted to a very
150.
will
142,
At the
be noticed.
narrow
locality
Apart from their almost barbaric splendour,

these screens frequently impress by their enormous size. At Bovey Tracey, Fig. 138,
probably in the neighbourhood of Exeter.
Halberton, Fig. 139, Chulmleigh, Fig. 140, Lapford, Fig. 144, Swimbridge, Fig. 147,
and elsewhere, they stretch across

the whole width of nave and
aisles.
In lofts enriched with tabernacle or
niched
as
work,
at
Atherington,
Fig. 135, these Devonshire screens
must
have
been
rich,
especially
although only a few have survived.
Atherington
is
elaborate
very
example, richly carved on both east
and west
is,
by
far,
sides,
the most ornate.
Among
examples
Pilton,
although the latter
is
Fig.
the
less
pretentious
the parclose screen at

137,
same resemblance
again
in
with
the
the
circular-
headed tracery to Fig. 136.
This
is
the arch-headed type of the West, in
square framings with foliated spandrels in the corners.
The painted decoration

Western screens
in technique
is
than
of the
usually broader
in
those of the
Fig. 173.
SOUTH BURLINGHAM, NORFOLK, DECORATED PULPIT.
East, the figures executed with less
165

Some border on
attention to small detail.
oodwork
the crude, but in others, as at Ashton,
and Bradninch, Fig. 109, the draughtsmanship and

much more powerful, and such figures as are depicted in the costume
Ugborough, Chudleigh,
execution
Jf
is
Fig.
108,
of their time arc particularly interesting.
At
Bovey Tracey,
Fig.
and Halberton,
138,
across the church, passing under the
Halberton there are
was
little
a favourite device in
Devonshire churches, and
how much
have been marred by the removal
is
it
The stonemason
of these
tradition
their intersections
this tracery
and
is
solid
and reaches from the
earlier,
148,
fine
Devonshire screens
is
ever,
if
if
differ greatly
and pierced with tracery

ornament
is
This
found elsewhere.
striking.
from those
present.
heme
ribs,
At Coldridge,
in the panels.
is still
its
East Anglia.
of
At Lapford,
bossed
Fig. 143,
Figs. 144, 145
introduced into these groined spandrels in similar

This screen
is
planted clear from the
aisle
columns,
wall of the north aisle to that of the south in the Devonshire
Swimbridge, close by, has a very similar screen, although possibly somewhat
but on the evidence of such details as the seaweed ornament of
have been designed by the same hands. Unfortunately,

screens have been locally, and very ignorantly restored. Halberton
it
At
At Chulmleigh, for example,

the loft front was elaborately
very pronounced in Fig. 142, with
to those at Atherington.
manner.
rarely,
of their rood-lofts.
but the feeling of stone
146, Renaissance
manner
the aisle columns.
would have been, must have been exceedingly
The vaultings
on
mask
aisles.
appearance of these great screens must
of the
Fig. 140, the effect of this additional height, especially
carved, as
139, the screens stretch right
arches of the north and south
tabernacled shrines which
to imagine
It is difficult
first
Fig.
may
easily
its
base, Fig.
many
is
of these
an instance
of this, with the result of an incongruous jumble of parts patched together.
That these
is
rich screens were further elaborated with colours, in their original state,
unquestionable.
Greens and reds appear to have been largely used, but gold,
amount, was exceptional.
Devonshire was not a rich county
in
any
compared with Norfolk and Suffolk, and the decoration of the rood-screen in the parish
church was usually maintained by gifts of money from the charitable or the devout,
usually in the form of bequests.
East Anglian screens,
The Renaissance
is
much
the
same way
this reason, gold,
which
is
so general in
so infrequent in those of Devonshire.
of Italy intrudes itself into
of the sixteenth century, but in a
In
Probably for
manner somewhat
as with a parasitic
Church woodwork
different
from
growth on a noble
tree,
its
secular introduction.
which gains
until the tree eventually perishes, so the Renaissance

grafts itself
166
in the first years
in strength
on the Gothic, and
Woodwork and Colour Dtxoration
Gothic
in the panels of
of the tracery,
begins with motives, introduced sparingly and with taste, as
It
it.
submerges
finally
the Atheringcon vaulting, but later
which
the tracery
In
In this later
151.
and twisted.
spiral-fluted
work the
At Brushford,
earlier
in
turned shafts
Somerset, Fig. 152,
cut from the solid and merely dowelled on to the spiral-turned shafts.
is
screen
this
now
begins to debase the character
former logical basis of design and degenerates into meaning-
loses its
less patterns, as at Coldridge, Fig.
recur, but these are
it
the
the
debasing of
tracery
The
forms can be noticed very clearly.
solid
panels of the base have the linen-fold pattern,
which
such a sure indication of the sixteenth
is
century.
some
In
sance
instances, however, the Renais-
used with discretion and taste.
is
In
the gallery at Tawstock, Fig. 153, for example,
the ornament has

vine-trails
154 to
work
the Gothic character in
and grapes, and
156, the
of
still
at Holbeton, Figs.
with carved
filled
is
tracery
richness,
extraordinary
Gothic
in
character but used in a Renaissance manner.
The ornament
of the
beam, Fig. 155, as a
foil, is
pure Renaissance, yet the association of the
two does not appear to be incongruous, and

the effect of the whole screen is extremely
Such experiments, however, were fatal
the Gothic as an ecclesiastical style, the
rich.
to
greater in proportion to their success.
This
final
phase of the Gothic produced
some very noteworthy
results,
spite of the
the
ditions.
157,
decline
of
The Spring Pew
and the Oxford Pew
at
in
however,
former
fine
tra-
Lavenham,
Fig.
in the
same Church,
Fig. 158, are of this late style, but the flair for
the Gothic
is
Fig. 174.
not extinguished so soon in East

E.
Anglia as in the West.
and a lack
There
is
a loss in meaning
of appreciation of material, however,

167
DOWN, DEVON, FONT PEDESTAL.

Sixteenth century.

even more evident
Spring Pew than
in the
of
unmistakably of stone
w< od.
Even
struction.
when accompanied by an absence
If
logical.
it
Unfortunately,
strength, but
wood, and
An
if
it
it
of refinement in his details
appear inadequate neither the eye nor the mind
will
wholly satisfactory
from timber.
century which
too
it is
much
the Gothic
It is
both
fulfils best,
its
appearance
is
just
and con-
woodwork
artistic
does not really possess.
This
will
be
wood.
many
Tracery
is
is,
absence of their
lofts.
superimposed mass,
of the screens,
The screens which we have
is
The
result
now
is
useless.
In
the
The same may be said of the Oxford Pew,

nothing and where Renaissance ornament
The vast expanse
wood by overpowering
marred by the
lofts
is
not a defect
is
and mutilated the

is
mere tortured
of a
artistic
vaulting which
filigree
work.
masquerade as tracery.
superabundant ornament in stone or
employed
of a Cathedral carries off

it
not woodwork
about the same date, where posts support
of
is
it is
must suggest the carrying
Spring Pew, there
nothing and never has, and tracery which
which
perhaps, one of the most
That, however,
but of the vandals who broke down their
which they formerly possessed.
a style which
It is
just considered are
that vaulting which
inoperative and
made
fifteenth
cases, a suggestion of construction
Lavenham Spring Pew
not
is
only pierced fretwork,
ornate expressions of the later Gothic, yet one has the feeling that
but confectionery.
Similarly,
and early
and constructional demands.
in
to look
it
false to the eye.
of the late fourteenth
The
satisfied.
is
stonework, which has, by accident, been
like
it offers,
be of ample
massive dignity and even grandeur,
its
easily, especially in
but when cut by the carver
may
Construct a bridge of steel and grain
appear unsafe, and
can become debased very
carries
It is
a sturdy vigour in his
whether of wood or stone
erection,
the early Gothic woodwork, apart from
effect
constructed.
no
rare to find an artistic tendency stopping short at the
is
material must also be equally frank.
it
is
is
proportions become refined, they do not rest until they reach such a stage of
fragility as to be inartistic.
like
is
There
date.
the earlier examples, where the woodworker
in
emancipating himself from the stonemason's traditions, there

conceptions, even
same
hich the early fifteenth-century Gothic
doubt as to the material
\\
other work of the
in
by sheer height and
size.
It
to
becomes mere lacework
in
com-
and one does not expect lace to possess constructional stability, such as will
eye and mind. Thus at Chester the stall canopies possess a delicacy in com-
parison,
satisfy
parison with the size of the choir

faults
even were they present.
itself
which would atone
for
many
constructional
At Westminster, on the other hand, the
purely that of the work of a pastry cook rather than of a woodworker.
worth while to turn back
to the
grand
stall
168
It
effect
is
may
be
canopies of Winchester, Fig. 93, and to
Gothic Jf oodwork arid Colour Decoration

compare them with those of Westminster Abbey, Fig. 159. The
and should not have been done,
ful, as examples of what was
In offering a criticism of
much
of this
examples of the
This
originally existed.
works as the great font cover

later Gothic
wooden
of Ufford, Figs. 160
woodwork
font covers
in
is
made
amazing intricacy of pinnacles and niches,

is
is
it
of the
most remarkable
at this period.
it
It is
octagonal on plan,
rich carving of vaulted base
a magnificent production of the fifteenth-century woodworker.
lost its decorative
gilding
England, and certainly the largest and the
and with
cornice,
painting and has been
much
must have been a superb ornament
shown, in better
later
for the absence of the gilding
and 161 one
of the
and
wood.
very necessary in the case of such
most ornate
its
in
wonder-
abnormally delicate woodwork of the
must be made
fifteenth century, considerable allowance
and colouring where such
latter are truly
restored.
With
to the churck.
detail, in Fig. 162.
its original
The painted
It
colour and
roof above
>
b**S >-**
Fig. 175.
WARKLEIGH, DEVON, RENAISSANCE SCREEN.

169
has
it
and Woodwork
Eiir/y English Furniture

Decoration
colours and gold must have been a necessary part of a font cover such
in
Constructed of wood, visible as such to the eye at a moment's glance,
as this.
The
to be impossibly fragile.
Constructed of metal,
In wood, painted
and
fact that
this delicacy
gilded,
is
it
of
ornament would be
even although such covering wrre somewhat
The painting
sham.
above
of the roof
is
in the
symbol
Later chapter, in the panel of a pulpit in
Niches are provided
in
each
tier,
nature of a deception
exist,
two have remnants
an
at its apex,
Redemption, which we
Aldington Church
artistic
in
from an
shall see in a
Kent.
the lower series intended to hold the effigies of
The cover has been scraped and scoured
until the merest vestiges of it& original colouring remain,
which
of strength in its parts,
The cover depends,
of the
but these have disappeared, long since.
saints,
justified to the observer.
merely decorative; applied to harmonise the
timbers with the font cover suspended below.

effigy of the heraldic pelicarf' the
appears
telescopic further intensifies this impression.
would acquire an appearance
it
it
but of the four original panels
of the free floral designs in colour
have been applied to the entire cover.
and gold which must
In the upper portions of these panels are the
remains of gilded gesso backgrounds, patterned with incised and dotted diapers.
dado with a gold ground above, behind each effigy which formerly stood
niches, must have made a rich and effective setting to the figures.
floral
The second and
The
in the
third tiers of these tabernacles also exhibit evidences of having con-
The backgrounds of the lower series are in blue and red counterthe upper tier red and green is used
the red being above the blue of the
tained images, originally.
change
lower
in
All the canopies to these niches were groined in gold with panels of blue
series.
and with
flowers in the centre.
little gilt
The
buttresses, pinnacles, tracery
and other
tabernacle-work were in gold ground with decoration of white, green and red.
pelican
was
in blue
and gold with traces
which must have made

its
this Ufford
of black
and white.
Of
The
this original colouring,
font cover such an exceptional example, even of
time, only the merest indications remain.
The font has always been an object 'of importance and reverence
of the Christian religion.
are not
unknown,
as, for
in the history
Constructed of stone, in nearly every case (although lead fonts
example, the one
in
Brookland Church
in Kent),
many have
Saxon times, and possibly from still earlier periods. The covers, where such
were usually made from wood, and have nearly all perished, either with time, or
persisted from
existed,
at the hands of iconoclasts. 1
authorised, and there are

1
At no
period, however,
was the destruction
of font covers
numerous ordinances from Bishops ordering them
See Dowsing's Journal in relation to the destruction at Bramfield.
170
to be safe-
Gothic
guarded and provided with locks or similar security. The cover, to protect the font
containing the holy water, was almost of as great an importance as the font itself.
These covers vary,
in different
churches and
Ufford to the mere disc of wood.
So
be subsequent replacements, and
it
districts,
many have
is
from the elaborate example
at
perished, however, that the latter
may
possible that each parish church, originally,
was
The usual form was pyramidal,

which developed by the addition of a deep moulded or
provided with a font cover of some degree of elaboration.

with moulded ribs at the angles,
From this
carved base.
ribs, as at
stage the font cover evolved
Ashbocking, Fig. 163, and Pilton, Fig.
of the cover
by the addition of crocketting to the

The next stage was the deepening
164.
below the pyramid and the introduction
of pinnacles
and traceried panels,
as at Barking, Fig. 165, finally culminating in magnificent covers such as at Ufford.
The
later
development
corners, as at St. Peter Mancroft, Fig.
The lower
stag",
canopy supported on posts at the

166, instead of being suspended from the roof.
of the font cover
which forms the fon"
lid,
is
telescopes into the dome.
Fig. 176.
CARTMEL PRIORY,
LANCS., STALL CANOPIES.
Unfortunately,

the dome with its niches are restoracanopy are original
the same county, is another example of this kind, unrestored but
only the posts and the
At Trunch
tion.
in
flat
very incomplete.
At Swimbridge, Fig.
as
there
r.67,
an octagonal-framed casing
the font
The ornament
itself.
is
different
to the font,
is
development, the cover being formed
with doors above which open, for access to
manner, which indicates
well carved, in the Renaissance
the early years of the sixteenth century.

In St. Michael-at-Plea
is
the
little classical
cover, Fig. 168, showing the decline in
and importance which occurred after the Reformation.

complete departure from the Gothic traditions at this date.
It
size
It is possible
font originally possessed a rich cover, which has disappeared
refer to this font either
sitting
on the steps below
(1745)
is
curious,
without a cover, or with one of a totally different
fashion, although "sitting on the font" (eight persons, be
meant
that this stone
and been replaced by the
The following extract from Bloomfield's History of Norfolk
present one.
and must
demonstrates, also, the
it
remembered) must have
In any case the present cover could not have existed.
it.
Alderman Thomas Bewfield was buried by the font in the Church of

St. Michael-at-Plea, Norwich, and founded a mass for eight years, every working day
at 8 o'clock in the morning, and his executors were to find eight poor men and women
'
1504.
daily to attend
to
it
and
sit
on the font and pray for his and his friends' souls, and each
have fourpence every Saturday.
Pulpits of the fifteenth century, of which comparatively few examples exist, were
generally polygonal on plan, and constructed of two curbs, an upper and a lower, formed
of several sections, tenoned or
"
"
fingered
together at points between the posts, and into
these the angle-posts were tenoned, with the panels inserted in grooves.
existed, these were
formed
of a post
tenoned to the
floor joist
Where stems
and braced by
ribs to the
The Western type as at Bovey Tracey and Cockington, Figs. 169 and 170, are
heavier in design and construction than those found in the Eastern counties, and are
curbs.
decorated with an abundance of carved foliage, vine-trails and niche-work.

ington, which
is
At Cock-
the later of the two, the balusters and foliated groined heads are applied
to the panels.
is
These Devonshire pulpits repeat the work of the screens in a great measure, which
to be expected, as in Bovey Tracey and Halberton, for example, the pulpits stand
immediately
in front of the screen
and are almost a part

172
of
it.
That these pulpits were
Gothic
Fig. 177.
CARTMEL PRIORY,
LANCS., CHOIR STALL CANOPIES, DETAIL.
173

originally painted in colours
and gold
-lour, but
of
this
may have
they
almost
is
.ill
much
been cast from
is
Bovey Tracey
unquestionable.
The niched
later date.
lost originals.
figures are in plaster,
Cockington pulpit
polygon on plan, but with
being a sept-sided
flat
and
panels,
At Kenton,
Figs. 171
boyant, but extremely
The painting has a
It is peculiar
being a painted
in
woodwork with
pulpit at a date subsequent to the fashion for the decoration of
and 172, the pulpit, of late-fifteenth-century work,
rich.
It is
coloured, which adds further to
definite significance here,
a stone pulpit copied in wood, and

colours, to complete its effect.
it
its
The enlarged
painting, either in
is
This
is,
flam-
in effect,
monochrome
shows
detail, Fig. 172,
colours.
ornate character.
beyond mere decoration.
demands
but
of the early
is later,
sixteenth century, with balusters and groined heads applied to the panels.
in
bright with
is
or in
this carved-stone
character very clearly.
The South Burlingham

of
pulpit, Fig. 173,
is
a very beautiful and complete example
The general effect is simple,

counterchange. The panels, with
East Anglian colour decoration of the fifteenth century.
The colours follow the heraldic system of

ogival tracery and crocketted pinnacles, are in red and
yet rich.
their
with sprigs of flowers in gold.

the cusping,
in red,
is
and on
on a green background,
central portion of the panel, immediately beneath
with a diapered pattern of the same gold flowers.
reversed in rotation, in their
gfld on red.
The
gilt
The panels are

colour-scheme, the next having crocketting in green and
painted ribbon threads behind the styles, just below the crocketting,
this are inscriptions in black letters,
with red
initials
and
foliated ornaments,
The mouldings, between the panels and the buttresses, are

decorated with a wavy design in red and white, with gold flowers on the red, and green
on the white bands, in one panel, and in the next the wave is green and white, with gold
on a ground of white.
and red
flowers.
The
in diaper patterns
cresting
The
is
above the
with tiny flowers.
The base has
in gold.
green.
buttresses,
first
recessing, are decorated with gilt gesso,
The spandrels and the
faces of all the tracery are
a white hollow, with green blossoms,
and mouldings
cornice has small gilt flowers in relief in the cavetto,
gilt.
This pulpit
is
remarkable as much for
its
in red
and
and the castellated
beauty as for
its
state of
preservation.
With
the introduction of the Renaissance into clerical
extinguishing of the Gothic, this chapter
may be
Examples of where the two

Atherington and Holbeton, more
often with detriment to the character of both, as at Brushford

It
remains only to consider,
in
final
concluded.
are assorted, sometimes with notably fine results, as at
been given.
woodwork and the
and Coldridge, have already

rapid review, some examples where the Gothic
174
Gothic
motives are comparatively negligible, and where the Renaissance has
charming gallery at Tawstock, Fig. 153, the Gothic is still present

ornament the string. The fine font pedestal at East Down, Fig.
is
full
sway. Thus
in the vine-trails
174,
with elaborate carvings
masked by ornate
Warkleigh, Fig. 175, has a
will
the West, a character which
Church woodwork,
same
period,
semi-balusters, very similar in style to the aisle-panellings in St.
be illustrated
suggestion of French influence,
Towards the
fine screen of the
its rich
upper panels, and the alternate muntins of those below
in the
Vincent at Rouen, which
date.
which
on the other hand,
pure Renaissance with the sumptuous carvirg of the West (unmistakable in
character) above the arches.
in the
is
if
in
There
a later chapter.
is
always a strong
not of actual origin, in this later Church woodwork
<
not nearly so evident in the secular work of the same
where adopted for

Cartmel Priory, Figs. 176
close of the sixteenth century the Renaissance,
much
loses
of this foreign element, as at
and
177,
how
the Italian style changes in development, in the hands of the Church woodworker,
where the
stall canopies,
superimposed on
in the early years of the seventeenth century.

in the vine-trails of the
There
stalls of
is
much
earlier date,
show
a strong concession to the Gothic
columns, but this became a favourite motive, even with secular
work, during the earlier years of the seventeenth century, especially in Lancashire and
Warwickshire. Examples will be found in the later pages of this volume.
Though
carried
beyond the proper scope
of this chapter,
which
with the Gothic, this incursion into the Renaissance period

only in bridging from the
the
way
for the chapters
last
may
is
concerned only
be of service,
phase of the Gothic to the later work, and
which are to
follow.
175
if
in preparing
Chapter VII.
Timber Houses, Porches and Doors.
F
the house built of framed oak, with spaces between the timbers filled
with brick
up
description
timber
"
is
nogging
to almost
woodwork
"
"
in
or plaster,
had not been peculiar to England
the end of the seventeenth century, the inclusion of

the
and
title
of this
illustration
book would have necessitated some
of the
timber house.
not only characteristically English in conception, but
variety in type and in abnormalities of timber growth, and at the

to the nature of the materials
"
Actually,
it
exhibits great
same
time, owing
employed, allows of rich embellishment in the
Fig. 178.
LAVENHAM, SUFFOLK.
The Wcolhall, East Front.
176
half-
way
of

moulding, carving and tracery, which the qualities of stone or brick forbid.
much
for the sturdy qualities of English
oak that so many examples
No
early as the thirteenth century, are with us to-day.
pilgrimage,
among even
of work,
It
says
some
as
one who has not made a diligent
tiny villages, especially in East Anglia, the Northern
Welsh
bordering counties, and in Somerset and Devon, and has not examined the interiors of
and apparently insignificant churches in remote England, can have any idea
the wealth and richness in timber and woodwork which remain, from the fourteenth,
small,
of
and sixteenth
fifteenth
England.
there
is
One
is
centuries, as priceless legacies
from the mediaeval carpenters
of
not only amazed at both the quantity and quality of such work
such abundance of evidence to show that
much
of
it
must have been executed
as a labour of love, good-fellowship, or of reverence for things sacred.
We know that
the
craftsmen of the one hamlet vied with those of neighbouring villages in making their
parish church a
monument
of beauty,
and
in
improving on existing examples, until
Fig. 179.
PAYCOCKES, COGGESHALL, ESSEX.

177
Noel Buxton, Esq.
Fig. 180.
LAVENHAM, SUFFOLK.
Houses at corner
of
Lady
Street
and Water
Street.
Mid-fifteenth centurv.
Fig. 181.
THE GUILD HALL, LAVENHAM.

Porch and projecting Bay.
Fig. 182.
THE GUILD HALL, LAVENHAM

Detail of Porch.
<
X
z
w
>
<
o
P<
CO
.
bo
J
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a -
S
I
d o
o
w
SB
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179

we
gel such
wold,
triumphs
of
the chancel screens at Bramfield, South-
skill as
woodworking
The task
Ludham, Ranworth, Atherington, Llananno and elsewhere.
carpenter and carver being completed, they gave

the panels with figures of saints,
adornment
of the
to the artists,
in turn, filled
who,
and who decorated each moulding-member with jewel-
and tiny Gothic patterns
like colours
way
of the
church was a task
which
in
"In those days the

men took a pride. Each gave what
and gilded
in raised
all
gesso.
he could, and the interiors were thus enriched with carved choir-stalls, stained glass
windows, tapestries, lamps and chalices of chased
ments and
and gilded and illuminated
altar-cloths of needlework,
Nowadays no price is too high
missals.
vest-
silver,
to
for
pay
such products of
fifteenth-century craftsmanship, and
whose
happy indeed is the collector

the Gothic has unearthed, in some unlikely corner,
flair for
a piece of
work
of the latteners, the luminers, the orfevers, the
tapisers, the verrours or the
Beside these evidences of love
of,
or reverence for the Church,
which inspired the mediaeval craftsmen to give of their

without reward, we
see, in
of that golden epoch."
ymagers
finest
timber houses of the elaborate East-
Anglian type, similar signs of work being done for the sake of
much
the community,
The
love.
chief point
of this period,
left to
nothing
is its
positions as in
sawn
which must have been a labour
of
which
conscientious character.
chance.
Joints are
work which
in the best
student of
strikes the
made
Nothing
manner, as described
scamped
as carefully in unseen
fully visible.
is
work
the
is
of
Even the wood
in the chapter
on
"
is
The
Early Woodworker," whether figure in the oak be desirable or

not,
simply from the knowledge that quartered oak
durable than that cut across the trunk or
economical manner.
century work,
was
the
first
where
When
it
has
paint
is
the obviously
removed from
fifteenth-
remained from the time when
it
completed, we find the ray figure in the wood, with

"
"
splash
darkened nearly to black by the action
This oak was never intended to be
lead.
log, in
more
is
left
bare
of the
yet
it is
Fig. 185.
OAK CORNER-POST.
7 ft. 3J ins. high,
15 ins. wide across cap.
prepared just as carefully as

figure of the
1
wood
if
the piece had to rely on the
for its decorative effect.
John Warrack, Introduction

180
to
"
The Cathedrals of Great Britain."
Fig. 186.
LAVENHAM GUILD HALL, BAY WINDOW.

About
i486.
Fig. 187.
HOUSE
IN
LAVENHAM, SUFFOLK.
Square Bay with Mullioned
Window and Entrance
Door.
Figs.
188 and 189.
ALSTON COURT, NAYLAND, SUFFOLK.

Bay Windows.

A. M. Fenn, Esq.
Figs. 19C, 191
and 192.
BOXFORD CHURCH, SUFFOLK.

Porch
ot
heavy timbers, with
interior vaulted
unique example in England.

above tie-beam missing, but mortise
ceiled;
collar-beam between trefoil of head.
Mid-fourteenth century.
'33
Saint's
still
and
niche
visible
in
SUFFOLK CHURCH PORCHES.
Fig.
193
Fig. 194.
LITTLE CLACTON
Early fifteenth century
Fig. 195.
RAYDON
ST.
MARY.
OFFTON-CUM-LITTLE-BRICETT
Mid-fifteenth centurv.
Fig. 196.
GREAT BLAKENHAM
Fig. 197.
GAINSBURGH HALL, LINCOLN.
THE GREAT HALL

2
185
.1
,7,
ti.|
LAVENHAM WOOLHALL. INTERIOH Of HALL.

See Fig. 66 showing this Hall in process of restqrat LanJ
width, 22 ft. 5 ins.'
Length, 26 ft. 2 ins.
;
Late fifteenth centurf.
186
1-
Fig. 199.
CARVED CEILING BEAMS FROM A HOUSE
WATER
IN
STREET, LAVENHAM.
some examples of rich half-timber houses, and porches

are shown.
They have been chosen from hundreds of examples,
In the following pages,
sacred and secular
each noteworthy in
its
way, but space considerations have forbidden more than a brief
Those
description of this fascinating branch of the woodworker's craft.
"
"
will be prepared for
Timber Roofs
read, and studied, the chapter on
is
to follow in this one.
especially
level
when
it
The timber
roof
is
really the
has collars without tie-beams.
downwards, with
The
upper story
vertical timbers
massive stone or jointed brick.
the timbers
is
much
and
is
The framed house
is
reinforced
a complete unit before any
even commenced.
That brick nogging

is 7
is
that
timber house,
from the eaves-
their horizontal plates, act as buttresses to resist the
thrust of a pitched roof, a task which, in the case of a church,
joists at the floor-levels,
of a
who have
outward
undertaken by walls of
by
filling of
its
floor-beams and
the cavities between
stiffens the
vertical studs
is
Fig. 200.
CARVED CEILING BEAMS FROM PAYCOCKES, COGGESHALL, ESSEX.

Noel Buxton, Esq.
unquestionable, but the timber house must be of ample strength and stability without
such
aid.
The examples shown, in this chapter, have been especially chosen for their richness.
They are, mainly, from two counties, Suffolk and Essex. They are intended to give
merely an outline of a vast subject. Timber houses vary not only at distinct periods,
but also in different localities. Local tree-growth had a good deal to do with their
development
in particular directions.
large
book could be written,
easily,
on the
subject of the English timber house, and then the available field would be, by no means,
exhausted.
The houses shown
in the
succeeding pages are exceptional, but they are

188
i&BEl
Fig. 201.
ENLARGED DETAIL OF
FIG. 200.
the decorative limits to which the
illustrated here with a set purpose, to illustrate
timber house attained.
With the timber house,

bay windows, and
unnecessary
remembered,
as necessary adjuncts,
examples of exterior porches, doors,
interior decorated beam-ceilings are given.
the illustrations are, for the most part,

also, that the
attempt
is
made
Lengthy descriptions are

It must be
self-explanatory.
here, in a single chapter, to outline, in a
sketchy manner, a subject which demands a far greater space than

book, for
its
proper elucidation.
logically or otherwise
use, in building, to
There
is,
therefore,
no attempt
is
possible in this
at order, chrono-
the illustrations are merely intended to show the decorative
which oak was put
in
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, in
England.
Fig.
178
is
the fine YVoolhall at
rigorously restored in 1913.
Lavenham,
The barge-boards
189
in
Suffolk,
are missing,
which was somewhat
and the projecting bay
Earl\ English Furniture arid Woodwork
Fig. 202.

Ceiling, iS
ft.
wide by 19
ft.
Beam, 14J
deep.
ins.
by
CEILING BEAMS.
11 ins.
Joists, 7 ins.
wide by
5 ins.
deep.
Noel Buxton, Esq.
windows on the
first floor
have been cut
in the zeal of its restorers.
some indication
of judicious restoration.
become
derelict.
richly carved
elaborate
East Anglia of the mid-fifteenth century.
It
it
was restored,
is
ceilings in this
is
much
better
Originally, a fine specimen of a wealthy weaver's
had been transformed into cottages, and allowed

a few years ago, and a considerable amount of
oak was discovered hidden behind
beamed
Fig. 180
however, Lavenham Woolhall remains as
as Paycockes, at Coggeshall in Essex, Fig. 179,
house of the late fifteenth century,

to
this,
of the half-timber building in
The house known

example
In spite of
Lavenham has been somewhat unfortunate
off.
plaster.
Further illustrations of the
house will be given later on in this chapter.
from Lavenham, old houses at the corner of Lady and Water Streets,
190
Fig. 203.
LAVENHAM GUILD HALL. THE MAIN HALL

32
ft.
by 17
ft.
Fig. 204.
LAVENHAM WOOLHALL, SOUTH WING.

iS
ft.
6 ins.
by 15
ft.
in.
CEILING BEAMS.
JWoodwork
Fig. 205.
OAK-BOARDED CEILING FROM A HOUSE AT LAVENHAM

E. Garrard, Esq.
here
shown
partially restored.
On
the ground floor, at the nearest corner in the illus-
tration, will be noticed the framings of old
Similar windows also existed
shop windows.
on the Water Street elevation, but they have been covered with
joist-ends,
on the
first floor
plaster.
The projecting
overhang, and their bracketted supports from the slender
wall posts, in buttress form, with carved capitals, should be noted here as exceptional
details,
although of the shafts only a vestige remains.
Two
and 182.
views of the projecting porch of

This
is
Lavenham Guild Hall
a rich example, although the original door
is
are
shown
missing.
in Figs. 181
The carving
and the niched corner-posts is exceedingly choice in secular work,

fifteenth century. The photographs were taken prior to the restoration
of the corner bracket
even for the late

of 1914,
when a number
of
new bay windows were added
improve the elevation of the
One
in a regrettable
endeavour to
fine old Hall.
of the corner-posts to the
Lavenham Woolhall,
192
together with
its
dragon-beam

and overhanging story-bracing
is
in
illustrated
Fig.
One
together with two of
184,
were added at the time
The corner-post of the Guild Hall

the modern bay windows which
given in Fig. 183.
is
of the
1914 restoration.
can be seen
of these mid-fifteenth-century corner-posts
enriched band
is
a Gothic head with crocketted central mullion and the tracery above
becomes shallower
as
it
off.
apex of the post.
rises to the
has supported a dragon-beam 9

has been cut
Below the
in Fig. 185.
Originally,
width.
ins. in
Viewed cornerwise
portion of the top of this post
sprang outward and upward, as
it
this post
in the
Lavenham Guild
Hall post, Fig. 184.
Lavenham Guild Hall was

Guilds of Corpus Christi.
At
erected in about the year i486 for one of the Cloth

the English woollen trade with the
this period
Low
weaving centres. The act of

Henry VIII, in debasing the English silver coinage, annihilated this trade, and Lavenham
remains to-day, a feeble shadow only of its former wealth and glory, the home of horse-
Countries was very large, and
Lavenham was one
Of
hair cloth-weaving, in itself a dying industry.

original
and
It
186.
this rich
bay windows remains,
It
shown
is
Guild Hall only one of the

'
"-'''.
badly restored
this is in a
state.
of the
in
Fig.
shows the transom
type, flanked with top lights.
The window-head is supported

by
"
false-tenons
overhanging
heavy
cill
the
into
floor joists.
The
wrought from
is
the solid, and
"
is
finely moulded
*~^
!
and carved.
Fig.
corbelled
house
in
187
shows
window
Lavenham,
from
of
a
a
the
mullioned type, with carved
transom and
cill.
square on plan,
The bay is
and without
<-

domestic fashion of the
last
half of the sixteenth century.
Here, as in Fig. i8o, the
brackets from the joist-ends on either side of the door are carried on slender buttresses.
Alston Court, Nayland, Suffolk,
years of the reign of
yeoman's house
of its time,
emblazonry
it
a half-timbered house, dating
is
Edward IV between 1475 and
1480.
',
It is
from the closing
a good example of a
Built round an open courtyard, in the
of the superior kind.
manner
possesses a Great Hall with mullioned windows, glazed with heraldic
of coats of
arms
of
well-known Norfolk and Suffolk families, of
its
own
and subsequent dates.

The house has grown by additions made at later periods in its history. The diningroom was panelled with oak in 1631, at a date when dissensions between Cavalier and
This room has finely carved beams
Parliamentarian were beginning to become acute.
and a window with
with a waggon ceiling of oak.

corbelled
windows are shown
By
and the
in Figs.
the Solar, and adjoining
first
Both are
188 and 189.
shows some
century which
^r^
is
is
the
of late fifteenth-century
of the heraldic glass of the sixteenth
one
is
features
of
Alston Court.
Among
portant
both
im-
the
features
timber
and churches
of
houses
of
the
fifteenth century
were
the
elaborate timber
porches.
In the latter
these were often of the
most ornate description, both externally
and
The
internally.
house porch was closed
by a door at
its
en-
trance, hence the need

Fig. 208.
BARKING CHURCH, SUFFOLK,

VESTRY DOOR.
room
permission of the owner, Mr. A. M. Fenn, two of the
Pof
type, well restored,
Above
fine old stained glass.
for
ornament
interior
keenly
in
was not
felt,
:
94
its
Fig. 209.
KEY CHURCH, IPSWICH,

so
timber
PRIEST'S DOOR.

being
more ornate outside than
in.
Church porches, having
the door at the other end,
embellished
with fine open-timber roofs,
as
houses,
were
rule,
often
Boxford
Church,
ornate
porch
in
has,
Suffolk,
It
from
dates
middle
the
fourteenth century, and
is,
therefore,
antiquity as for
its
rich character,
for its
The
roof
is
tie-beam in
still
trefoil
Suffolk
to be seen on the
of
of
collar-beam
Four
the arched head.
porches
remarkable
the
front
niche, the evidences of
signs of an original Saint's
are
the
traceried with central mul-
are
Over the cambered
lions.
as
of
slender triple columns, and
vaulted to
window openings
the
most
the
views of which are given in
England,
Figs. 190 to 192.
probably,
of
fifteenth
the
above,
these
OAK ENTRANCE DOOR WITH

WICKET.
Width
ft. 1 in.
of small door, 3
ft.
Height of wicket door from wood

threshold, 5
ft.
6 ins.
Fig. 211.
THE LEFT-HAND CARYATID

OR BRACKET TO THE PORCH
CORNICE.
Fig. 212.
THE RIGHT-HAND BRACKET.

Leonard G. Bohngbrcke, Esq.
Fi'. 212.
Fig. 211.
'95
in
centurv are
STRANGERS' HALL,
NORWICH.
of large door, 5
which
the
interesting
Fig. 210.
Width
are
illus-
Fig. 213.
Fig. 214.
Fig. 213.
BRENT ELEIGH CHURCH, SUFFOLK.

4
ft.
wide by
ins. to
springing of arch.
ft.
3J
ft.
2 ins. to apex.
Flat vertical boarded type, with applied ribs
and
tracery.
Fig.
214
CHELSWORTH CHURCH, SUFFOLK,

9 ft. 2 ins. high by
Framed mullion type with
S.
DOOR.
4 ft. 7 ins. wide.
inserted traceried heads.
Fig. 215.
EARL STONHAM CHURCH, SUFFOLK.

Moulded
ribs with inserted tracery.
Fig. 215.
196

trated in Figs. 193 to 196.
will
It
be noticed that the timbering becomes lighter
century advances.
in scantling as the
Mention has already been made, at various stages, of the Great Hall which is such
an integral part of the early English house, but, so far, no example has been illustrated
showing
this
apartment
timber structure.
in a
Gainsburgh Hall, already referred to
the chapter on the timber roof, and fully described therein,
Gainsburgh was completed

entertained in this Hall.
fifteenth century,
timber houses of
in a
in
It is a
suffering
its
yeoman's house
1484,
period.
and records
good,
if
more
somewhat
typical,
shown
less
in Fig. 197.
Crookback was
exceptional, example of the late

in
company with many
fine
ornate instance of a Great Hall
of the fifteenth century, restored with greater
judgment,
is
given
Fig. 217.
Fig. 216.
BOXFORD CHURCH, SUFFOLK,

Boarded type,
if
here
state that Richard
from ignorant restoration,
is
THE REVERSE OF THE DOOR,
DOOR.
of riven oak, with applied tracery.
197
in
FIG. 216.
EAST ANGLIAN FIFTEENTH-CENTURY DOORS.
Fig. 223.
Fig. 222.
WALDINGFIELD, SUFFOLK.
BOXFORD, SUFFOLK,
N.
DOOR.
3. c" "C3i
&U,
Fig. 225.
Fig. 224.
FRAMLINGHAM CASTLE, SUFFOLK.
KERSEY, SUFFOLK, W. DOOR.
199

in
hall
this
In Fig. 66
198.
Fig.
was
shown
in
[process of restoration, as
an example of cambered
tie-beam
with
king-post
and collar-purlin type
The
roof.
gallery
oi
and
the door at the end of the

hall are
modern
former
the
insertions,
necessitating
the removal of the braces
from the tie-beam to the
main
As already
post.
pointed out in the chapter
on
"
The Plan
of the Early
Fig. 227.
Fig. 226.
THE REVERSE SIDE OF THE
STOWMARKET, SUFFOLK.
6
DOOR.
3 ft. wide.
4^ ins. to apex
ft.
Tudor House," the
case occupied a subsidiary
stair-
position at this date,
importance which
Fig. 226.
had
and
acquired
lower door, on the right-
hand
case with triangular treads
of solid oak.
struction,
which
beams,
From
of
the
decoration
lavish
form
the
joists
house in Water
Street,
mission of Mr. Garrard, the

joists
rare,
and beams, shown
even
Fig. 202
shows an"
ceiling
the floor above.
Lavenham, by
an example as rich
Fig. 228.
GREAT BEALINGS, SUFFOLK.
Paycockes,
finer in design
7 ft. 2 ins.
tion.
the
Fig. 199, are taken.
in
although the ceiling from

is
of
of
of con-
per-
beautifully carved series of
even in Suffolk, to find
Figs. 200 and 201,
side opens to a stair-
from their method
Timber houses admit,
the
Here the
wards attained.
after-
it
not
to apex
ft.
It is
as^this,
Coggeshal'l,
and execu-
3 ins. wide.
arrangement
of
moulded
jjg
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beams and
Corpus
In
joists
Christi,
from the same house.
and
Fig. 203
very rare instances the joists

in Fig. 205, to
showing the dragon-beam.

of the floor above were covered on the under face
form
of finely figured quartered oak,
The
ribs arc
The small
a ceiling.
V -jointed,
The boarding here
sag.
There
at their intersections.
are signs of painting, probably original, in the quirks of the
is
have a value beyond:
of about three-eighths of an inch in thick-
moulded and have carved cusped bosses
With the Gothic pre-eminent,
ribs
and preventing
that of mere decoration, in stiffening the boards
ness.
from the Lavenham Guild Hall of
Fig. 204 from the Woolhall
with close boarding, as
is
is
mouldings
of this ceiling.
until the early years of the sixteenth century, there
not the difference one would expect to find in decorative treatment between doors
of churches, castles or
can
or brick
Stone
timber houses.
be built
in
in
sections,
the
form of a lancet arch, whereas with timber

it is
necessary to cut the shapes from huge
The high springing
pieces of oak.
door heads, which

stone-built
castles,
is
of the
usual in churches and

is,
therefore,
usually
absent in timber houses, where the head

flattened.
We
is-
cannot compare early church
doors of the fourteenth century with those

in
timber houses of the same date, as the
do not
latter
exist.
The early and rather crude types
of
doors of the fourteenth century were constructed externally of vertical boards with
dowelled, rebated or tongued and grooved

joints.
with
They were laminated,
horizontal
internally,.
close-boarding, the
whole
being fastened together with heavy wrought

nails,
generally
decorated
with
elaborate
ironwork, the design and the fixing spikes

of
Fig. 231.
which assisted
in the construction, as at
Elmsett Church, Fig. 206.
Another
type
was
constructed
with
Chancel Door.
horizontal spaced battens fixed across the

202
Fig. 232.

Carved Oak Doors and Surround.
10
ft.
5I
ins.
to
apex
9 ft. 2$ ins. to springing

;
ft.
11 ins. wide.
Noel Buxton, Esq.
JJ
oodwork
m
U
J
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o
u
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204
&

inner face of the vertical boards, long nails being driven through from the face and
The
clinched over the battens.
were usually dowelled to prevent the sagging of
joints
was the halved-framing of vertical and horior diagonally arranged, battens, constructed to form a complete frame. Tracery
the board.
zontal,
further advance in bracing
and half-mullions were applied to enrich the face in many instances.

The later framed doors were constructed of two massive curved
styles,
chosen from
the naturally bent growth of the timber, mortised together at the apex, and with the
bottom
tenoned into them at the base.
rail
Vertical mullions grooved to receive panels
were framed within, and further strengthened by
rails,
halved over the inner face of
the mullions, and either tenoned or dovetailed into the styles.
The framed door with transom

The
which were introduced the

beasts),
of
figures
saints in tabernacled niches

of Christ or the
forms
the
and was, otherwise, similarly constructed.
faces,
with carved quatrefoils, vine-trails
birds
and
Apostles,
and
were decorated, upon their
styles
grotesque
followed,
of
crowned by the
A*
figure
Holy Mother.
Doors can be roughly arranged, chronologically,

order
in the following
Laminated boarded.
Laminated boarded with applied mullions.
Boarded and ledged.
Boarded and half-jointed
framed on the
i:
m h
inside.
Framed with mullions and
panels.
Framed mullions and panels with transom.

Completely panelled.
As a general
rule,
large
All these doors

their
time,
tracery
copy the traceried windows
general
patterns
parallel lines.
are
in
doors with a wicket are
door development.
late in the history of
both
of
very
effect,
developing
closely,
nearly
of
the
on
Towards the sixteenth century, doors
constructed in
framed with heavy
similar
styles
way
and
to
rails,
Fig. 235.
OAK DOOR AND FRAMING

panellings,
grooved to
(in
Earlv sixteenth century.

Victoria and Albert
Museum
Early English Furniture arid Woodwork

It
receive panels.
is
this date that
at
we
get the late-fifteenth
and early-sixteenth-
and the parchemin panels. At all periods

century types of decoration, the linenfold
size are usually furnished with a smaller door, or wicket, as
the double doors of
large
Here the later overhanging porch cornice
at the Strangers' Hall, Fig. 210.
shown
by grotesque brackets, carved with considerable vigour,
in Figs. 211
is
supported
and
212.
of chancel or priests' doors.

207 to 209 show the fifteenth-century types
Figs.
Needham Market
now considerably
is
the older solid construction with heraldic carvings in low relief
Harking vestry door has the moulded mullions with applied
defaced,
tracery between, and
Key Church
priest's
door has the vertical moulded ribs secured
by heavy iron nails with facetted heads.

The door of Brent Eleigh, Fig. 213,
is
of the vertical
boarded kind, iron nailed to a
and with moulded ribs and tracery applied.

strong cross-battened framework behind,
Chelsworth south door, Fig. 214, is of the framed mullion type, with quatrefoiled band
round, and headed with tracery in the mullion grooves.
in the solid, with signs of
niche-work
Boxford south door, Fig. 216,

band.
The tracery
is
applied,
in the
is
Earl Stonham.Fig. 215, is traceried
upper panels, now cut flush and defaced.
similar to Chelsworth, with the
and the oak appears
same
quatrefoil
to be riven instead of sawn.
Fig.
the door
217 shows the framing and cross-battening of the back. The lower
a restoration.
Hadleigh south door, Fig. 218, has the same traceried band, on
rail of
its
is
outer
effect of distortion,
framing, but carried vertically into the moulded transom, with some
as the border continues, in

is
its
full
width, above.
richly carved with figures of saints
vertical mullions into a
heavy bottom
and
angels.
rail, in
Fig. 219,
It is
from Stoke-by-Nayland,
framed on the fronts with long
long straight
lines,
Michael-at-Plea, Fig. 220, has a mid-fifteenth-century door in
where the
ribs
are lanceolated
from Dedham
and intersected,
in direct
copy
without transom.
the
of a
earlier
St.
manner,
Gothic window.
an example of the niched or tabernacle form, where saints

are carved with projecting canopies over, here almost obliterated. Below and above
Fig. 221
is
is
the long crocketted stem of 1450.
These doors are completely traceried, with a fixed
lunette above the transom, below which the two doors open.
Waldingfield, Fig. 222, has the narrow vertical panels moulded to a central ridge,
the embryonic linenfold which marks the latter half of the fifteenth century.
same
detail
may
be noticed in the north door of Boxford, Fig. 223.
The
Kersey west door,
framed mullioned type with tracery carved from the solid. The
large doors, with wicket, from the ruined castle of Framlingham, Fig. 225, have the
Fig. 224,
is
of simple
panels completely moulded, with applied
ribs, fixed
with large square-headed
nails.
It
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will
be remarked, at this period, that there
church and castle doors, excepting
no distinct
is
line of
demarcation between
the flattening, or four centring of the arched
for
head.
Stowmarket Church,
Fig. 226, has the early linenfold type of door,
mullions and with sharply ridged panels between.
The hack view,
unusual.
Fig. 227,
framed with
The ribboned and niched border
is
shows the half-lapped battening tenoned into the
outer framing, together with the dovetail-jointing of the uprights on the arch-springing.
(heat Bealings, Fig. 228,
is
framed with broad transom below the lancet-head, with
solid-carved tracery and ridged panels.
Two
229 and
from the
rich doors
first
years of the sixteenth century are illustrated in Figs.
Both are framed with slender mullions and broad transoms.
2 jo.
Stoke-by-Nayland doors the dividing bead
whereas
in buttress-form,
is
dawn
turned and richly carved in patterns which suggest the
it
is
in
England.
This
is
at
In the
East Bergholt,
of the Renaissance
the later type of the two, broader and flatter in the arch, and with
the moulded panels finished in the true linenfold manner, whereas at Stoke-by-Nayland,
this detail
is
merely suggested.
Stoke-by-Nayland chancel door, Fig. 231,
con-
is
structed of planks or boards, carved with the linenfold, and with moulded framing
applied,
early
construction in a late door.
fine pair of linenfold
sixteenth-century type,
rails
and four upright
is
doors from Paycockes, Coggeshall, of the framed early-
shown
styles,
in Fig. 232.
At the back
is
a framing of four cross-
tenoned and mortised, the three panels to each door being
On
diagonally cross-braced, the bracings half-lapped to the inside upright styles.

front, the linenfold
figures, of a
is
carved in bold
relief,
and the
side posts are
the
surmounted by two
Crusader and a monk, which support carved and moulded capitals under
the elaborate wall-plate.
The
beautiful door-posts
and brackets,
Fig. 233, are taken
Lavenham, and show the decorative use
Street,
from a house
of figure sculpture, in the
of the timber houses of the last years of the fifteenth century.
The doors
in
Water
enrichment
are of consider-
ably later date.
Another
fine
door from Paycockes
an interior door put to an exterior use.
is
given
in Fig. 234.
The mason's-mitring
It
has the appearance of
of the
moulded
styles
on
the outside framing, and the scribing of the central muntins, can be seen in the illustration.
ings
It
should be unnecessary to point out that the modern method of mitring mould-
by cutting
period.
at their ends to an angle of 45 degrees
was very rarely practised at
Cutting one moulding, in reversed profile over another,

20S
or scribing
as
this
it
is

termed
or butting with square edge and then working the return of the moulding
the mason's-mitre, were practically the only methods which were used
the solid,
woodwork
The modern mitre appears, and then only
of this period.
in
in
in
exceptional
instances, towards the middle of the sixteenth century.
To
century belongs the oak door with
this early sixteenth
Church Farm,
Clare, Suffolk, Fig. 235,
which
may
surround, from
its
be taken as a representative specimen
of a timber house door of the unostenta-
The construction
tious kind.
door
is
On
exceptional.
of
this
a framed back
the front boards are nailed, each with a

slight overlap over the next, or clinker-
boarded, to use the technical term, the

left-hand edge of each (that
which
of
the one
not hidden by the overlapping
is
the
is,
next)
moulded with
being
The
scratch-bead.
original iron
strap
hinges, which are missing, were cut in
across
the
width
of
the
boards,
at
varying depths according to the forward

projection, as the boards, in cross-section,
are arranged thus
Each board
is
nailed to the framing
behind, with four courses of clout-headed
There
iron nails.
of
are,
course,
no
vertical ribs, as the construction forbids.
This series of oak doors
may
be
closed with the parchemin panel, which

is
contemporary with the
Southwold,
Figs.
parchemin pattern
and
the
linenfold
and
At
237,
the
shown on the
front
236
is
linenfold.
on
the
back,
an
Fig. 238.
OAK DOOR.
unusual degree of enrichment in an earlysixteenth-century door.
On
From Norwich
the front
By
are several purely Renaissance motives

2
permission of
Castle
Museum
Frank Leney, Esq
209
introduced into the upper panels, and on the back the same influence
two upper
cross-rails.
Fig.
238
Woodwork
English Furniture arid
Eiir/y
is
noticeable in the
an interesting door from Norwich Castle Museum,
is
square framed with vertical moulded mullions, and with an inscription carved on the
two
cross-rails as follows
Willia(m)
Lowth
Prior
Maria
Will
Plena
Grade
Mater
Mis(ericordie)
Remembyr
-The William Louth, or Lowth, referred to was the
eighteenth Prior of Walsingham.
We
to the
ceiling,
have progressed, thus
far,
from the timber house with
its
porch and
its
door,
Great Hall with open timber roof and the smaller chamber with carved beamed
and have, thereby, prepared the way
important
in the
history of English domestic
two chapters the most

where it is proposed to deal
for the next
woodwork
with the subject of wall-panellings at some length, and, in a more restricted fashion,
with the growth in importance of the staircase, the development of which had the effect
oi radically altering
the plan of the
Tudor house, and,
in a lesser degree, its elevation
There are definite types of panelling, both in point of date and
also.
permit of illustration and explanation, whereas this

cases.
It is
not that the latter do not vary
this, staircases are
is
locality,
only approximately true of stair-
they differ with every example.
which
not as plentiful as panellings, for obvious reasons.
Added
to
In the usual
house, one, or at the most, two stairways were sufficient for access to the upper floors,
whereas nearly every room was panelled as a
rule.
It is possible,
nevertheless, to class
them roughly into the early and unimportant one might almost say, the concealed
the heavy and ornate, and the latest development where the staircase becomes very
refined
and
and
delicate in its proportions.
The
into the eighteenth century, a period
book.
last
phase carries us past the seventeenth
which
is
beyond the scope
of the present
Chapter VIII.
The
T cannot
is
be
insisted
upon
for
responsible
becomes stereotyped,
its
too
frequently,
development
of
that
and
type,
only
in
what we know
quantitative production.
Houses are
vary accordingly. It is only when they are built

that the one is a direct copy of others. We have
fashion
production
in
Furniture
necessary for the inauguration of a fashion.
is
quantity
English Staircase.
as styles, in direct ratio to
and
single units, as a rule,
in the mass, as in
rows or terraces,
similarity, therefore, in
large houses of a certain period, especially in details, but rarely identity.
many
of the
Panellings of
rooms multiply in the proportion of the number of principal rooms to the house itself,
and when we come to furniture for these rooms, we get ever-recurring types of tables,
chairs
it
and the
what
is
and, with production in quantity,
like,
known
we reach
a fashion,
and with
as a defined style.
of
Development in woodwork and furniture proceeds along two main lines
Thus a writing-table fulfils one function, whereas an
utility and of decorative value.
;
occasional table, as
its
name
implies, has
English staircase, which, apart from
its
many
uses.
In tracing the evolution of the
decorative qualities, has one function only,
space considerations forbid more than an illustrated description of
its rise, in size
Staircases are, from their special character, few in number,
importance.
and
compared
with other woodwork of the house, and, therefore, do not attain to a distinct type in the
really important examples.
sary, in order to
to
illustrate
No two
show a progression
every staircase
It is possible,
being identical, as a general rule,

of design,
in the
however, even
if
it
would be neces-
such really existed, which
is
doubtful,
important houses of Great Britain.
in the limited
space available here, to give a general
idea of the rise in importance of the English staircase, and to describe, briefly, the
factors
which dictated
The
development
early domestic staircase
from the one below.

Little
its
Wenham
In
is
many
Hall, the stair
is
of
is
purely utilitarian, a method of access to a floor above

the
Xorman
dwellings, as in
Boothby Pagnell and
outside the house, totally unprotected from the weather
other than by a crude pent-roof.

<of stone,
in this direction.
In houses and castles built for defence, the stairway,
never conspicuous, being generally concealed

2
in a
separate turret, in the

same way
parish churches, which lead to the belfry,
many
as the tower stairs arc in
and
above, to the roof of the tower.

Stairs oi this kind arc nearly
before the
method
and wedged
always
supporting the staircase by means of
of
into a wall-plate with carriages
was usual
or central-newel stair
characteristic
and outside
in dwelling-houses,
which
the ground, and reaching from floor to roof.
which have been built round a growing
is,
risers,
strings,
cantilevered from,
was devised, the
even of the superior kind.
exists at Hales Place, Tenterden,
example
risers are fixed into a central newel,
exist
newel or vise description, and
of the central
spiral
very
Kent, where the treads and
actually, the trunk of a tree, fixed into
In Wales, even at the present day, houses

tree, into
which the
stairs
have been housed.
These staircases have, from their central position, a prominence which was not intentional,
but merely accidental.
The
early
two
into
Tudor house, with
parts,
and two,
if
Great Hall, of roof height, was effectually divided
its
not more staircases were required for access to the upper
floors.
At Parnham Park there
rises to
a mezzanine floor, which does not exist at the other end of the Hall.
when
are two, very inconspicuous in character, one of
which
It is
only
the Great Hall dwindles in size, and especially in height, that the one principal
and begins
stair serves for the house,
to
assume an importance which
it
had, hitherto,
not possessed.
The entrance door
at Little Wolford, Fig. 239,
opens to the passage dividing the
Great Hall from the buttery and servants' regions, the

stone newel stair
is
shown
At
in Fig. 240.
here (one of several in the house)
is
"
skreens
"
as
it is
The
termed.
Breccles, Fig. 241, the staircase illustrated
of oak, the risers being fixed into the wall at
one
end, and into the oak newel-post at the other.
The
years.
stability of staircases appears to
The main
stairs at Breccles, as at
on walls or framings at either end.
have troubled the mediaeval builder
Great Chalfield, have treads and
many
risers
supported
Chequers Court has also a staircase of
this kind.
At Durham Castle the newels are very high, reaching from

direct supports to the stair.
for
floor to
floor,
acting as
In the early independent staircases, the outside strings are
always needlessly massive, as at the Charterhouse, Chilham and Tissington.
The
problem was sometimes- solved by a supporting spandrel, with posts, on the outside of
the stair, as at Chequers.
staircases
strings.
is
begin
to
be
It is
only towards the end of the seventeenth century that
constructed
with
That the necessary strength
shown by the
fact
open
soffits
underneath
and with
light
and carriage was provided,

that they have persisted with little or no sag away from the
in
riser,
string
Fig. 239.
LITTLE
WOLFORD MANOR, WARWICKSHIRE.
The Screen from the Main Entrance Door.

Mid-sixteenth century.
Early English Furniture and JJ oodwork
Fig. 240 v
LITTLE
WOLFORD MANOR, WARWICKSHIRE.

The Stone Central-Newel Stairway.
214

side walls, even although, at
this
the
date,
had become
newel-post
almost
purely
ornamental.
Beachampton Farm,
242, has a typical,
some-
if
what ornate, example

oak staircase
of
century.
and
string, all
heavy
by
and beams, with the
posts
strings
of the long flights resting
One
retaining walls.
heraldic newel finials
That
in Fig. 243.
case
an
are massive, with
large handrail
supported
of
of the first years
the seventeenth
The newels
Fig.
on
of the
is
given
this stair-
original to the small
is
and decayed manor house

which
it
is
at present,
in
The
doubtful.
very
which the
lion holds,
royal
device
Tudor
rose.
The
also not
complete
worked
into
shield,
has the
staircase
;
is
crowned
of
in
it is
is
patch-
another
of
simpler and slighter character.
There are numerous instances

of this transplanting of stair-
cases from larger houses
to
dwellings of lesser importance.
One
exists, at Little
HawkenFig
bury Farm, near Pembury,

in
Kent, which
is,
241.
BRECCLES HALL, NORFOLK.
obviously,
Oak Newel
disproportionate to the house
Staircase.
Mid-sixteer.th century.
215
U roodwork
and
the
of
houses,
large
where
would be treated merely as materials, elaborate staircases

reftxed
preserved, as a rule, in their integrity, removed and
and
complete
as
state
original
possible.
case which was removed from a house in the town.
habitat somewhat clumsily, with
remains of the original
when
house for which
in the
it
it
this
in
as
It
nearly
fine
has been adapted to
kind
stair-
its
new
additions and reconstructions, but sufficient
many
show that
to
of
Lewes Town Hall has a
and
lead
bricks,
stones,
like
were
a
With the demolition
in.
is
it
must have been
a fine
woodwork
of
example
was made.
Tall newel fmials were the usual finish to these early-seventeenth-century staircases.
At Charlton,
Fig. 244, the}
have been replaced, with a considerable
The newels
small carved pinnacles.
are nearly always square, with flat
strap work, sometimes interlaced and cut
by the
bosses or split balusters, as at Aston, or
left in
Charlton.
carver,
ornament
by
of
and decorated with applied
imitation of applied fretwork, as at
early-seventeenth-century staircases
these
feature of
loss of dignity,
nearly always contrived in a series of short
flights,
as the flights reach from landing to wall.
Even
is
that they are
which implies a small staircase
hall,
at Wolseley Hall, Fig. 253, the post-
Restoration staircase has this feature of not more than about twelve treads divided by
square landings.
century.
The long
At Hemsted,
flight
does not appear, in authentic work, until the eighteenth
Fig. 245,
where the staircase dates from about 1850, and the
balustrades only from the last few years, the long flights look wrong, compared with
the detail of the newel, handrail and pierced panel.
arrangement
is
possible,
but
been smaller and the long
in a
imply turnings
in the
one
line,
it is
it
The
stair at
method
and
this hall
Hemsted from
no other
would have
first
to second
of breaking
not unusual to find a long flight broken up by landings and newels
but, as a rule, the newel-posts are continued to the floor,

filled
possible to illustrate staircases in great numbers,
in nearly
it
if
might be discovered
Unfortunately, although we
every house of importance, the staircase
original to the structure, or
and the spaces
with a panelled spandrel.
that particular localities possessed their peculiar types.
can say, that
size,
up by frequent landings much better

With the seventeenth-century stairs, landings do not always
between, below the string,
Were
house of the seventeenth century,
flights avoided.
floors, Fig. 246, illustrates this
than the great staircase.
In a staircase hall of this
is
contemporary with
the contrary be the case, such fact
not always certain that these staircases are
local, either in
is
known, we are
design or make.
It
was
important houses during the seventeenth

century, for wealthy owners to instruct London architects, who employed labour from
customary, in the erection of
many
of the
216
Fig. 242.
BEACHAMPTON FARM.
The
Staircase.
Date about 1603.

217

parts of England often far
house
We know
itself.
removed from the
this to
equally with Inigo Jones in the
be the fact
first half,
with Thorpe, Kent, Ware, Gibbs,
end
others, at the other
and
Wren and
of the seventeenth,
and the early years of the eighteenth centuries.

Panelling was much more frequently of local
make than was

interior
the case with staircases and
woodwork
of similar character.
It is unsafe, therefore, to state, positively,
that a staircase in a Lancashire house, for
example,
is
either of the design or
Styles, in this
ship of the neighbourhood.

instance, vary far
than
more
at different periods
in distinct localities,
in a general
although there are,
way, great differences between
Midland and East Anglian
many
of the later styles,
lighter in construction
much
new manner
this
districts of
as
earlier
is
and
staircases,
when
stairs
and more
proportion, originate in the

at a date
workman-
become
delicate in
Home
Counties
than the influence of

manifested
in
other
England.
The following examples may be taken

representative of the great house manner
of their period, but, as before pointed out,

is
it
unwise to postulate a locality of origin.

Fig.
247
is
a fragment of one
of
the
staircases formerly in the early-seventeenth-
century house of Lyme, before
it
was
rebuilt
by Leoni some hundred years later. It shows

the richly carved and pierced panels of this
date,
framed
between
vertical
moulded
Fig. 243.
BEACHAMPTON FARM.
Enlarged View of the Staircase Newel
mullions.
bearing
218
The newels
signs,
are coarse, but vigorous,
however,
of
finial
replace-
The English
C3
ment.
The balustrade
is
now
fitted to
floor above, containing the present
Staircase
a short stair from the central hall to the mezzanine
drawing-room,
fts
date
is
about 1603, and
it
may
be given as an example of Cheshire woodwork.
At Thorpe
Hall, Northamptonshire, the staircase,
the seventeenth century,
were solved.
From
is
interesting as showing
which dates from the middle
how soon
constructional problems
the second to the third floors, Fig. 248, the stairs are massive, with
and handrails strongly tenoned into large newels,

minimise any tendency to sag away from the side walls. Above,
heavy
of
strings
Fig. 244.
CHARLTON HOUSE, KENT.

Detail of Staircase on First Landing.
Date 1612-15.
219
in short nights
to
to the top landing,
J3
k.~
-1*.
H
Z
U
Q
U
H
S
u
X
S^
Fig. 247.
LYME PARK, CHESHIRE.

Portion of Staircase from the Early-Seventeenth-Century House.
Capt. the Hon. Richard Legh.

Fig. 24c), the construction
is
much more daring
form of a central newel-post with
however,
is in
the
air,
risers
constructional and rigid,
examples as
tenoned into
it.
although based on the old
The outer verge
of the stair,
contrived with shaped strings, in a spiral form, instead of risers
housed, at their other ends, into a wall.
great strides had been
in conception,
is,
of course, thoroughly
but such departures from established precedent
made
this are rare,
This spiral staircase
in
show that
the science of staircase construction at this date.
Such
skill
which had been
staircase of its period, with
broad handrail
but they show, nevertheless, the degree of
acquired at this period.
Forde Abbey,
Fig. 250, has the
heavy
intersecting with the cappings of large newels,
heavy
strings,
Fig. 248.
THORPE HALL, NORTHANTS.

Staircase from second to third floors.
Date about 1650.

222
and massive carved and
The English
pierced balustrade panels.
Numbers
of these fine staircases can be found in
the large houses of England of this period.
At Tredegar,
a few years later in date, but hardly in style,

in character
ings.
This
and the
flights are
may have been due
the stair had to be

of
this
fine
less
Figs. 251
and 252,
the piercing of the panels
is
many
which
of
is
more open
unbroken, whereas at Forde they are divided by land-
to exigencies of planning, however,
distance had to be traversed to reach the

"
Staircase-
steep in
its
Tredegar staircase with
same
height, or, in the familiar parlance, where
going."
its
where a greater forward
Fig. 252
vigorous
shows the landing detail
carving of the free scrolling in
the panels.
At Wolseley
Hall, in Staffordshire, Fig. 253, these pierced panels are replaced
Fig. 249.
THORPE HALL, NORTHANTS.

CentraUNewel Staircase at Top Landing.
Date about 1650.
223
by
Fig. 250.
FORDE ABBEY, DORSETSHIRE.

The Great
Staircase.
Date 1658.
224
Fig. 251
TREDEGAR PARK, MONMOUTH.

The
Staircase.
Date about 1665.

2
225
The Viscount Tredegar.
JWoodwork
Fig. 252.
THE TREDEGAR PARK STAIRCASE.

Detail of Landing Newels and Panels.
twisted balusters and the ramps of the handrail are steeper in pitch.
as a
good example
One
in
detail, that of panelling the walls
many
be made, in
may
be taken
of the post-Restoration period.
following the lines of that of the staircase
found
It
of the
all cases,
wooden
with a dado capped with a semi-handrail,

itself, persists for
staircases of the next century.
for planning exigencies.
and the house planned round
Had
many
years,
and
will
be
Large allowances must
the staircase hall been designed
some degree of uniformity might have occurred,

but in man}- of the great houses the chief aim was an agreeable, imposing or symmetrical
elevation
the interior planning had to take care of itself. It is impossible, otherwise,
first
it,
to account for
many
defects, such as at Nostell Priory,
kitchens to the State dining-room
is
so great as to render a hot dish on the table an
impossibility without an interim
that
many
of
where the distance from the
warming up in transit. It is small wonder, therefore,

these great staircases have had to be awkwardly or ingeniously contrived,
226
The English
o
Fig. 253
WOLSELEY HALL, STAFFS.

The
Staircase.
Date about 1670.

227
Staircase
Fig. 254.
CASTLENAU HOUSE, MORTLAKE (NOW DESTROYED).

A
Portion of the Staircase.
Date about 1680.
Victoria and Albert

2
28
Museum.
The English
Staircase
o
with the result that
is
it
surprising they do
an even
not vary to
greater degree than
is,
actually, the case.
There
is little
pur-
pose to be served by
of
number
illustrating
which
examples,
would only prove this

point, and no other.
shows
254
Fig.
the
graceful staircase which
became
fashionable,
especially
in
London
towards
houses,
the
end of the seventeenth
The handrail
century.
is
delicate,
and
the
newel slight and grace-
The moulding
ful.
the former
is
of
mitred to
form
this
is
no longer a part
of
the
capping, but
newel
itself.
Both treads and

are
taken
above
the
moulded
risers
through
string,
in
returns, each
with a carved spandrel

underneath. The string
also
is
classical
slight,
with a
frieze-mould-
ing section worked on

it.
The balusters
are
Fig. 255.
31
OLD BURLINGTON STREET, LONDON, W.

The
Date about 1730.
Staircase.
Messrs.
229
Lenygon and Morant.
bul
all
half
is
same
of the
from 31, Old
There
with
turned
slender,
Street,
any variation
in
twists,
which
in
this
which
255,
Fig.
pattern.
Burlington
scarcely
dates
example fixed three to a

closes
this
series,
type observable during a space
in
latter a great variety
is
of
to
The
last
this,
It is
newel,
two
stairs
have the bull-nosed
but
In the
finish of the time,
many
possible that the
a specialised industry in the
first
of the older streets radiating
making
of staircases of this type
many
of
from Holborn and
may have become
This
years of the eighteenth century.
more
Staircases of
perhaps not so rich or important, can be found in
the houses in this locality and in

Street.
of
upwards
balusters.
usually found on the last stair only instead of the two, as in this example.
Oxford
century.
obtained by placing three to a stair-tread, as before, but here
each of a different pattern.
very similar pattern to
stair,
the staircase
is
from the early eighteenth
The handrail no longer finishes as a capping

a bold volute, and is supported on a cluster of
century.
sweeps round
reeded
fine
is
suggested by
the use of the same patterns in the turning, fluting or twisting of balusters, the mouldings
of handrails
and
strings,
and
in the
carving of the foliated spandrels fixed under the
exposed return of the stair-treads immediately above the outside
To
illustrate
examples of
staircases,
beyond
this point,
string.
would be
useless, especially
wood was frequently replaced by wrought iron and for the

To show these would carry us
especially in houses of importance.
as for the balustrades,

stairs,
by
stone,
beyond the scope
of our material as well
confined.
230
as of the period
to
which
this
book
is
Chapter IX.
Wood
HE
Panellings and Mantels.
wainscotting of the walls of rooms, in secular houses, with wood,
appears to be an innovation of the later years of the fifteenth century.

It
difficult
is
and
features,
any woodwork other than by
to date
it
is,
its
decorative
therefore, only possible to say that the earliest
types of wainscotting consist of narrow vertical boards, overlapping

"
on their edges, or
clinker-built,"
walls with large clout-headed nails.
to
use the shipwright's term,
This clinker-boarding
is
seldom
fastened
of
to the
more than dado-
height and usually has a half-round or simple moulded capping (see Figs. 266 and 267).
The next stage

and pinned
in the evolution
is
a framing of styles and
at the joints, with panels fixed in grooves.
kind there are top and bottom, but no intermediate
on
with intermediate
same
linenfold develops at the

It
may
In the
rails,
rails, is
tenoned, mortised
first
examples of
From
(see Fig. 260).
and the pattern
a rapid step,
of the
time.
be worth while to speculate as to the reasons
why oak
their appearance at such a late stage in the history of English
the end of the fifteenth century, and
why
panellings
woodwork
as almost
It is
impossible to imagine
that they introduce the tenoned-and-mortised framing into English carpentry
is
Thus, in
Church woodwork, that framing was known and practised

the door, Fig. 256, which is not later than about 1320, the
nails.
panelling than of a door
This example has more the appearance of a section of
with the necessary duplication, a room could easily have
been wainscotted with the repetition of this pattern.
Framed
panellings, therefore,
possibilities as early as the first years of the fourteenth century, yet
none appear to have been made
must be a reason
In the
we
constructed with tenons and mortises, secured to the vertical back-
boarding with large iron
were potential
in the case of
centuries before.
outer framing
make
they begin with crude clinker-boardings,
evolving, only at a later stage, into properly framed panellings.
know, especially
this
and the panels are moulded
an embryonic or an actual linen-folding
their face, with either
this to the small panel,
rails,
first
for at least a century
and a
half afterwards.
There
for this, and, in all probability, there are several.
place,
refinement, until the
the ecclesiastical establishments led the
first
quarter of the sixteenth century, and

23 1
it
way
is
in
luxury and
in clerical
houses

that one would look for early examples of panellings.
But
JJ oociwork
was
here, as a rule, there
nothing between the vast refectory, or nave, and the small room or closet.
with
former,
walls
In the
of
stone,
often enriched with columns or

arcadings, panellings
and
impossible,
a
much more
would be
in the latter,
decorative and
wall-covering was at
efficient
or
hand, in tapestries
Had
hangings.
Arras
the art of the
tapestry-weaver not been
and
appreciated,
centuries, there
that
fifteenth
is little
doubt
would
have
panellings
made a much
in
fostered,
fourteenth and
the
so
earlier
appear-
ance than they actually did.
From
of
the will of William
Wykeham we
get an idea
of the furnishings of
an opulent
and luxury-loving prelate at

the
of
the
fourteenth
To
the
Bishop of
close
century.
London, Robert Braybrooke,

he leaves the whole suite of
the
tapestry
his palace at
there
is
walls of
hangings
Winchester, and
no doubt
all
from
that
the
the principal rooms,
including the bedchamber, were
hung
in this
manner.
So much
for the high

clergy of this date.
Fig. 256.
Royal palaces were simiand there

furnished,
larly
oak door.
7 ft. 6 ins. high by 4 ft. i i ins. wide.
Late thirteenth or fourteenth century.
victoria and Albert
232
Museum.
is
great
probability
that
Wood
from France and the
tapestries, chiefly
commencement
in rich houses, at the
With the Great
Low
Panellings
and Mantels
Countries, were the usual wall-coverings,
Hall, of vast size,
and often
stone-built, the bareness of walls
and the smaller rooms were nearly always Arras-hung, as we

know from contemporary records. With timber buildings, however, where spaces
would not be keenly
felt,
between the oak studs were

with clay and chopped
filled
straw on a rough
finished
lathing,
willow
with
off
a skin of plaster, wooden

panellings
became almost
a logical necessity, in the
That
absence of tapestries.
decorations
many
imi-
in
tation of tapestries, such as
painted hangings of linen or
canvas were used, we know
from numerous records

and
inventories, where re"

"
ferences to
or
painted
"
steynid cloths" are
Thus, in the second
quent.
of
part
King Henry IV,
Mistress Quickly says:

this
heavenly ground
on,
must be
both
fre-
my
tapestry of
bers ";
to
plate
my
tread
fain to
"By
pawn
and
the
dining cham-
which Falstaff
"
replies,
is
Glasses,
glasses,
the only drinking
and
for thy walls, a pretty slight

Fig. 257.
drollery, the story of
Prodigal,
or
the
the
German
PORTION OF PAINTED DECORATION ON PLASTER
BETWEEN STUDDINGS.
Late sixteenth century.
hunting in water-work,
is
Colchester
Museum.
JJ
oodwork
Fig. 258.
PAINTED FRIEZE ON PLASTER.

Date aboirl 16
(o.
It.
u\ ins. high
by
ft.
Victoria and Albert
4 ins. long.
Museum.
worth a thousand of these bed-hangings and

It is
fly-bitten tapestries."
these
doubtful whether Shake-
speare was not taking a liberty with probabilities in

this
speech of Mistress Quickly, as tapestries would
not have been used as wall-hangings in the dining-
room
"
an inn, but with these painted cloths,
of
in
water-work," he would have been well acquainted,
as they
of
must have been
in general use, to hide walls
timber and plaster, in the late sixteenth century.
Crude wall paintings, usually executed

oil
colour,
must
also
in flat
have been usual, especially
in
With subsequent
modern paper-hanging,
the eastern counties of England.

panelling, whitewashing or
it is
not remarkable that few have been discovered,
but there
is
reason to suppose that in Essex and
Suffolk they were general, in the fifteenth-century
timber house of the lesser
An
class.
example, from Colchester Museum,
shown
by the courtesy of Mr. Guy

This was discovered behind wall-paper
here in Fig.
Maynard.
is
257,
and deal panelling
at
Hill
House on North
Hill,
by Mr. Thomas Parkington of

Every
Ipswich, who presented it to the Museum.
wall of the room was decorated in this way, on a
Colchester, in 1910,
Fig. 259.
thin
PAINTED WALL DECORATION ON PLASTER. "

6
ft.
3 ins.
high by 2
ft.
wide.

Victoria and Albert Museum.
coating of
wattle-and-daub
plaster
"
spread
the
between the oak studs.
decorations of this kind were,

-34
over
rough
Mural
possibly, used
to
Wood
cover the plaster,
house
is
in the interior of
demolished, no care
is
Panellings
and Mantels
timber houses, at a very early date.
When
a timber
taken, for obvious reasons, to strip the whitewash or
paper to the bare plaster, and numbers of these painted walls must have been hacked
down. The Colchester Museum example is very late in the sixteenth century, and is
painted in nine colours, black, yellow, orange, red, brown, violet, pale blue, pale green
and dark green.
The cruder, and possibly, earlier examples are usually in black and
1
white, having the appearance of stencils, but
Walden Museum
is
drawn with the
free
hand.
At Saffron
a portion of a wall of studding and plaster where the monotone
design has considerable decorative merit.
and 259 are from the Victoria and Albert Museum. The first is a frieze
the pure Italian manner of the later sixteenth century, probably imitating
Figs. 258
or band, in
the fresco paintings of that time, or the embossed and painted leathers which were only
used in important houses.

1
"
Maynard.
On some
It
would hardly be expected that these mural decorations
early domestic decorative wall-paintings recently found in Essex."
Miller Christy
and Guy
Essex Archaeological Society, Trans., Vol. XII.
Fig. 260.
PORTION OF OAK GREAT HALL SCREEN.

See Fig. 261.
Late 'fifteenth centurv.
.Mrs.
D'Oyley.

would be
as early as their models, or, in
houses
which they are found.
in
century.
It is
many
This frieze
executed with considerable
is
cases, that
of about the middle of the seventeenth
artistic skill.
Fig. 259 i s earlier, from the late sixteenth century,
the model
is
they would be as old as the
and cruder
in
every way.
and the inspiration still Italian, but strongly perone would expect at this period.
the tapestry cartoon,
meated by Flemish
influence, as
That painted cloths,
in
imitation of the lordly tapestry,
or mural paintings, were
the usual attempts, in timber houses of the poorer class, to relieve the bareness of
and
plaster, there
panellings
came
is little
into general use in the
farmhouses
in
Kent,
clinker-boarded, in the primitive
more opulent secular houses,
it is
is
another point
Elevation
Hsrbcrt
Czx.ini.Wy
in
all
is
equally certain.
times, although, in
some
not exceptional to find the principal living-room
manner
boardings have a claim to such antiquity
There
wood
doubt, and that these substitutes were employed long after
Wainscotting of oak must have been an expensive luxury at

of the older
Here
of the late fifteenth century.

is
Whether these
doubtful.
connection with panellings which must not be forgotten,
op ome half
oy-Jckz.'c.h
c/ECT)ON
THROUGH
THE^/KFLEEAS"-
M- 10 21
Fig. 261.
SUGGESTED RECONSTRUCTION OF THE GREAT HALL SCREEN,

236
FIG. 260.
IVooci Panellings
as
The oak timber
had, no doubt, a great effect in retarding their evolution.
it
was rarely seasoned,
fifteenth century
Oak was
as
we understand
and Mantels
of the
the term at the present day.
often used, as in roof timbers, in such large scantling, that to dry each baulk
thoroughly would have taken
many
years, even
if it
had been possible
at
all.
We
can
and warp in many of these large timbers, that the

wood was by no means dry when it was used. It was often quartered, and carefully
selected, but it was left to season in situ. Thin panels must have presented some diffifrom an examination
see,
culties in this respect
and
have warped
a
few months.
of the sag
was impossible
it
have used
"
"
green
panel-stuff, as
it
would
after
split
It
to
also
is
probable that the makers of
were
panellings
same plane
who
the
as the carpenters
were
Church
on
not
for
responsible
and
woodwork,
seasoned oak, in thin boards,
may
not have been at their
service
until
fifteenth
if
century,
intended
the
in
late
especially
secular
for
use.
Thin panels of oak are to be

found in the bases of chancel
screens,
been
and these must have
the figures
were
of
Saints,
which
on
frequently painted
would
them,
long
or
seasoned,
carefully
have
In
since.
perished
fact,
for
nearly a century before wallpanellings appear, they exist,

potentially,
in
dry
oak
of
panel-thickness and in a knowledge of framing with tenoned

,
....
and mortised
With a
real
joints,
purpose
coupled
to
Fi s-
262
OAK LINENFOLD PANELLING FROM COGWORTHY FARM,

yarnscombe, near barnstaple.
be

2 37
CO
.?
u.
w
Q
Z
u
Q
W
>
PC
<
o
K
H
>
J
<
O
w
S
O]
>
E
J
O
h.
m 2
g
.
U
D
ce
-5
g
i-i
Fig. 266.
LAVENHAM GUILD HALL, THE PORCH.

Oak moulded
Fig. 267.
wainscotting.
JtALE OF Es
i
I
1^^
-fT-
Fig. 268.
SECTIONAL DETAIL OF THE OAK WAINSCOTTING ABOVE.

239
TT -r
i
Inches

As
served in relieving the bareness of walls of stone or timber and plaster.
remarked
later on, in the instance of the
development
the
arose
makers
of
the
at
be
of the chest or coffer, there
every reason to believe that a new and lesser class of woodworkers,
box-makers,
will
the
is'
huchers, or
and they were, probably,

secular houses.
The carpenter was still
the close of the fifteenth century,
first
wainscotting in
responsible for the structural timber work,
and was employed
for the high-class interior
joinery in wealthy houses.
The
late
fifteenth-century Great Hall screen, a fragment of which
is
shown
in
Fig. 269.
OAK-PANELLED ROOM FROM PAYCOCKES, COGGESHALL, ESSEX.

240
Noel Buxton. Esq.
JVood Panellings and Mantels

Fig. 260,
is
a typical example of high-grade carpentry of
taken before
it
was
restored,
beyond recognition
its
difficult to reconstruct
it,
in
This photograph was
as a Great Hall screen,
West-country joiner of greater vigour than knowledge.

not
period.
As
it
imagination, and in Fig. 261
is
by a former
illustrated here,
it is
shown
in its
it is
hypo-
thetically original state.
The design is typical of its period, and the work is of high quality. Originally
from the Old Manor House of Brightleigh, N. Devon, the shields in the central portion
The three stages of the linenfold pattern, from
shown in each panel. Even in the state as illustrated
are painted with the arms of Gifford.
the simple to the elaborate, are

here, the screen
hand
section
is
shows evidences
of restoration.
Thus the left-hand panel
of the right-
reversed, with the simple form at the top, instead of the bottom, as in
That the central fragment is only one-half of the original (as

the drawing) is shown by the fact that the right-hand muntin is, really,
every other instance.

suggested in
a complete central mullion,

portion shows the
of the screen
is
in
which case three panels are missing.
commencement
of the springing of the door-arch.
nearly as elaborate as the one shown here, and
this, in
The left-hand
The
reverse side
conjunction with
the small spy-holes in the upper portion of the last two panels, show, conclusively, that
it
was a Great Hall screen
in its original state.
The panels and mullions have rotted
and the threshold has perished.

Many theories have been advanced as to the origin of the linenfold in the decoration
panels. It has been suggested, with some plausibility, that the device may have been
at their bases,
of
JLJ1
Fig. 270.
OAK MOULDED PANELLING.

241

copied from the curling of the parchment, which was frequently glued to the backs of
painted panels to stiffen them, and as some security against cracking.
Parchment,
being somewhat of a greasy nature, would not adhere readily to an oak panel, and would
have a tendency to curl up from

[inenfold.
and
it
is
its
outside edges, and thus present the form of a simple
Decorative devices of this kind, however, have nearly always a useful basis,
more reasonable
to
suppose that the
stiffening ridge (as in Fig. 223)
first
panels were
made with
a central
which developed, gradually, into the vertical moulded
and from thence, by carving at each end, the folding and curling of linen was
imitated as a form of ornament. There is no doubt that, by its use, especially as the
panel,
was not performed with any great degree of accuracy at this period,
a thin panel acquired a stability which it would not, otherwise, have possessed. The
sawing of panel
stuff
Fig. 271.
OAK PANELLING FROM A FARMHOUSE AT KINGSTONE, NEAR TAUNTON (NOW DESTROYED).

3
ft.
2f ins. high by 4
ft.
7$ ins. wide.

Victoria and Albert
242
Museum.
JVood Pancllinns
o and Mantels
sawing of thin wood must have been a task
of
by no means unusual to
of sawn, and rubbed smooth on their external
teenth century.
"
The term
panels, even
It is
linenfold
when
"
some
difficulty,
even
in the early
seven-
find panels, as late as 1640, riven instead
faces only.
should not be used to describe these early vertically-moulded
the ends of the alternate, rib-and-hollow are cut into decorative shapes.
Thus
Figs. 262
not.
Actually, in the progression of types, the true linenfold
and 263 are typical
linenfold patterns, whereas Figs. 264
not necessarily imply that vertically-moulded panels
is
and 265 are
the later, but this does
are, in reality, earlier in
date than
those carved in the representation of folds of linen, but merely that the original type
persists,
the later
kinds
and overlaps with

one. There are two
moulded
of
which
cotting
the
of
always
are
wains-
nearly
fifteenth,
rarely of the sixteenth cen-
tury
both of a primitive
type which does not continue

for
many
and the
The
years.
earliest, is a
first
form of
wainscotting, without framing,
where the vertical boards
are moulded,
ridge, hollow
in
usually
with
and quirk-bead
succession,
half-lapped,
with rebates at the
joins,
and
fixed to the walls, generally
with
nails,
giving the appear-
ance of one large moulded

panel to each side of
the
room, the quirk-beads rendering the lap-joints, more or

less, invisible.
An example
Fig. 272.
of this kind can be seen in
Lavenham Guild
266,
267
and
OAK DOORS.
Hall, Figs.
268.
The
Albert Cubitt, Esq.
24-
stiffened
is
boarding
by
small skirting, neither of which
here.
When
documents
this
the term
which
is
used, in
it is
usually
implied.
shown
is
early type
in the
room
Here the panels
from Paycockes, Fig. 269.

are high, divided only
is
wainscotting
of boarding
The other
original,
"
of the fifteenth century,
method
is
"
and
rail
capping
by one
central
rail,
the
mouldings a succession of hollows and sharp

ribs,
spear-pointed at top and bottom.
This
kind of decorative panelling gives a greater
appearance of height to a low room than
it
The small scratch-mouldings,
actually possesses.
on the styles and
rails,
in this panelling, are
generally mason's-mitred, that
is,
the rails are
butted square into the styles and the mouldings

turned and mitred with the carver's gouge, to
meet those on the vertical muntins,

mason's fashion.
in the stone-
Occasionally, but rarely, these
high moulded panels are merely cut

to allow of
off
square,
them being grooved into the framing,
with the projecting ribs merely chamfered off

so as not to project, unduly, over the framing-
mouldings.
Fig. 270
is
an interesting fragment, as the
breakage shows the construction quite clearly.
Only the
vertical styles are scratch-moulded
the rails are square on the lower
and bevelled
on their upper edges, with the muntins scribed

over them.
Fig. 273.
OAK PANELLING.
The type which was used concurrently with the
It
will
be seen, that
with the
rebating of the vertical mouldings at the top
and bottom,
panel in
its
to allow of
the insertion of the
grooves, the flat
fillet
which flanks
linenfold patterns.

\Y.
Smedley Aston, Esq.
each panel necessitates square-sectioned

so as not to overhang in sharp butt-edges.
244
rails,
IVood Panellings
o arid Mantels
Fig. 271 has
many
characteristics
which indicate the
late fifteenth century, apart
from the geometrical ornament of the capping rail. The panels are moulded, in the
form of creased parchment tubes, cut at the top end only in a sharp chamfer to heighten
the illusion.
It
is
The panel
projects at the
bottom over the base-moulding.
possible that this system of stiffening panels with vertical ribs
Early panels are generally stout and of uneven
originated in quite a simple way.

thickness, especially
when
the
may have
wood
is
riven instead of sawn.
gauge at the outer edges, to allow of their insertion
To reduce
to
an equal
in framing-grooves, these panels
were
chamfered, at the back, this being easier than attempting to reduce the entire panel to
an even thickness.
The same method
is
panels, these chamfers are, frequently, so

grain,
meet
method
followed at the present day, but in the early

flat,
that those worked vertically, or with the
in the panel centre at the back, in a rib.
resulted in a
marked
It
stiffening of the panel, as
would be noticed that
compared with one
of
Fig. 274.
PANELLING
IN
THE AISLE OF THE CHURCH OF
Showing the influence which affected the panelling
in
England
245
ST.
VINCENT, ROUEN.
of the period of
From
a drawing
Henry VIII.
by Herbert Cescinsky.
this
even
Fig. 275.
OAK PANELLING.
Date about 1520-40.
Great Fulford, Devon.
246
JVood Panellings
o and Mantels
thickness
throughout
and the idea would probably occur to put this

ridge on the front of the
and
panel,
an
make
to
it
ornamental device.
Boxford door, Fig. 223,
shows that some such

evolution must actually
have taken place, as the

here
rib
is
hardly
decoration at
This
all.
central ridging also de-
velops in another directhat
in
tion,
of
the
parchemin panel, Figs.

272 and 273.
instead
ribs,
taken
Here the
of
through
being
and
carved, at their extreme

ends, in such devices as
the curls of folding linen,

are
diverted, in ogival
form, to the corners of

the panels.
is
The
result
a broad diaper effect,
the
patterns
being
broken only by the

styles and the rails. The
space
left
ribs, in
by the double
shape similar to
the vertical section of
an aubergine, Fig. 272,
was
decorated
Fig. 276.
in a
OAK PANELLING.
variety of ways, by ten-

>47
Woodwork
00
t>
Wood
drils of
of
grapes,
linenfold description, both have a

rib, is
and Mantels
by cusping, as in Fig. 273, or with purely

That the parchemin, and the vertically-moulded panel of the
vine and bunches
Renaissance ornament.
Panellings
common
origin, in
the decorative use of a central
almost certain.
The moulded and the

in conjunction
linenfold panels occur, during the early sixteenth century,
with Renaissance motives, sometimes the linenfold being used for the
lower and the cartouche and Italian ornament for the upper
tiers of panels.
The subject of the introduction of the Italian Renaissance into England is a comwas the tomb of Henry VII
plicated one. That the first notable expression of this manner
Fig. 279.
OAK PANELLING FROM A HOUSE AT WALTHAM.

Enlarged
detail.

Victoria and Albert
249
Museum.
Fig. 280.
THE OAK-PANELLED ROOM FROM WALTHAM.

in
the
which bears his name,
is
the style was un-
known
is
before,
eight
doubtful,
to
the
Pageny,
as
Torrisany, as he
who was
own
was
preferred
Master
craftsman,
tomb
first
Royal
patronage of the new
The Renais-
sance of Italy, here,
reaches
England
manners
of
Devon,
of
may
parts
but
countries,
of
ally in the
in
and
Hampshire
especi-
Rye,
be regarded
uninfluenced by the
other
Sussex, and
hood
mer-
this
the
style.
of a
fortune, Pietro Tor-
England,
King's
pro-
some
until
The work
later.
in
England
tomb was
finished
cenary soldier of
rigiano or Peter
styled
in
death of Henry VII
although not
years
probable, but that
This
jected before the

in 1509,
Museum.
Westminster Abbey,
of
Chapel
Victoria and Albeit
neighbour-
examples of Renais-
many
oak
sance ornament can
be
woodwork of the first
year or two of
sixteenth
where the influence
of
of
France
century,
unmis-
is
commerce
France were
or
of
in close
Fig. 281.
DOOR OF THE OAK-PANELLED ROOM

FROM WALTHAM.
250
found,
takable.
in
the
In matters
warfare, England and

relationship
during
and Mantels
JFood Panellings
o
nearly the whole of the fifteenth century.
whereas
with
the
Torrigiano
Italian
It
is,
therefore, not surprising to find, that,
ornament
was
introduced
direct,
it
also
permeated through France into England at a later, and possibly at a somewhat

earlier date, independently of the work of Italian craftsmen or designers.
There are two other developments
here.
The
style also filters
of the
through the
Low
Renaissance which are worthy of notice
Countries into England, the more refined,
the Burgundian or Walloon expression, into the East Anglian counties, and a typically
Dutch or Flemish interpretation being adopted by the midland

Western Yorkshire, parts
counties, Lancashire,
of Cheshire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire
at the close of the sixteenth century,
by the
Home
jewel work of which Aston Hall and Speke Hall
may
Counties.
and Somerset, and
This
is
the strap-and-
be cited as prominent examples.
Thus we have the Renaissance ornament expressed in England, almost at the same
the pure Italian, the Franco-Italian, the Walloonperiod, in four different manners
;
Fig. 282.
OAK PANELLING FROM BECKINGHAM HALL, TOLLESHUNT MAJOR, ESSEX.

ft.
by g ft.
Dated 1546.
4 ins. high
251
7 ins. wide.
Victoria and Albert
Museum.

Italian
and the Dutch-Italian.
tn state, in early
second
in
So sharply are these divided, that
examples, that the hrst
found
in
work
of the
is
it
London craftsmen, the
ornament tend
and Eastern Kent, and the fourth
Southern
in
in the
Midland
Towards the seventeenth century the several versions
and Welsh bordering counties.

of the Italian
oodwork
reasonably safe
Western Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Dorset and Devon, the third
Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex
with some
is
JJ
to coalesce, until, at the
marked exceptions, we get
end of the reign of Elizabeth,
a homogeneous style which
may
be
known
Tudor-Jacobean, with the Dutch-Italian version of the Renaissance markedly

ascendant.
the examples
In
shown
Dutch and Walloon, or Burgundian,
in
as
in the
the following pages, however, these French,
influences
may
be traced even in woodwork of the
middle or late seventeenth century.

Fig. 274
is
town which
Premiere.
given here as an actual example of the French Renaissance, from Rouen,
is
especially rich in Italian ornament, or in the style
Here the panelling
is
in four distinct stages.
known
as Francois
The base above the
skirting
Fig. 283.
OAK LINENFOLD PANELLING.

5
ft.
6J
ins. high.
252
J.
Dupuis Cobbold, Esq.
Wood
is
V-grooved
in line
lower panels are
tall
with the styles of the
and
The devices adopted

suspended from ribbons. The
and half-balusters are fixed
dentilled capping-rail.
foliated scrolls
carved with
and
initials.
stage of the panelling above.
slender, enriched with the Italian
only.
by a
first
ornament
Above
is
The two stages
figures, centred at intervals
with laurelled cartouches and bosses
For excellence of design and
panels are exactly alike.

is
unrivalled in Rouen, as an expression of
the pure Renaissance manner, with the single exception of the
Maclou
one of the
in
which another influence, that
finest, this St.
are divided
a broad frieze, carved with a running pattern of
execution this panelling from St. Vincent
in St.
upper part
above has every panel entirely covered with ornament,
to cover each upright muntin.
Xo two
in the
Vincent panelling
is
work
of
Jean Goujon
of
Burgundy, is apparent. Although

by no means the earliest example of the
Renaissance in France, reckoned within the narrow limits of a decade or two.
same
style
is
These
and moulded tablets
are cartouches of various shapes,

tier
and Mantels
Panellings
clearly noticeable in the panelling
from Great Fulford
in
The
Devon, Fig. 275.
Fig. 284.
DETAIL OF THE LINENFOLD PANELLING,

Frieze sight 25 ins.
by 4!
ins.
Panels 8
ins.
wide.
FIG. 283.
Muntins
3 ins.
J.
253

Much
of
this lias
remains to show
JJ
oodwork
been added to at quite recent date, but enough of the original work
its
typically French character.
There
is
the same kind of frieze as at
Rouen, but here broken up by half-balusters, which are also used to cover the muntins
of the
same way as in the St. Vincent work. The ornament,

cartouches, carved with heads and devices, is quite in the French manner
upper
of circular
the
tier of panels, in
with two rows of the English vertically-moulded linenfold panels below.
There are
Fig. 285.
THE STUDY PANELLING FROM HOLYWELLS, IPSWICH.

(Ex Tankard Inn).
8
ft.
ii ins. high.
Mid-sixteenth centurv.
J.
254
Dupuis Col bold, Esq.
Wood
carved
various
dates
panels,
which suggest
on
the
that
and Mantels
Panellings
o
original
work
the
extended over a period of more than
twenty years.
has
been
and
with
adopted
additions.
style
The same system
of dating
the
modern
same general
about the same date. The
Fig.
of
276
of the
is
variations in the moulding of the three

tiers
of
panels should be noted as an
interesting
detail.
We
have seen the
same device adopted in the

Above and below, the
260.
screen, Fig.
finish
is
the
spear-head, but the central panels
are
carved in
the
folds
of
close
linen.
of
representation
Between the
foliated
Fig. 287.
DETAIL OF THE PANELLING,
FIG. 285.
panels are half-balusters, of semi-octa-
gonal
scribed
section,
at
bottom
the
over the top chamfer of the cross-rail,

the upper
row
from the
rail
ornament
of the
delicate
cotting,
of
muntins being
that
for
than
than
is
Fig. 286.
DETAIL OF THE STUDY PANELLING,
made
for the
if
it
house
work
Devon-
of
doubt that the
little
panelling from Great

original county,
the
of
more
wains-
Fulford
the
in
back
The
is
upper panels
Sussex
There
set
purpose.
suggestive more
Eastern
shire.
of
Fulford
is
in
its
was not actually

it
is
in at present.
FIG. 285.
So
-55
much
fine
woodwork was
looted
roodwork

from churches shortly
after 1650, however, that
it
JJ
unwise to be positive on such
is
points.
The panelling from Waltham,

Figs. 277 to 281
may
now
in Essex,
and Albert Museum,
in the Victoria
be cited as the pure Italian expression of the Renaissance, almost
without influence from either France or the
Low
Here the new manner,
Countries.
introduced directly from Italy by Torrigiano in 1509-17,
is
rendered with great
but with sufficient of the former Gothic influence remaining,

panels in Fig. 277, and in the
establish the fact that some,
if
first,
not
and fourth
third
all,
of this
of the
woodwork
is
the panels from
same
left
the four upper
make.
278
Numbering
and from top to

12 in Fig. 277, and
to
Nos. 10, 11 and 12
in larger detail in Fig. 279.
close
study of the panels in Figs. 275 and 276
show the great
to
to right,
to 27 in Fig. 278.
shown
are
in
tier in Fig.
of English
bottom, we have from
from 13
as
fidelity,
will
differences in the inspiration of
compared with this ^'altham panelling.

With work as far removed in origin as Sussex or
these,
Devonshire on the one hand, and a place which

is,
suburb of London,
at the present day, almost a
we would expect
marked
to find such
Of the panels, as numbered above

reference, 1, 2, 3, 4, 13, 15
workmen, brought
Torrigiano
directly,
to
this
That the
or
Italian
country either by
who
followed
in
his
much
work
of these panels,
not
is
probable, but the design of the door, Fig. 281,
is
English beyond question.
of the actual
is
this elaborate wainscotting,
known with recorded
the panels were, originally, in

FIG. 285.
8, 11, 14,
if
nothing
DETAIL OF THE PANELLING,
Italian
may have been responsible for the designing,
Of the origin of
Fig. 288.
easy
26 and 27 are purely Italian without
a trace of French inspiration.
train,
for
and 16 are
with strong English influence, whereas

18, 21, 25,
variation.
is
unquestionable.
256
certainty.
That
Waltham Abbey,
They were removed from
Fig. 289.
OAK PANELLING AND DOOR

Door panels
ni
ins.
by
-j\
THE STUDY AT HOLYWELLS.
IN
ins. sight.
Overdoor
ft.
4 ins.
by
1 ft.
9J
ins.
J.
257
Dupuis Cobbold, Esq

a
house
It
700.
up
the town, to the Victoria
they were taken
that
1
in
is
from
the.
and Albert Museum
Abbey
buildings,
How
they came into
when
Waltham Abbey
made
wealthy prelate, Abbot of Waltham and Prior of
and
his
the
it
Museum
not so certain.
is
suggested that Robert Fuller, the last abbot, had them

a
oodwork
is
known
St.
authorities
It
has been
for his lodgings.
Fuller
Bartholomew, Smithfield,
apartments would, undoubtedly, have been sumptuously furnished, but there
air evidences, in the panels themselves,
large detail, Fig. 279,
which suggest a
we have the Beaufort
later date
Tudor
portcullis, the
than 1526.
rose,
In the
and the chevron
Fig. 290.
MANTEL
9
in
noted that they were purchased by the town at this date, and fitted
acquired them.
was
1889, but
in
when they were demolished
the house from which they were finally taken,
in
JJ
ft.
6J
ins.
wide over column bases

2 ft. 6 J ins.
THE STUDY, HOLYWELLS, IPSWICH.
IN
;
ft.
ins.
wide over pilasters
columns 2 ft. io
height of pilasters
;
ins.
ft.
ij ins. sight-size of panel;
to mantelshelf.
J.
25S
Fig. 291.
OAK PANELLING
Lower panels 24J
IN
ins.
THE STUDY AT HOLYWELLS, IPSWICH.
by 8|
ins.
Upper panels iSi
ins.
by 9*
ins. sight.
J.
259
bl
Id
H
Id
X
Id
J
<
X
In
<
Id
Z
"
a
z
Id
Z
<
Oh
<
M
OS
<N
bi
260
"S
Wood
Panellings
and Mantels
CARVED OAK CHIMNEY BEAMS.
Fig. 294.
HOUSE
IN
10
MARKET STREET, LAVENHAM, SUFFOLK.

ft.
3 ins.
long by 12
and 15A
ins.
ins. high.
Miss Priest Peck.
Fig. 295.
..
*b
Fig. 296.

Early sixteenth century (about 1500).
Initials T.P.
carved on shield.
between three mullets

Fig. 278
is
(or
spur rowels) of Blackett.
In the panel of the lower tier in
the pomegranate of Aragon, repeated twice, and alternating with the
This heraldry would have been utterly
rose.
Robert Fuller.
and
Noel Buxton, Esq.
its first
The Abbey
purchaser
(at a
fell
false
if
the panellings had been
into the clutches of
bargain price, we
may
made
for
at the Dissolution,
be sure, as the monastic possessions
were disposed of by Henry for any sum they would

been the Blackett whose arms appear.
Henry VIII
Tudor
realise at a forced sale)
The royal cognisances were,
may have
possibly,
the
expression of the family's gratitude for a good bargain driven with the royal vendor.
1
The mullet has five straight

The estoile has six wavy
third son.
points in English heraldry and six in French.

points.
261
It is the filial distinction of

We
shall see, in the next
JWoodwork
example, another instance of the same commemoration of an
advantageous purchase.
Henry divorced Catherine
in 1533, three
years before the dissolution of the great
monasteries began, and her cognisance of the pomegranate would hardly have been
introduced
later,
but Wolsey had fallen in 1529, and by one of the meanest tricks of
which a king has ever availed himself, the estates of the clergy were held to be
by reason
of the
forfeited,
acknowledgment, by the Church, of Wolsey's legatine authority,
although this had been used with the express sanction of the King.
on this pretext, and at this date, that Waltham was seized upon,
and subsidies by which the Church extricated

theory be admitted,
itself
It
may have
been
in lieu of the fines
from the royal clutches.
we have a probable date between 1529 and 1533
for this
If this
Waltham
panelling.
Shortly after the dissolution had commenced, in earnest, and monastic property
was being surrendered on a wholesale
scale,
of the Abbey, but on the panelling his
we
find Sir
arms do not
Anthony Denny
figure
in possession
anywhere, and there
Fig. 297.
OAK MANTEL FORMERLY
IN
THE OAK PARLOUR AT PARNHAM PARK, BEAMINSTER.

(Afterwards removed to the Hall).
262
is

was there when he acquired Waltham, possibly by purchase,
His son Sir Edward Denny, partially rebuilt the Abbey, which had
strong probability that
from Blackett.
fallen into a
it
somewhat ruinous
state, in the latter years of the reign of Elizabeth.
appears to have been again rebuilt

panellings were
removed
From Beckingham
in
1725,
and pulled down
in
1760,
when
It
these
to the house in the town, before referred to.
Hall, in Essex,
comes the elaborate panelling shown
Fig. 298.
TATTERSHALL CASTLE, LINCOLNSHIRE.

Lord Treasurer Cromwell's chimney-piece on the ground
Date about 1424.
263
floor.
in
Fig. 282
i&SfcS*
v->
._,
.L.
.--.,
u--.
>.
-iri-nrHirv
Fig. 299.
PLASTER PANEL.
Late-sixteenth-century type.
Morant,
is,
"
in his
History of Essex," Vol.
obviously, the
same house.
I,
p. 390, refers to
to Coggeshall
Abbey.
King Stephen, was the property of

Tolleshunt Tregoz, or Darcy, and was given
This, in the reign of
Geffrey de Tregoz, lord of the next parish of
by him
Tolleshunt Beckingham, which
It figures in
the inventory taken at the dissolution of the
referred to as owned by
"
which was
Robert son of Corbutio, a tenant-in-chief in the three eastern counties,
In
Abbey's possessions 5th February, 1538.
by Sercar
held
as a
maner and
as 1 hide,
is
Domesday
it is
held of R(obert)
by Mauger (Malgerus)."
Mauger that the name Tolleshunt Major derives.

In 153S Henry VIII granted the manor to Sir Thomas Seymour, brother of the Duke
of Somerset (a statesman whose ambitions brought him to the headsman's block), but
from
It is
this
Seymour exchanged it with the King after a few years. In 1543 it was granted to Stephen
Beckingham and his wife, Anne, and the heirs of Stephen, by the name of Tolleshunt
Major, or Tolleshunt Grange.
church.
is
Stephen Beckingham died
Royal grants being usually slow
1558 and was buried in the
in
of completion, especially at that period,
it
probable that the date 1546, carved in two places on this panel, records the actual
1
year when Beckingham took possession.
shield on the
first
and
of
Henry VIII, a quarterly
fourth, azure, three fleurs-de-lys in pale, or, on the second
Hence, possibly, the two inscriptions,

which appear on the panelling.
1
The royal arms
"
Ingratitude
264.
is
Death" and
"
He
and
giveth Cirace to the Humble,"
Wood
Panellings
o
and Mantels
third, gules, three lions passant, in pale, or, crested with a six-barred helmet, affrontee,
and
as supporters a
crowned
lion
the panels at one of the periods
and a winged wyvern,
when
may
have been designed with
the house was in Henry's hands, in which case,
the carved date would have been added some eight years later, marking the year
Fig. 300.
OAK CHIMNEY-PIECE.
Removed from
Now
a former house of Sir Orlando Bridgman Coventry.

in the Refectory at Bablake Schools, Coventry.
Width
8 ft. ii ins. outside jambs.

265
when
Fig. 301.
LYME PARK, CHESHIRE, PLASTER OVERMANTEL
266
IN
THE LONG GALLERY.
JJ ood
Panellings
and Mantels
Fig. 302.
LYME PARK, CHESHIRE. PLASTER OVERMANTEL
IN
THE KNIGHT'S ROOM.
Fig. 303.
LYME PARK, CHESHIRE. PLASTER OVERMANTEL

267
IN
THE STONE PARLOUR.

the house
came
arms used
in
and
this
may
be an instance, especially as the H.R.
is
is
Henry disposed
It
is
reversed,
and another
introduced in the lower central panel.
the true one, and the Royal
or sale of the house.
price.
oodwork
Beckingham's possession. It is not rare, however, to find the royal

the decoration of houses which have never been in the possession of a king,
the carved date
any
into
ably that of Beckingham,
gift,
Jf
The purchase
of the monastic possessions
has always been
difficult to
Arms were
price,
if
It is
inserted as a
coat, prob-
probable that
memento
of the
any, must have been very low, as
immediately they
fell
into his hands,
and at
dispose of stolen goods to advantage, and
Henry VIII furnished no exception to the rule. The results of his spoils were all dissipated in a few years, and the King had to turn to other sources to furnish the means for
his unbounded extravagance.
This fragment evidently formed a part of the panelling over a mantel, but
doubtful
if
the rest of the
fine quality, well designed,
room was on
a similarly elaborate scale.
The carving
under strong influence from Burgundian sources.
have been the work of some of the Walloon craftsmen who settled
in
It
it
is
is
of
may
Essex and Suffolk
Fig. 304.
LYME PARK, DISLEY, CHESHIRE. SIR PIERS LEGH'S

ENTRANCE IN LEONI'S HOUSE.
268
Jf ood Panellings
and Mantels
That the panelling was made in England is almost certain

a quartered English oak, and the constructional details are not foreign.
at this period.
the
wood
is
At Holywells, Ipswich, Mr. John D. Cobbold has gathered together a very fine
collection of elaborate panellings and woodwork, taken from Ipswich inns and houses
which have been demolished during recent years.
came the
rich linenfold panelling
added
and the capping-rail
to,
measures 9
ft.
4I
ins. in
be seen on the extreme
is
shown here
modern.
width and
left
hand,
any attempt
at concealment.
about 1540.
Fig.
ft.
in the
the
in Fig. 283.
One
6J
From
Neptune Inn,
It
in
has been restored and
of the original sections illustrated here
ins. in height.
The
addition, which can
photograph, has been frankly made, without
These linen panels, with their Italian
284 shows a portion to a larger
scale.
It will
frieze,
date from
be noticed here, as in
Beckingham panelling, that the panel mouldings are truly mitred, instead
mitres being worked in the solid, in the stonemason's manner.
the
Fig. 305.
1913,
LEONI'S CENTRAL COURTYARD.

269
of the
the
oodwork
JJ
Examples of carved Renaissance panels from the Study at Holywells, removed from
Tankard Inn, are illustrated in Figs. 285 to 291. The framings have been altered
and adapted
to
fit
of these are exceedingly quaint.
Thus
in the lower panel
representation of the tempting of Christ

a shield, with a coat of arms, the
The device below
Some
the room, but the integrity of the panels has been preserved.
this
by the
on the right of Fig. 285
The one on the
Devil.
same being repeated on the left-hand
is
left of this
has
side of the door.
second coat appears to suggest an original owner's
It is
initial.
obviously improbable that this rich panelling
was made
that much,
of Sir
an inn
for
not
if
(in fact, it
came from the house
all,
Thomas Wingfield
left of
whose
in Ipswich,
on the lower
device, a double wing, appears
panel on the
known
is
the door in Fig. 285)
We have seen, however, that Mistress Quickly

refers
tapestries in the dining-rooms of
to
her tavern, but these, as Falstaff suggests,
were probably old,
"
"
fly-bitten
and. worth-
The panel mouldings of Fig. 286 are

modern those of Fig. 287 show the original
less.
sections, Fig. 288 has the initials
Gothic
letters,
"
N.A."
in
suspended from a knotted
2
rope, elaborately intertwined in the branches
beneath which are two
of a tree,
which
may
represent
Adam
figures,
and
Eve.
Below, the device of Sir Thomas Wingfield
The panel mouldings and
appears again.
framings here,
'
"
Or
also, are
modern.
H.A."
festooned cord (although not of the same interlacing as in this panel) was the device of Anne of Brittany,
the consort of two French Kings, Charles VIII (who met
-
by knocking his head against

low door in a terrace wall at Amboise),
and his cousin and successor, Louis XII. This festooned
his death, so tradition says,
the lintel
Fig. 306.
LYME PARK, CHESHIRE. THE ENTRANCE

FRONT OF THE OLD HOUSE.
Detail.
i>f
cord, alternating with
the
ermine,
may
be seen in the
oratory built as an addition to Loches, in

Touraine, by Charles XIII. and which bears the name of
exquisite
his
little
Queen.
JJ ood
Panellings
and Mantels
That these carved

were made
panels
the
one room,
for
the
in
original instance,
highly probable
is
they
no sense, pieces
are, in
from several sources

That
collected together.
rich
panellings of
this
kind were not made at
one
added
to,
were
but
period,
from time to
time, frequently over a
considerable
years, there
space
is
of
consider-
able evidence to show.
At Great Fulford,
have seen,
many
as
Fig. 307.
we
OAK OVERDOOR FROM ROTHERWAS, HEREFORD.

Carved with the arms of Bodenham quartering Baskerville.
C.J. Charles, Esq.
of the
panels are dated, and in

Fig. 289,
above the door, the escutcheon, as
in Fig. 285,
is
here impaled with another, prob-
ably to indicate a marriage, in which case the added coat would be that of the husband.
There
is,
possibly, a
good deal
of significance in the designing of this panel, but without
an authenticated history of the woodwork, the meaning of the devices, such as the
knotted rope, repeated again here, must remain obscure.
to
The turned balusters which support the canopy of the mantel, Fig. 290, are original
the shelf-line. The central panel represents quaint scenes, probably from mythological
among
history,
others, the
Judgment
of Paris.
Escutcheons are shown again
in the
lower panels of Fig. 291, the coat on the sinister side of the overdoor, Fig. 289, here
impaled with another, probably to commemorate a second marriage
The
Vicars' Hall, or to give
it its full title,
alliance.
the Hall of the Vicars Choral,
is
now
mere fragment of a building in South Street, Exeter. Above the door is the legend
"
Aula Collegii Vicariorum de Choro," which conveys to the Latinist an idea of the
purpose for which it was built. It formed part of the property, if not of the Cathedral
Church,
which
the Vicars
who
is
now reached through
officiated at the services.
the later archway at the side,

It
271
was customary,
in the
certainly
of
Middle Ages, for a
Fig. 308.
TISSINGTON HALL, DERBYSHIRE.
PANELLING
272
IN
THE HALL.
Fig. 309.

Panelling
now
in the
drawing-room, formerly in the long gallery.

273
;wg
,j&*
Ith"
1
<.\\\\.w.
SS-ikft?"
>ûii,.
Fig. 311.
Fig. 310.
OAK
OAK PILASTER.
PILASTERS.
Removed from a house

c.
at Exeter.
1600.
Victoria and Albert
Museum.
'74
From
a house in Lime
St.,
City of London.
Fig. 312.
OAK PILASTERS AND PANELLING FROM A HOUSE AT EXETER.

c
1600.
275
Victoria and Albert
Museum.
Early English Furniture and JJôodwork
9MQ
- '-^v
.^*
Jfc.
^^m
^"AMMP^JniNJwiiAb^J
Fig. 313.
FRIEZE DETAILS OF THE EXETER PANELLING.
lIMlll^lllllllllllUi * *
Fig. 314.

276
Wood
Panellings
o
and Mantels
and Singing Men, or choristers, to be retained for the services, and

"
Common Room " for meals and recreation hours. On the
the Vicars' Hall was their
number
of Priests
other side of the archway, before referred
to,
once united to the main building, weir
the living chambers, kitchens, buttery and domestic
been absorbed into business premises.
offices,
The Vicars appear
to
but these have long since
have possessed considerable
Fig. 315.
Fig. 316.

277

property during their history, and Bishop Grandisson, 1338-70, was their great benefactor.
At
and Choristers numbered twenty-four. Bishop Oldham,

"
Common Room," and the
have made some additions to the
this period the Priests
1507-1522, appears to
linenfold panelling, which

his time.
is
The stone mantel
and 293, probably dates from

certainly earlier, and may be the work of
illustrated here in Figs. 292

in the
Hall
is
There are indications that the mantel has been
Bishop Brantingham, 1370-1394.
taken apart and rebuilt, probably when
Hugh Oldham's
Bishop Oldham's linenfold panelling
an elaborate
is
alterations took place.
tier of
Above
arcaded and carved wood-
work, with the royal arms placed in the middle of the flank facing the gallery, and on two
cartouches the date, 1629,
restorations in the Hall.
rich bulbous-leg table
is
carved.
This
is
There are
many evidences
of later
and very ignorant
especially noticeable in the case of the exceptionally
which stands at
this
end of the room.
Reference will be
made
Fig. 317.
OAK-PANELLED ROOM, FORMERLY
IN
A HOUSE ON THE OLD QUAY, YARMOUTH
Dated 1595.
>
7S
Lord Rochdale.
Jfrood
to this again, in a later chapter dealing with the
indications that the cutting through of the
Panellings
development
and Mantels
of tables.
archway has shorn the Hall
There are also

of
some
of its
former proportions, and the gallery has been brought forward into the Hall and doors
of later date adapted.
literal
The panelling
is
very interesting, and exceptional
in
being a
representation of the folding of soft linen, as compared with other examples
which we have considered, where the

series of
Charles
effect is that of starched or stiff material.
arcaded panels are true to their period, that of the

I.
That the Hall
originally possessed a gallery
the original panelled or balustraded front has disappeared.
has been cut and adapted on more than one occasion
was formed, and
also at a late date.
at
is
first
The upper
years of the reign of
highly probable, but
if
so,
The present Stuart panelling

the time when the new gallery
The stone chimney-piece
is
of early-fifteenth-century
character, similar in type, but not so rich in detail as those at Tattershall (see Fig. 298).
Fig. 318.
THE PLASTER CEILING OF THE OAK-PANELLED ROOM,

279
FIG. 317.
U roodwork
Fig. 319.
THE OAK-PANELLED ROOM,
In the same
FIG. 317.
way as with the staircase,
THE CARVED PANELS OVER THE MANTEL.
the chimney-piece acquires a size and dignity
towards the end of the sixteenth century, which
it
had not possessed, previously. The

century, and earlier, does not appear
problem of the warming of churches in the fifteenth

to have been attempted at that period
These churches possess no fireplaces, nor any signs
that such ever existed.
Portable stoves were unknown, unless we except cressets or
.
braziers, which,
if
used,
must have been
totally inadequate,
that our fifteenth-century ancestors endured extremes of cold,
we, at the present day, are totally unaccustomed.
and large
halls, fireplaces,
where they
Even
exist, are nearly

280
and we can only assume

in sacred edifices, to which
in early
monastic refectories
always of later date.
TVood Panellings and Mantels
fire
With timber houses, fireplaces and stacks of chimneys were the rule, but the usval
opening was supported by a brick or stone arching, and an oak beam or bressomer.
This constituted the domestic mantel up to the middle of the sixteenth century.
These
chimney-beams were often well carved, cambered
to prevent sagging,
with panelling either especially enriched,
the example from Tolleshunt Major,
a:,
in
and finished above
Fig. 320.
THE OAK-PANELLED "NELSON" ROOM, FORMERLY

1595-16CO.
2
281
IN
THE STAR HOTEL, GREAT YARMOUTH.

Fig. 282, or
matching that
of the
room
opinion of the fire-resisting qualities of oak.
which have persisted to our day, beyond

mere surface charring, the timber has remained as sound as it was when it was worked.
from the direct action of the

a
Four examples
first is
from a house
the
tire,
in those
of these carved fireplace lintels are given in Figs.

in
Market
from Stoke-by-Nayland,
in
and
The early carpenters had a high

These beams are seldom, if ever, protected
as in Fig. 269.
is
Lavenham,
Street,
later,
and
is
early-sixteenth-century manner.
house built about the year 1500 by
294 to 297.
of the late fifteenth century.
The
Fig. 295,
squared to rest upon the brick or stone jambs

Fig. 296
is
Thomas Paycocke,
from Paycockes, Coggeshall, a

a wealthy merchant and great
Fig. 321.
THE OAK-PANELLED ROOM WITH INTERIOR PORCH,

1595-1600.
282
FIG. 320
Wood
Panellings
C3
and Mantels
benefactor to the Abbe}' and the Church in the closing years of the fifteenth century.
The
lintel illustrated
central shield, and
The Abbey
here
it is,
is
shown
in situ, in Fig. 269.
It
bears the initials T.P. in the
therefore, original to the house.
of Coggeshall
was founded by King Stephen, and was one
of the thirteen
houses of the order of Savigny, the whole of which joined the Cistercians in 1147.
Some
in 1536.
Opinions are divided as to who was the last abbot at the Dissolution
authorities give Henry More, whereas Morant states that William Love was the abbot
at this date.
Tolleshunt Major, or Beckingham, was a part of the
Fig. 322.

1595-1600.
280
FIG. 320.
Abbey
property.
Fig. 323.

284
FIG. 320.
THE MANTEL.
Wood
Panellings
and Mantels
Fig. 324.
FIG. 320.
*&S
DETAILS OF THE OVERMANTEL.
Early English Furniture arid IVoodwork
Fig. 325.
FIG. 320.
DETAIL OF PANELLING AND PILASTERS.

286
Wood
Panellings
and Mantels
Fig. 326.
FIG. 320.
2S7
THE INTERIOR PORCH.
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Fig. 297
is
an example from Parnham Park, Beaminster, Dorset, formerly
oak parlour, but removed
to the Great
Hall some twelve years ago.
early-sixteenth-century date, but this lintel

house.
It
is,
essentialby,
may have
Parnham
been preserved from a
a timber-house chimney-beam, whereas
in the
Parnham
still
is
is
of
older
stone-
built.
The most
typical examples of the stone-lintelled mantelpieces of the fifteenth century
Fig. 329.
OAK CHIMNEY-PIECE.
The stone
lining
is
carved with the arms of the Huxleys of Edmonton.

Date about 1610.
289
Early English Furniture and Jl oodwork

may
be found in Lord Treasurer Cromwell's Castle of Tattershall.
One
of these
trated in Fig. 298, refixed at the time of the recent restorations to the Castle.
these stone mantels that the early
mantel acquired
built this
its
chimney-beams
later decorative importance.
of
It
At
the date
his elevation to the post of Treasurer of the
the money-bags which are carved in each of the corner panels.

ably, the designer of both the Castle
and
decorations.
its
is
from
oak were copied, before the wood
when
Tattershall
mantel represented the highest development of chimney decoration.
Cromwell symbolised
is illus-
Exchequer
in
Ralph
1424 by
Waynflete was, prob-
In selecting stone mantels of
Fig. 330.
OAK MANTEL.
HEMSTED, KENT.
A
reproduction.
The panelling
of this
room
is
original early-seventeenth-century work.
Viscount Rothermere.
290
was
Wood
this kind, as
earliest
finest
examples extant at their day.
attempts at decorating the space above the mantel appear to have
consisted of plaster panels set in flush with the wall-face.
even in timber houses, were, of course, constructed either

vertical
use
it
and Mantels
models for their carved oak chimney-beams, therefore, the designers of
timber houses were copying the
The
Panellings
oak stud- work
over the mantel.
may have had
The
and chimney
breast,
in brick or stone, and, while
a certain decorative
It is exceptional,
flue
effect, it
was dangerous
to
however, to find any attempt at embellishing
Fig. 331.
CARVED OAK PANEL

3
ft.
3| ins. wide
by
ft.
ioj
ins. nigh.
Late sixteenth or early seventeenth century.

Victoria and Albert
291
Museum.
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JJ ood
and Mantels
Panellings
As a general rule, rooms were

space above them for more than a single row
this space before the latter half of the sixteenth century.
and mantels high, with very little

panels, if the room was completed with panelling
low,
of
These flush plaster
to the ceiling.
panels or overmantels were very popular in Lancashire, Derbyshire and Cheshire from
about 1570 to 1600, and were frequently enriched with colours.

as typical of this period
plaster panels
is
and
district.
To
often false.
The heraldry
this date
belong
Fig. 299
may be regarded
of the coats in the shields of these
many
of the allusive coats
which
puzzle the heralds of the present day.
and prominence very rapidly towards the close

In Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Cheshire and Lancashire
The oak mantel develops

of the sixteenth century.
there
in size
a strong tendency towards an almost barbaric richness of ornament, coupled
is
with the adoption of a type at a date

Fig. 300,
now
Bridgman.
fashion.
At
The
in
much
later
Bablake Schools, was formerly
its
than
in the
its
fashion in other counties.
Coventry house of
removal the original jambs were replaced with others
Sir
Orlando
of quite simple
peculiarity of the later Midland development of the sixteenth-century
Renaissance can be studied in this chimney-piece.
The
detail
must have been accentuated when the overmantel possessed
is
coarse, an effect
its original
heavy
which
cornice.
Fig. 334.
OAK MANTEL FROM LIME STREET,

6
ft.
wide.
CITY OF LONDON.
Date about 1620.

Victoria and Albert
'-93
Museum.

If there
be such a style, in woodwork, as Elizabethan, then the arcaded panels, with
the arches flattened, and centred by keystones with turned pendants beneath, and the
shields below framed in paper-scrolling,
may
be described as being a Midland County
1
perpetuation of that manner in a mantel of the seventeenth century.
however, to state that English woodwork
in the
Midlands had become
geneous at this period to admit of any such style-classification

appears to have possessed
appear
As
in
them
all,
and
its
It is
own manner, although such
each
hardly correct,
sufficiently
homo-
district or
county
details as the arcaded panel
persist for nearly a century.
illustrating this richness of
ornamentation
Midlands at the beginning
in the
of
the seventeenth century, and, at the same time the use of an earlier style, the three
overmantels from
Lyme
Park, Figs. 301 to 303,
Unfor-
be given as examples.
may
tunately, these are merely castings from originals which have disappeared, probably
when Leoni
much he added
the
considerable
when
1603,
Lyme
built
Piers
Sir
amount
in,
judging from the
exist
still
woodwork
of fine
original fragments of panelling
which
At
as his habitation,
must have been put

cases
How
house.
also conjectural.
is
date, about
Legh
the
rebuilt
in
and
stair-
Leoni
the
house. That some desire must have been
preserve as
felt to
as
was
much
of this old house
possible, consistent with its con-
siderable enlargement in
indicated
by the
all
directions,
is
central portion of the
entrance front, Figs. 304 and 306, which
has been rebuilt with the old stones,
marred, however, by the classical windows
which Leoni inserted.
Leoni's central courtyard,
be
Height
ft.
8 ins.
no
that
PILASTERS.
width
feature here
it
of
will
the
on these elevais
the size of the
ft. 1 in.
1
First half of the seventeenth century.
Victoria
tions.
and
fragment
original house remains
Fig. 335.
OAK PANEL AND
seen
shows
Fig. 305
and Albert Museum.
294
This mantel
is earlier,
is
dated 1629.
The general
however, even for Warwickshire.
style
>$J\iiM+\l *i*MidJiKfi
Fig. 336.
THE HOUSE OF
SIR
PAUL PINDAR, FORMERLY

Built 1600.
IN
BISHOPSGATE WITHOUT.
Demolished 1890.
Victoria
295
and Albert Museum.

in the
panes
glass
sash-barring of the windows,
of beautiful colour, with the whirling
is
It is idle to
served.
all of fine
The
conjecture
why
marks
crown
and
glass,
visible in
This
all intact.
every pane.
the originals of these fine overmantels were not pre-
plaster copies are richly coloured
and emblazoned, but
impossible to
it is
The
imagine that these are the mantels of the early-seventeenth-century house.
original
chimney-pieces must have been removed while the house was being rebuilt, and, with
would have been impossible. It is more reasonable to suppose that the

originals were in sculptured stone, and were incapable of being removed without breakage, and before taking them down these plaster copies were made. Lyme is in a stone
plaster, this
county
there are stone outcrops everywhere in the Park,
and
Legh may have
Sir Piers
chosen the more accessible, and more durable, material for his mantelpieces, with the
idea that his house
would
persist for a period considerably longer
had not reckoned with changes
of taste, or desires for vast
rooms
his
He
than a century.
of great height,
which
Jacobean house could not
satisfy.
These
plaster
mantels,
copies
as
over-
may
they
be, are exceptionally interesting
showing
the
work which was put
into
as
nevertheless,
rich
a Knight's country house in the

first
James I.
The
oak
Rotherwas,
Fig- 37>
Flemish
ment,
is
in
the
sixteenth
There
example of the
develop-
Welsh bordering
the
close
century.
is
from
County Hereford,
Renaissance
in
of
reign
overdoor
a good
counties, at
the
of
years
of
the
Here we
the possibility that these
plaster overmantels are actual originals

from the old house of Lyme. In their
present state of later emblazonry,

impossible to say.
If original,
been both repaired and added

u
Fig. 337.
SHERARD HOUSE, ELTHAM, KENT.

296
it
is
they have
to, either
y Leoni, or at a later date. The mantels

below appear to be from his designs.
Wood
Panellings
and Mantels
have the coarse fretwork ornamented with strap-and-jewel and pierced pinnacles, in
the manner which permeated Lancashire, Warwickshire, Shropshire, Derbyshire and
Herefordshire very thoroughly at this period, especially in the designing of staircases
The arms carved on
such as at .Aston Hall.

quartering Baskerville.
is illustrated in
shield of the
overdoor are those of
Bodenhams, with
its
Bodenham
twenty-five quarterings,
Fig. 346.
The custom
carved
The
this
pilasters,
of
making wall
panellings, with the join of the sections
masked by
appears to have originated
at the very close of the sixteenth century,
have been very general throughout

England. At an earlier period any joins in
and
to
the lateral rails of panellings were frankly
made, scarfed together with no attempt at

In Derbyshire, Cheshire and
concealment.
Lancashire, the usual plan appears to have
been to make both the panellings and the

pilasters in
stages,
distinct lateral sections or
divided by a moulded surbase or

as at Tissington,
dado-rail,
Lyme,
two
Fig.
and
Fig. 308,
The same system was
309.
adopted, in a different manner, in the case of

the East Anglian
woodwork
In
of this date.
the Tissington panelling this arrangement

better indicated, the fluted
is
with
pilasters
moulded-panel bases having both dado and

skirting mitred round in the one unbroken
lateral line.
that of a
At Lyme, the panelling, originally
Long
Gallery, has been very badly
adapted to the present drawing-room, with

the stages of the pilasters not in vertical
and the whole
effect
angle-pilaster which
of the
wall,
line,
marred by the enormous

is
fixed to the junction
compass-window recess with the flank

and which cuts the panelling up in a
very unfortunate manner.

2
Yet
this
wood297
Fig. 338.
OAK-PANELLED ROOM FROM SHERARD HOUSE.

Showing paint and wall-paper
c,
1630.
partially removed.

work, such as
is
original,
that at Tissington in
far transcends
decoration of moulding, carving and inlay.

the
woodwork
rule.
Both
at
of
which
is
Lyme and
It is
if
ever,
design and rich
exceedingly refined, yet in a county
remarkable for the absence of such a quality, as a general

at Tissington there
is
the
same interlaced arches
small fluted pilasters, with moulded tablets on the intersections,

rarely,
its
found other than
in the
rising
detail
from
which
Western Midland Counties.
Fig. 339.
OAK PANELLING AND MANTEL FROM SHERARD HOUSE, ELTHAM, KENT

c.
1630
298
Arthur H. Vernay, Esq.
is
Wood
The
panellings of the South-west of
and Mantels
Panellings
o
England vary very
little,
in the
type of pilasters,
from those of East Anglia or the home counties, although there is considerable difference
in the carving decorations. The Devonshire pilaster is richer in detail, with a long shaft
and nearly always with elaborately carved

skirting,
such as
is
capitals,
but there
usually found in the examples from
The rounded forms
of the
is
the
London and
same low base and
its
outlying districts.
Southern-French Renaissance persist for
many
years in
Devonshire, and give a peculiar opulent character to the carving-decoration of this
Fig. 340.

c.
1630.
299

county, which
is
unmistakable alike
in secular or in ecclesiastical
woodwork.
the most remarkable examples of these ornate West-country panellings
room
in the Victoria
316.
For the purpose
and Albert Museum,

of
illustrated here in Fig. 310
showing the difference
is
and
in decorative character
One
of
the Exeter
Figs. 312 to
more
easily
Fig. 341.

c.
1630.
300
JI
by a comparison
of
r
ood Panellings and Mantels
photographs than by a written explanation, a pilaster from Lime
London design and workmanship, is placed, in Fig. 311, side by side

with those from Exeter. The Lime Street example may be some twenty years the later
which
Street,
is
of
but the character of these carved pilasters does not alter appreciably from
in date,
1600 to 1620.
This oak room from Exeter
Albert Museum, but, in
its
is
one of the older acquisitions of the Victoria and
peculiar richness and strong French character,
one of the most remarkable examples of pilastered panelling which the
perhaps,
Museum
anything to be met with outside of the West-country.
It is totally unlike
sesses.
it is,
pos-
The
Holywells woodwork, described and illustrated in the earlier pages of this chapter,
French
also
but the influence here
in inspiration,
whereas, in this Exeter panelling

Loire,
Anjou
from
There
method both
in
of frieze,
which
is
Rouen
of
this
is
from further south, the country watered by the
logical
and
construction
whether
panelling,
pilaster or
not found
panel-framing,
in the
work
of
or the north of France, and,
an
assortment of
withal,
there
details,
as in the strapping
base
from the north, Normandy or Picardy,
or Touraine, or even
Poitou.
design
it is
is
is
rail in Fig. 312,
the
of
which indicates
an English origin for this woodwork.
The
frieze panels, four of
shown
in Figs.
which are
313 to 316, show the
admixture of Low-Country
Italian
and Southern-French motives which

formed the basis of the
style,
later
Tudor
manner which, although
it
varies considerably in different parts

of
England,
Lancashire,
as,
for
example,
Warwickshire
in
and
Fig. 342.
Cheshire on the one hand, and the
Home
Counties on the other,
is
yet
OAK PANELLING.
House at Uxbridge.
In the Treaty
has a general basic resemblance which

3i

establishes both a country and a date
Street, Fig. 311,
manner, as
source
is
it
for
more
reality,
Home County
but
the
Exeter panels have
typical of the
work
this
exposition
in the case of the
Even
of Flanders.
pairs rather than four, there
is,
in the
influence
Lime
of
the
The
same
original
transmitted through
Street pilaster, the design
Exeter
in the shafts,
from Lime
pilaster
afterwards developed in the hands of London craftsmen.
Italian,
two
the oak
In
origin.
example, we have the
Southern-French channels, whereas,

is
of
pilasters,
which
are,
in
evidence of two designers,
both impregnated with the same manner, yet manifesting such influence, each in a
In the frieze panels,
different
way.
Figs. 313
and 314,
for
example, or in
same dual authorship can be noted, as in

a still more marked fashion, in Figs. 315 and 316.
the
Fig. 343.
ROTHERWAS,
An
CO.
HEREFORD.
oak-panelled bedroom.
C. J. Charles, Esq.
Fig. 344.
ROTHERWAS,
CO.
HEREFORD.
Oak chimney-piece in the Walnut Banqueting Hall (see Fig. 346).

The shield shows the twenty-five quarterings of the shield of Bodenham.
The arms of Bodenham are a fess argent on field azure between three chess rooks
or.

C. J. Charles,
33
Esq.

In considering the
now
in the
bethan
"
then the
mantel from the old house of Sir Orlando Bridgman at Coventry,
Bablake Schools, a doubt was expressed whether such a style as
could be said to exist, in English woodwork.
name
misleading.
is
justified,
but
if
we
are in the late-sixteenth-century
subsequent date), and the same
may
Eliza-
refer to a period only,
a homogeneous style be indicated, then
The Lyme Park mantels
Locality (although of a
If
"
it is
manner
highly
of their
be said of Devonshire in
Fig. 345.
ROTHERWAS,
The walnut
CO.
HEREFORD.
panelling in the Banquet Hall.
34
J. Charles,
Esq.
JVood Panellings
and Mantels
<3

In
the panels were,
formerly,
painted
coats
of
arms,
but these are
now
nearly
obliterated.
Close to
Femur's
the Star Hotel, once the house of William Crowe, one of Eliza-
is
beth's Merchant Adventurers,
Whether the panelling which he put
mantel.
reverse, or
which
is
whether both
of
the more probable,
on two occasions,
town.
who emblazoned the Company's Merchants' Mark on
in
his
was inspired by that in Fenner's, or the

these wainscottings are from the same date, and hand,
in
we can only conjecture.
Crowe was
1596 and 1606, so he must have been a
man
That no more than a year or two divides the woodwork
of
bailiff of
of high
Yarmouth
esteem in the
both houses
is
reason-
ably certain.
Fig. 347.
ROTHERWAS,
Oak
panelling in the
HEREFORD.
CO.
James
Room.
306
See Fig. 348

C. J. Charles, Esq.
Wood
Panellings
and Mantels
Fig. 348.
ROTHERWAS,
Oak mantel
CO.
in the
HEREFORD
James
Room.

C. J Charles, Esq.
307

As
following,
of the
own words can hardly be regarded
repetition of one's
from the
room shown
"
in Figs.
320 to 326, written after a close examination of the panelling.
dexter Sun
in
'
say
the
of his
work
is
Company on
'
target hollow at
not quite in original state.
Thus the
Splendour on the shield has disappeared together with the globe or between
two arms embowed

'
difficult to
to the strictness of the Heralds' College in
arms
the carving of his mantel, and bore the

is
as plagiarism, the
Burlington Magazine," gives a description, with measurements,
Whether William Crowe conformed
the chief rlankes
U roodwork
The
in the crest.
The room measures 24
ft.
the dolphin, sinister, has also suffered.
tail of
in length
by 19
ft.
7 ins. in width.
The
panelling, of
Fig. 349.
ROTHERWAS,
Oak
CO.
panelling and mantel
HEREFORD.
in the Julius Caesar
308
Room.
C. J. Charles, Esq.
JJôod Panellings
fine
quartered and
'
'
silver figured
oak,
is
in
two
and Mantels
stages, the lower with
heavy bolection
mouldings and fluted pilasters with Corinthian capitals and bases. Above is an arcading
flanked with boldly carved caryatids, alternately male and female. In these arches will
The
be noticed one of the few remaining suggestions of the earlier Gothic traditions.
total height of the panelling, to the classical capping
is
ft.
io|
ins.
The
frieze itself is of
moulding under the plaster
modelled plaster, with strapped and interlaced
ornament, a similar motif being repeated on the beams of the

coffered
moulded
"
and
frieze,
The
ceiling.
latter
slightly groined (another Gothic tradition) in large panels enriched
plaster ribs
and
is
with
'
The chimney-piece,
pendentes.'
8
ft. i
in. in
width and 5
ft.
i\
ins. to
the springing of the
Fig. 350.
ROTHERWAS,
Another view
CO.
HEREFORD.
of the Julius Caesar
39
Room.
J.
Charles, Esq.

The
detail of the
The designs
of the carved
arch of the opening, governs the heights of the panelling stages.

overmantel, to a larger scale,
is
shown
in Figs.
323 and 324.
frames surrounding and flanking the arms are the finest features of the whole room.
The curious arrangement

bulls' heads,
photograph.
of the caryatides or carved figures resting
which are repeated
The execution
all
round the room,
of the carving
is
will
ately flanking the central panel, for example.
porch
Two
in the corner
on the
left of
be noticed in the larger scale
very crisp and
from the usual crude cutting associated with Tudor work
on conventionalised
fine,
entirely different
witness the figures immedi-
Another exceptional feature
the chimney-piece,
shown
is
the interior
in the separate illustration.
doors have been contrived, one in each angle, and above are two intricately moulded
panels.
These internal porches are
rare,
not more than three or four other examples
Fig. 351.
BILLESLEY MANOR, WARWICKSHIRE.

Panelling and mantel in the Hall.
3 IQ
H. Burton Tate, Esq.
Wood
Panellings
and Mantels

One
being extanl at the present day.

Castle in Dorsetshire.
halls of the Early
in the later
The
Tudor
idea
period,
It is
best-known
is
in the
probably a modification of the
where the family
life
'
oak
hall at
Skreens
mansion
of the
This old room in the Star Hotel
in the great
was more public and primitive than
is
wealthy or noble English family.

exceedingly interesting for
probably the most elaborate specimen of late Tudor woodwork of
especially
Sherborne
'
days of Elizabeth, when the long gallery superseded the great hall as an
integral part of the country

'
is
of the
when
its
location in the house of a former
many
its
Yarmouth merchant
reasons.
kind extant,
is
considered.
of the original parts being missing or mutilated,
is
in
almost perfect condition, very
and
it
has never suffered from subsequent alteration, such as partitioning, replanning
It
little
or other of the modifications which the
room
in
Sparrowe's House at Ipswich, for instance,
Fig. 354.

Mantelpiece in the Shakespeare Rck m.
Wood
has undergone.
of the
work
Another point
and Mantels
Panellings
of great interest to the antiquarian
In the absence of historical records
at such early date.
the late character
is
it
would have been
referred almost certainly to the middle Stuart period."
The
pilaster of
teenth century
is
East Anglia and the
usually
much
less
Home
Counties in the
flat
strap-work pattern, similar to an applied
general characteristics of
years of the seven-
ornate than the West-country style, with capitals
either of plain mouldings or simple flat Ionic form.
first
fret,
The
shafts are generally carved with
with
little
or no undercutting.
early-seventeenth-century East Anglian and
The
Home County
of details.
panellings are simplicity and lightness of mouldings and general refinement
That from the Palace

of this kind.
This
of
Bromley-by-Bow,
woodwork
is
Figs. 327
and 32S, may be taken
an instructive example
in
two ways.
as a type
We know
its
Fig. 355.

Oak
panelling in the Dining-room.

2 S
313
H. Burton Tate. Esc.
PAN ELLr/^G-o/CTJQN5-AT-)[LLE5LeY-MANQlLACTUAL'/JZE
SSSSftSSSS
c_/eCTION* ITM'/iALL
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yfiCTION-I/M-WE-yHAKESPEARfBoOM
SECTION' JTM-Dl/WG-fcoOM
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*/BGTJO^ IN \5lLLIAR.D -ROOM
TH 15 ROOM
fS
NOT ILLUSTRATED
Fig. 356.
314
Wood
actual date, and
is
it
The panel-arrangement,
two vertically and two
certainly local in make.
upright rectangle surrounded by oblong panels,
with four squares, one in each corner,
is,
apparently, an obvious one, but
usual in panellings of the seventeenth century.

later on, in an
example from
Billesley
Panellinos and Mantels
Manor.
is
of a central
horizontally,
by no means
similar pattern will be noticed again,
The mouldings
an early-seventeenth-century
of the pilasters, returning

detail, as a rule.
At an
on the upright
styles, indicate
earlier date the
base-mouldings were carried round the room in the form of a high dado,
as in the two examples from Yarmouth.
The lower
from the corbelled
stage,
panelling, but
The mantel
shelf
of this
downwards,
is
room
is
somewhat
puzzling.
undoubtedly coeval with the
overmantel
the
has the appearance of a later
and
addition,
from
possibly
We know that
another county.
the panelling had been altered
considerably in the Palace before
it
was
for removal to the

either side
taken down
finally
Museum. On
of the
mantel two
windows had been inserted

the
eighteenth
of
century,
style quite incongruous, as
in
com-
pared with the original work.
The chimney-piece must have

had a
ally,
plain back-board origin-
on which
the moulding
all
projections returned, but this
now
missing,
shelf-moulding
the
panelling
is
and the heavy
now
at
returns on
haphazard,
with an overhang beyond the

styles,
and with no attempt
scribing, the result being a
between the back
of the
at
gap
Fi
357
billesley manor.
mouldoak
ing-return and the face of the
slab doors with steel
box
locks.
panel.
It
is
unthinkable that
h. Burton Tate. Esq.
315

this
was the
overmantel,
original
although
finish
the
the
of
mantelshelf in
column-bases
line
with
room
the
of
this
quality.
corbel-strappings
of
The
the
The
compared with the remainder of the room.
central coat of arms overpowers the whole composition, and the niches on either side
are crested with meaningless fret-and-strap spandrels, the same work, with a coarseness
shelf
below,
is
poor
in
design
almost Lancastrian, being used for a totally superfluous pediment.
If this
overmantel
must be almost a contemporary addition. An examination of

dates may suggest a reason. James I had been on the throne of England barely three
be an afterthought,
it
Fig. 358.
BILLESLEY MANOR.
14 ins.
long by
STEEL BOX LOCK.
gj| ins.
extreme height.
316
Wood
when
years
this
room was
panelled,
and
is
it
and Mantels
Panellings
doubtful whether he had adopted the
The
unicorn, as the sinister supporter to the Royal Arms, at this period.

is
work may have been in progress before

that the room was completed with the mantel only,
also that of the completion of the Palace
the death of Elizabeth.
It is possible
the
and plain panelling above, which would be the

the overmantel, designed round the carved coat
It
date, 1606,
logical finish in a
of arms, being
room
of this height,
added a few years
after.
certainly, a piece of unfortunate designing in an otherwise exceptionally refined
is,
room.
very charming expression of this strap-work style, also of
can be seen
in Fig. 329, a
chimney-piece of oak,
Home County
made without overmantel,
being to carry a flank of the room panelling over the mantelshelf.

free
copy
of this
ling in this
mantel with
manner.
The
its
origin,
the intention
Fig. 330
shows a
missing shelf-returns replaced, and surrounded by panel-
effect is
simple but very charming,
when compared with the
very ornate chimney-pieces of this period.

It is inevitable
last
that the
Home County
expression of the Renaissance during the
quarter of the sixteenth and the opening years of the seventeenth centuries should
Fig. 359.
THE
REVERSE SIDE OF
THE LOCK,
FIG. 358,
3'7
SHOWING THE ARMOURER'S MARK.

vary according to the inspiration of the designer or the
details as the interlacing strap-work
and
skill of
the
U roodwork
workmen.
scrollings, applied keystones, bosses,
Such
diamonds
or split balusters, appear to be general in this work, although the degree of artistic
skill
with which they are used ranges from the highest quality to the mediocre.
the hist belongs the charming oak panel, Fig. 331.
Both design and execution are
superb, suggesting the hand of a foreign carver, whether from France or Flanders,
difficult to say.
St.
Maclou,
is
manner which
The
influence of Jean
Goujon
is
To
it is
apparent, but his strap-work, as at
here intermingled with the Italian motives of wreath and ribbon in a

is
foreign to his style.
The wood
is
English quartered oak, a timber usually
Fig. 360.
BILLESLEY MANOR.
14J
STEEL BOX LOCK.
long by 9 ins. extreme height.

ins.
3-3
H. Eurton Tate, Esq.
U rood
harsh and ungrateful for
fine cutting
Panellings
and Mantels
with the carver's gouge, yet the work here
the uttermost refinement and delicacy.
The treatment
is
of
of the interlacing of the strap-
work forming the surround to the egg-and-tongue-carved inner frame is masterly.

The same handling, in stone instead of wood, can be remarked in the mantel lining
of Fig. 329,
it
may
which
unmistakably an English production, however strongly influenced
is
be from abroad.
There are few,
It
suggests that this panel
be of English origin
any, details in English furniture and
if
for so long as the fret (applied or cut in the solid
may
also.
woodwork which
wood) with enrichments
persist
of split-
*..
Fig. 361.
BILLESLEY MANOR.
14!
STEEL BOX LOCK.
long by gi ins. extreme height.

ins.
319

balusters or bosses.
"
"
This
strap-and-jewel
work
is
found
in panellings
pieces even as early as the closing years of the sixteenth century
on cabinets and chests as
it is
late as the last quarter of the seventeenth.
this popularity are not difficult to
this decoration
The reasons
for
has the merit of cheapness
it
it
gives an effective play of light

in the
and shade, and by the most simple means.

City of London, illustrate this very well.
are exceedingly effective, yet there
is
The three
The designs
a remarkable absence of expensive work.
They
Fig. 362.
BILLESLEY MANOR.
12 ins. long
by
woods, such as bog-oak, for the bosses or balusters, and
permits of the use of various
mantels from Lime Street,
surmise
and chimneyalso met with
8 ins.
STEEL BOX LOCK.
extreme height.
Key
320
7 ins.
long over
all.
JJ ood
Panellings
and Mantels
Fig. 363.
BEDDINGTON MANOR HOUSE.
STEEL DOOR LOCK.
could be reproduced, by modern " mass-production " methods, almost without modifi-
The moulded oval
cation.
is
used with considerable
relief is
In
by means
all four, Figs.
circular boss.
is
skill for this
of facetted bosses
in the
332 to 335, effective use
The charm
and 334,
second these take the form of turned buttons.

is
made
of all clever designing,
There
fully understood.
Figs. 332
and strapped over with moulded keystones,

In the first the
period, in Figs. 332 and 334.
panel, quartered
is
of the split-baluster
the introduction of the unexpected,
the play of line in the key-cornering of the framings in
framed tablets of Figs. 333 and 335,
in the
mouldings broken up by the lateral and vertical strappings,

mitring of the inner framings.
and the oval or
The
pilasters,
from mediocrity of design by the applied

with the uttermost economy of means.
in the first,
in the second,
with the
by the
clever
with their downward taper, are redeemed
frets
and
split balusters,
an
effect
achieved
In Fig. 332, the dentil-course under the cornice
mitred forwards in four distinct stages (an extravagance), whereas in Fig. 333, the
breaks are formed hy cutting the dentil-course, and inserting the moulded cappings
is
to the tablets of the frieze
Home County
This
of
its
and economy could go no
further.
expression of the Renaissance, the credit for the development
which can be divided equally between Flanders and Northern France,

neighbourhood,
2
is
interesting, the
more
321
especially as so
Rouen
many examples
and
exist of

which both the date and the locality
known with
r
Jl ooclwork
certainty.
Thus, the
front of Sir Paul Pindar's house, Fig. 336, formerly in Bishopsgate Without,
shows what
was the fashion
in
London
from the Court of James
in 1600.
I
Sir Paul
many important
In the panels of this timber house
or voluting, which
Pindar was Ambassador at Constantinople
between 161 1 and 1620.
quarter at this date, containing
example.
of origin are
is
was the 1600 London fashion,
Bishopsgate was a fashionable
houses, such as Crosby Hall, for
the vigorous
manner
of paper-scrolling,
as perpetuated in the
Coventry mantel
already illustrated in Fig. 300, together with design-motives culled from an even earlier
date and another district.
In every detail of this Bishopsgate house, in panels, pilasters
Fig. 364.
OAK-PANELLED ROOM.
A
typical
example
of the 1640 period.
Hampshire type.
322
JJ ood
or
is
brackets,
Elizabethan
the
style, so
expression
often
of
what
may
and Mantels
Panellings
almost
be
described
confounded with the work of the
as
It
is
also
in
the
and widespread.
It can be found as
Westmoreland and as far south-west as Lanhydroc
direct
progenitor
the
of
woodwork
such
true
later Stuart period,
and yet both unmistakable

Levens Hall
the
as
the
far
north as
in
Cornwall.
Lime
Street
mantels.
If
the details of this Bishopsgate house are in the
London manner
of their period,
must not be imagined that the house itself is of a style usual in the East of England,
still less so in London.
In construction,
it is really formed of two huge frames,
in
its breaks, angles, projections and central semicircular oriel window, it is far more
it
typical of Devonshire than of London.
Here
exceptional and striking even at the date
in the metropolis this
when
it
was
built
house must have been
in Exeter, apart
from
Fig. 365.
OAK-PANELLED ROOM.
Date about 1640.
323
J.
Albert Bennett, Esq., Photo.
its
Early English Furniture and JVoociwork

rich ornamentation,
little
it
would have
fallen in
with the scheme of things, and have aroused
comment.
The panelled rooms, with their mantels, which were removed, a few years ago, from
Sherard House at Eltham, are examples of this Lime Street, or typically Home County
manner
of
how
of the first quarter of the seventeenth century,
these old panellings were esteemed.
and
at the
portion of one of these rooms
trated in Fig. 338 which will show, partly, the state they were in
word
"
"
partly
used advisedly
is
same time instances
a portion of the
many
when
is illus-
discovered.
The
wall-papers, with their canvas
backing, has been removed, and fragments of the later plaster cornice have been hacked
down.
made
The
original
deliberately.
work could not have been obscured
The mantels were coated with paint
better,
had the attempt been
so thick as almost to
the details, not only of the carving, but the moulding as well.
Where
fine
up
woodwork
fill
Fig. 366.
ANOTHER VIEW OF THE OAK-PANELLED ROOM,

Date about 1640.
3
24
FIG. 365.
J.
Albert Bennett, Esq
Photo.

is
and preserved, there may be two opinions as to the morality of its removal
but with instances such as these rooms from Sherard House there can only be one.
in situ,
and
sale,
Sherard House owes
its
name
to a later owner, William Sherard, LL.D., Fellow of
All Souls, Oxford, a native of Leicestershire,

to his brother
who was born
James, who bought the house at Eltham
in 1659, or
in
1718-19.
m ore
probably
Both brothers
Fig.' 367.
OAK CHIMNEY-PIECE AND PANELLING.

From Swarm
Hall, Suffolk.
Date about 1650-5.

325
Messrs. Robersons.
JJ
oodwork
Fig. 368.
OAK MANTELPIECE.
Total width 7
it.
8 J ins.
Total height 6
Stone opening
ft.
ft.
\\\
ins.
6J
ins.
by
Wood
3
Date about 1640-50.
326
ft.
opening 5
ft.
2 ins.
by
ft.
ij ins.
j_
Dupuis Cobbold| Esq
Jl ood Panellings
and Mantels
Fig. 369.
OAK MANTEL.
Width over jambs
ft.
10 ins.
Wood
Over cornice
opening 5
I
'ate
ft.
ft. 5 ins.
ins.
by
about 1650.
327
Total height
ft.
3 ft. 9 ins.
J.

were celebrated botanists, but
it
is
James that Sherard House owed
to
collection of rare plants, the world the

their day,
and
Oxford the nucleus of
This interesting Eltham house
heads
is
two books
its
wonderful
its
Hortus Elthamensis,"
famous
in
famous Botanical Gardens.
shown
is
"
On one
in Fig. 337.
of the rain-water
by some years, for the mantels and panellings,

than the windows and the doorway. These latter were
the date 1634, but this
yet almost a century earlier
JWoodwork
is late,
probably the work of James Sherard after he acquired the house in 1718.
The wainscotting
of these
Eltham rooms
is
simple in design, practically the same
pattern being adopted throughout, of scratch-mouldings carried through in the vertical

styles,
with the upper edges of the lateral
oak everywhere
is
of superb quality.
manner, differing considerably
rails left
The mantels
in their design,
use of elaborately mitred mouldings.
are all variations of the
but relying, for decorative
All three
shown here
in Figs.
made
from mantel to overmantel.
of the half-mitre in the pilasters of the
Lime
effect,
Street
on the
339 to 341 have
the quarter-round sectioned shelf, with a small projection, strapped over

to carry the pilaster-line
The
square or slightly bevelled.
by
flat trusses
In Fig. 339 an ingenious use
is
Fig. 340 has a single central
upper stage.
alcoved niche or apse, flanked on either side by moulded panels very intricately mitred.
Fig. 341 has the decoration of applied fretting
and semi-balusters on the downward-
tapering pilasters, those of the overmantel having, on their bases, a representation of

the
There
coursing of masonry.
considerable degree of quiet

these three Sherard
is
charm
a
in
House mantels, and,
considering the self-imposed limitation

of the designer, the result, achieved
the inexpensive
of the mitre
and
means
by
of ingenious use
half-mitre,
is
distinctly
successful.
It
was intended,
trate these
erected in
rooms
New
as
was decided
before
Fig. 370.
to illus-
restored and re-
to
on consideration,
show them
with
in
situ,
the later grates
masking the original fire-openings, and

with no attempt at restoration beyond the
OAK PANELLING.
The type
removal,
first,
York, with the stone
linings replaced, but,

it
at
of 1670-80.
323

the
of
stripping
wall-
papers necessary to expose the panellings and

a local removal
to
paint
of
the
ascertain
the
quality
of
the
oak
beneath.
In
some
of the
rooms
high
in the
house a later
skirting
had been
nailed over the panelling,
and every
to
effort
appears
have been made to
disguise the original work,
almost beyond recognition as such.

Fig. 371.
The Renaissance
in
THE OAK-PANELLED ROOM FROM CLIFFORD'S

General view.
England appears to develop on coarser and

cruder lines in
INN.
Date 1686-8.
Victoria~and Albert Museum.
the counties of
Gloucestershire and terminating
the Western Midlands, beginning
as
far
south
as
Cumberland and Westmoreland
with Lancashire.
do not seem to have originated a distinctive style of their own, at least in the
seventeenth century.
Many of these Midland panellings evidently found their way
to
the south, as,
This
woodwork
for
unquestionably
is,
It is interesting as
origin.
Treaty House
example, that in the
of
either
showing the error
at
Uxbridge, Fig.
342.
Midland or Welsh bordering-county

of
attributing panellings of the early
seventeenth century to the localities in which they are found, at the present day.
The
chief
characteristic
of
the Midland and Western-Midland panel
The inner framed
mouldings of the bolection type.
Uxbridge panelling,
Anglian
counties,
also appears at
where
its
an
presence
its
heavy
panel, as in the upper part of this
earlier date in these districts

is
is
than
almost a certain indication
of
in the
East
the
later
seventeenth century.
This Uxbridge wainscotting
is
neither choice in design nor high in quality, and
has suffered in alterations and adaptations, but
it is
instructive in showing that fixed
panellings are not always original to the house they are

there for a century or two.
2
329
it
in,
even when they have been

The Western character
of this
JJ
oodwork
Treaty House panelling can be better estimated
comparison with an oak-panelled bedroom from Rotherwas, in County Hereford,

illustrated here in Fig. 343.
This is woodwork original both to the house it was in,
a
by
removal and
until its
sale a
few years ago,
and
Here
to its locality.
is
the same
heaviness of moulding and depth of panel-recessing as in the Uxbridge woodwork.
Bromley-by-Bow room on the one side, which is of Home County

make, and this bedroom from Rotherwas on the other, with the Uxbridge panelling
between, the Western-Midland origin of the Treaty House woodwork will be appreciated.
When we
place the
Rotherwas, the home of the Bodenhams, whose shield of twenty-five quarterings

can be seen on the
fine
an estate which figures

miles of Hereford.
line, Sir
It
mantel, Fig. 344, and the key to which

in
Domesday, situated near the River
was de
Charles, in 1483,
la
when Rotherwas came
married Isabella, heiress of Walter de

of the alliance
formed by
la
Barre of Rotherwas.
and within two
Roger Bodenham
the Bodenham family history, and
in
Bodenham
The
last direct
considerable antiquity in Herefordshire.
Dewchurch, had
descendant of the race who
Bodenham, thus perpetuated,
Although not
of
Thus the grandson inherited by reason
la Barre.
his grandfather.
died in 1884, Charles de la Barre
de
is
into the hands of
one was the son of another, whose father, John
this
W ye
r
Barre property until the death of the last male of the
There are innumerable Rogers
as next-of-kin.
given in Fig. 346,
is
as lords of
in his
name,
this last
Rotherwas, the Bodenhams are of
In the reign of
Edward
I,
William Bodenham
Monington and many other parks and mansions in the valley of the Wye.
Of the Rotherwas of the early sixteenth century, only a small part remains, converted
is
lord of
and adapted for the accommodation

the Catholic Bodenhams.
into private chapels
themselves to
Of the woodwork
of the priests
original to the early -sixteenth-century house,
who had
attached
none appears to have
The great house of that period was neither panelled nor furnished in a day,
Rotherwas there are signs that a century of possessors added to its woodwork.
survived.
and
at
From
but
the late period of Elizabeth dates the overdoor already illustrated in Fig. 307,
this
appears to be the only remaining fragment of the sixteenth-century woodwork
in the house.
Additions were built on by one of the
new house many

at
Rotherwas
of the old panellings
many Roger Bodenhams
were removed.
in 1731,
to the
There are no records of work
in the early seventeenth century, yet at this period all the
shown
and
mantels and
these pages must have been put in. Blount describes the house,
"
in the seventeenth century, as
a delicious seat
abounding with a store of excellent
panellings
in
33
Urood
Panellings
and Mantels
^HHHM
Fig. 372.
OAK CHIMNEY-PIECE WITH APPLIED CARVINGS FROM CLIFFORD'S
INN.
Date 1686-8.
Victoria and Albert
33'
Museum.

and
fruit
having also a park within
fertyle arable land,
less
than half a myle of the
a fair parlour
full of
coats of arms according to the fashion of the age,
and over that a whole Dyning
Room
wainscotted with walnut
There
house.
is
Chimney twenty-five coats
of the
"
Of the
fair
parlour
was a part
Fig. 307,
and on the mantel
one achievement."
coats of arms," nothing remains, unless the overdoor,
full of
of the room.
room with painted armorial
in
tree,
The
description, however, reads
more
like
a panelled
similar to the Abbot's parlour at
frieze-panels above,
Thame, and dating from the early years of the sixteenth century. The walnut panelling,
"
"
are shown
with its oak chimney-piece and the
twenty-five coats in one achievement
in Figs.
344 and 345.
as the tree
known
is
The use
of
walnut for
this panelling is difficult to understand,
not a native of England, although some authorities assert that
here in the time of the
Romans.
it
was
There are records which state that the tree
was imported from Persia and first planted at Wilton Park by the Earl of Pembroke
and Montgomery about 1565. Apart from some liability to the attacks of the wood-worm
(although the instance of the great roof of Westminster Hall shows the English oak
is,
by no means, immune from these ravages) it is a reliable wood for panellings, easy to
work and carve, and obtainable in wide boards. Yet it does not appear to have been
used for this purpose at any time, in England, even when
wood
for furniture.
It is inferior to
it
replaced oak as the popular
in durability, yet
mahogany, also, is
rarely, if ever used for panellings in the eighteenth century, when it was the exclusive
furniture timber. The presence of walnut at Rotherwas is exceptional, but may have
been imported.
tenable,
it
If
mahogany
the theory that the tree was
first
planted in England in 1565 be
could not have acquired a sufficient maturity to have been available for wide
panels in the early years of the next century.
Ornate as this Rotherwas woodwork

istically
is,
English in conception and execution.
chrome, and above the shelf are four caryatid
Temperance and Prudence.
Banquet Hall, it is still characterThe oak mantel is decorated in poly-
in the
figures, representing Justice, Fortitude,
The walnut panelling
consists of a lower or base tier of
inner framed panels placed lengthwise, a middle section with similar panels upright,
divided by fluted pilasters with carved capitals, and an upper tier of arcaded panels
with turned half-columns between, the whole surmounted by an elaborately carved
and truss-bracketted
frieze in the high-relief
strap-work of the early seventeenth century.
This woodwork must be regarded as an exceptional effort on the part of the owner of
Rotherwas, and there

of
doubt that designers and craftsmen from the South-east

England were imported into Herefordshire for its execution. Figs. 347 and 348,
is little
332
Fig. 373.
INN.
Detail of a door.
Hate 1686-8.
Victoria
333
and Albert Museum.

known
as the
James
Banquet Hall
typical of Cheshire
is
It is
panelling.
one above, with two

is
room,
tiers of
typical of
and
its locality,
unusual in having a
tall
probably of prior date to the
arcaded panel below and a short
The extensive use
square panels between.
and Lancashire
is,
of the gadroon
at this date.
The panellings in what was known as the Julius Caesar Room,

are more refined in character than in the James I room, but are still
Figs.
349 and 350,
The
local in type.
panels are large, framed in with separate mitred mouldings, and the pilasters are slender
and without taper or entasis. The timber is quartered oak of exceptionally fine figure
and quality. Of the three caryatid figures on the overmantel, the one on the right
bears a superficial resemblance to a
room was probably
of the
Roman
The
derived.
soldier,
from which circumstance the name
heraldic shields in the
two panels are
in original
polychrome.
It
must be remembered that none
of these
Rotherwas panellings were
in original
They had, in nearly every instance, been

adapted to the eighteenth-century house with some necessary rearrangement of the
panelling flanks. Many examples of the woodwork of James II and Anne at Rotherwas,
situ at the time of their
in
removal
in 1912.
yew and sycamore, also existed, and were readapted at the

The Bodenhams were Royalists, and, as such, suffered considerable hard-
unusual woods, such as
same
time.
Between 1620 and 1685 no work appears to have been

Rotherwas, and none of importance was put into the house after 1625.
ships during the
undertaken at
The
last of the
Billesley
Commonwealth.
Bodenhams, Count Lubienski Bodenham, died
(it is
some miles from

it is
in 1912.
Domesday) is a Warwickshire village and a manor house,

The manor has both a Saxon and a Norman history, but
Billeslei in
Alcester.
with the later house of the seventeenth century that we are concerned here.
has records of considerable antiquity.

Trussell, Knight, in the sixth year of
held Billesley, although
much
It is entailed
Richard
on the heirs male
II (1382).
The
It
Alured
of Sir
Trussells appear to
have
of their property in Norfolk, Berkshire, Leicestershire,
Northamptonshire and Essex, passed with the marriage of Elizabeth Trussell
in
1523
John Vere, afterwards Earl of Oxford. Thomas Trussell is Sheriff for Warwickshire
and Leicestershire in this year, and was, doubtless the owner of Billesley. Dugdale
to
asserts that he
is
buried in the Billesley church of All Saints, but
say about this church a
Another Thomas
little later
the last of the family to hold Billesley, as in 1604

is
shall
have more to
on.
Trussell, the fifth in descent
son and heir (although he
we
from the Sheriff of Warwickshire,

it is
sold to Sir Robert Lee, Kt., the
the younger of two brothers,

334
is
Henry and Robert)
of Sir
Fig. 374.
INN.
Detail of a door.
Date 1686-8.
Victoria and Albert
335
Museum.

Robert Lee, Alderman of the City
appear to have held
had the manor

Sir
Billesley, in
of
London, and,
later,
Lord Mayor.
Hroodwork
The
Trussells
unbroken succession, since 1165, when Osbert Trussell
of William, Earl of
Robert Lee made Billesley
Warwick,
his
for the service of
one Knight's
country seat, and sixteen years
fee.
later, he, in turn,
High Sheriff for Warwickshire. Whether his brother was the same Sir Henry Lee
who was Master of the Armoury at the Tower in 1580, is not certain, but there is some
is
evidence, as
The date
is
we
interesting, as
With the
show that he was, probably, a connection, at least.

the renowned Jacob Topf was Court Armourer at this period.
shall see later, to
later history of Billesley
about 1690, when
was sold
it
to
we have
little
concern.
The Lees held
Bernard Whalley, who appears to have done
it
until
little
Fig. 375.
CHATSWORTH, DERBYSHIRE.
The State Dining-room, sometimes
The Duke
called the State Great
Chamber.
Date 1690-4.
of Devonshire.
J.
or
rood
ll
and Mantels
Panellings
From
nothing in the house although Dugdale claims that he rebuilt the church.
the
same authority we learn that the Trussells, Lees and Whalleys lie in the churchyard,
but it is the arms of Whalley, argent three whales' heads razed sable, which are glazed
in the
East window.
There
is
is
a mystery here
of this
Whalley church not a vestige remains, and what
even more strange, the churchyard with
present church of All Saints
is
its
tombs has disappeared
what became
of the
The
a small structure, evidently composed of windows and
fragments from a secular house of the late seventeenth century.

or
likewise.
Whalley church, or
of the family tombs,
more strange, the signposts show the way
to Billesley
it
is
When
quite
figures
was
built,
unknown.
Still
it
on the ordnance
Fig. 376.
The State Drawing-room.
Date 1692-4.
The Duke
2
of Devonshire.
J.
337
Early English Furniture arid IVoodwork

surveys, yet the village has also disappeared without trace, nor has
Death swept
exist since the Black
There
is,
its
away
population
all
been known to
in the early fifteenth century.
window glazed with
therefore, not only a church, with East (chancel)
Whalley arms
it
complete, but an entire village also, which must be reckoned
Gone
the missing, lost without any records, antiquarian or local.

cross of the Trussells, the silver
In recent years the house

that time, the other (walled
and black
on
fell
the present proprietor restored
evil days,
let to
being
off)
it
shield of the Lees
also
is
the
among
the flowered
and the whales
of
Whalley.
one half being reserved to the owner of
a farmer.
It
was
left in this state until
in 1912.
The panellings at Billesley are exceptionally fine both in wood-texture and moulding
That these were put in by Sir Robert Lee is almost certain, but for which
section.
rooms they were made is not so clear, as the house had been altered a good deal, and
and London work
was much neglected prior to 1912. There is evidence of both

The London connections of the Lees
in these wainscottings.
(the father, Sir Robert,
we must remember, was Alderman and Lord Mayor
would account,
measure, for this duality.

their pilasters, are of
Room,
Fig. 354,
of pear
Warwickshire
where the mantel
and other
corner of which
Thus the Hall mantel,
is
fruit
woods.
shown here
origin,
is
in 1602)
Fig. 351,
and the same
The panelling
in a
in Fig. 352, has the
in
some
and possibly the panels with
may
made from oak with
local
be said of the Shakespeare
applied bosses and strap-work
Dressing-room on the
first floor,
appearance of being East Anglian
The moulding sections are extraordinarily delicate, and the oak is superb in
In Fig. 356, details of the mouldings in the principal rooms are
quality and figure.
given, and the second from the top shows this room.
work.
The panelling
in the
Dining-room, Fig. 355, bears a strong resemblance, both in
panel-arrangement and section, to that of the Bromley Palace room, already illustrated
enough to suggest a London origin

There are four large, and very remarkable
in Fig. 328,
Billesley,
which indicate a connection between
Tower
London.
of
for this
woodwork.
en the upper room doors at

Robert Lee and the Armoury of the
steel locks
Sir
In Fig. 357 are two of the slab doors with their locks in situ.
locks are peculiar in possessing only one bolt, which acts as a latch
key
it
outside.
Another key on the inside
so that the outside
key
is
of the
inoperative.
Fig. 362 only having a single,
and an
operated by the
this bolt
and secures
In Figs. 358 to 362, these locks are shown,
original key,
which can be used from both sides
Under the pierced outer rim of these locks is a backing of leather, originally
but now black with age. Each lock, excepting Fig. 362, has two keyholes on the
of the door.
red,
door double-shoots
if
These
33S
Fig. 377.
Landing on Second Floor, showing alabaster door case and iron staircase by Tijcu.
Date 1689-94.
The Duke
of Devonshire.
J.
339

outside, one
masked by
a pivoted covering-piece of forged steel.
the reverse of Fig. 358, the
mechanism
armourer's mark at the end of the bolt.

inside in the
The
same way
as the
of the lock
if
oodwork
In Fig. 359, which
is
can be seen, together with the Tower
key does on the outside.

is
a survival from the
not the later part of the fifteenth, century.
ingly rare, but at Beddington
The projecting knob actuates the latch from the
fashion for these elaborate steel locks
sixteenth,
JI
Manor House one
"^V^T^>"
still
first
years of the
The early examples
exists
are exceed-
which dates from the reign
//*7j
Fig. 378.
WOODCOTE PARK, EPSOM.

Ante-room (formerly Chapel) Doorway.
c.
1690.
34
J.
IVood Panellings
o and Mantels
of
Henry VII.
very
however, at
rare,
here in Fig. 363.
It is illustrated
all
periods, as,
on
These elaborate locks must have been
this scale of elaboration,
been made for the houses of the very wealthy.
they could only have
They must have been the product
of
the armourer's craft rather than that of the smith, and were highly esteemed at the
On
time when they were made.
The woodwork
their present-day value
it is
idle to speculate.
Western Sussex and Hampshire is characterised by a vigorous

coarseness, quite different in type from that of Lancashire or Cheshire.
Hampshire
of
panellings almost achieve a refinement
by
their reticent use of
ornament.
Fig. 364
shows the type, with rebated door,

flanked
by
or
little
pilasters
which have
no relation to the
The
rounding panelling.
sur-
pilaster-
bases, with central facetted rectangle, surrounded
by coarse and
somewhat meaningless ornament,

indicate a county without
many
The
same
traditions.
artistic
somewhat uncouth character

shown
in the
is
room, Figs. 365 and
366, where the panels are coarsely
scratch-moulded, with
symmetry.
or no
little
The mantel
is,
un-
questionably, the best part of the
whole composition.
It
be
may
noted that towards the middle
of
the seventeenth century these oak

panels tend to become larger.
The
in this direction
full
development
will
be illustrated later on.
Norfolk and Suffolk possess

their
own
style in mantels, wall
panellings and in furniture.
The
Fig. 379.
WOODCOTE PARK, EPSOM.
East Anglian characteristics are
more easy
describe.
to
illustrate
The Ante-room (formerly the Chapel).
than to
c.
The woodwork
varies
1690.
J.
34'

from very simple to the most ornate, yet
usually carved
ornament
is
and Somersetshire work, merely
it
the constructive details which are
is
rarely introduced, as
for its
own
the case of the Devonshire
in
There
sake.
is,
in consequence, a quality
which, allied with a clean-cut sense of proportion, gives an appearance
of
repose,
of
richness
which
is
not entirely due to the amount of carving introduced.
the simple mantel and panelling from
Commonwealth
years of the
just the right degree
period,
and manner.
Swann
Thus
Hall, in Suffolk, Fig. 367, of about the last
have a satisfying sense of ornament introduced

The Dutch or Flemish element is never absent
in
in
no way remarkable, considering the close commercial associations which existed between Norfolk and Suffolk and the Low Countries
this
East Anglian work, but this
from the
first
I in
George
shown
in
years of the sixteenth century,
or
even before,
until the accession of
1714.
The somewhat
are
is
in the
later,
and more elaborate, versions
two mantels,
Cobbold's house at Ipswich.
Figs. 368
The
first
and 369.
of this
Both are
East Anglian manner
at Holywells, Mr. J.
D.
has the typical Suffolk composition of a truss-
bracketted frieze with caryatid figures under, on small moulded bases, with a central
inner framed panel (a favourite detail throughout almost the whole of England during
the seventeenth century) flanked
and base
of the
by two
others, arcaded
overmantel are ornamented
in flat
and
pilastered.
Both
frieze
strap-work patterns with slight
more ornate, although much of the interesting inlay does not

show in the photograph. The arcading and pilasters of the three panels of the overmantel, are of red deal instead of the more usual oak. The oak panels are inlaid with
undercutting.
Fig. 369
is
bandings of interlaced diamond pattern, on the
first
from the
left,
a ship in full sail
with a flag showing a red cross on a white ground, in the centre a painted globe on
stand, with the inscription underneath,
"
He
that travels ye world about
Seeth Gods wonders and Gods works.

'
Thomas Eldred
of
July 1586
&
travelled ye world about
In
Plimouth 21st
of a nautical figure
"x
wearing a lace collar of the
period, in the act of using a sextant.
That
Cavendish
of
arrived in Plimouth again the 9th of September 1588,
and on the right-hand panel, a bust

Charles
and went out
St.
this mantel, as in the case of the
Yarmouth rooms, was made
Clement's Church, Ipswich, is an inscription to the

voyage round the world.
in his
342
memory
of this
for another of
Thomas Eldred who accompanied
Wood
and Mantels
Panellings
the Suffolk merchant adventurers, in this case of the middle seventeenth century,
highly probable, as no other would have
in this fashion.
Numbers
commemorated
of these elaborate
to their original sources,
engaged
in the woollen trade
emerges from the mists
it
is
it
has been possible to trace them
nearly always a merchant, usually one
with
its
who was
with Flanders or in adventures to the Spanish Main,
of time.
Frequently, these
men were
of
and commerce with the Low Countries must have been exceedingly
by the ornate
Thomas Eldred
rooms have been removed from East
Anglia, especially from hotels and inns, but where
back
the exploits of
is
furnishings in which they indulged.
quaint suggestion of ventures by land and sea,
Rich as
this
Dutch
who
extraction,
lucrative, judging
Holy wells mantel
is,
probably a record of an ancestor
Fig. 38C.
OAK-PANELLED ROOM FROM WHITLEY BEAUMONT.

Early eighteenth century.
343
Messrs. Robersons.

more than
half a century before,
the
East Anglian decorative limit had been reached
Yarmouth
before the end of Elizabeth's reign as in the
Who
panellings already illustrated.
House we do not know, but the second,
built Fennel's
private residence, or business house,
we have
as
was the
seen,
probably both, of William Crowe, the Merchant
Adventurer, possibly a merchant with a small filibustering branch to his business (they
were not over-nice

is
in their
doings
when on
He
the high seas in the reign of Elizabeth).
a merchant, however, and proud of the fact, as he places the arms of his
Company
centre of his mantel as a reminder to others of his status in the world of commerce.
in the
Trade with Holland and Flanders had declined, towards the close of the seventeenth
century, from the former high position
The Netherlands had

King was
went
it
had occupied
at the
end
of the sixteenth.
safely harboured Charles II before 1660, however,
was one
called to ascend the English throne (Pepys
to fetch him) there
is
and when the
of the deputation
no doubt that the Hollanders were not forgotten.
trade of Norfolk and Suffolk with the Netherlands revived after the Restoration
probable
and we
which
That the
is
highly
shall see the reflex of this revival a little later in this chapter in
Fig. 370-
There
is
one detail which
is
to be found in nearly,
if
century woodwork which has been illustrated thus far

paratively small area.
all of this
seventeenth-
the panels are always of com-
Occasionally a joint in the panel was attempted, but rarely
in the majority of instances the
The
not in
wood
is
in the
one piece.
credit for the introduction of the large panel in the wainscotting of
rooms must
be given to John Webb, who, in the later years of the Commonwealth, had used
effect,
at Thorpe,
Thorney Abbey House, and elsewhere.
it,
with
was obvious, from the
It
would come from an architect rather than from a
outset, that such an innovation
practical joiner, or from one acquainted with the limitations, as well as the advantages,
of oak,
and with a wholesome dread
of such incidents as cracking or
These large surfaces once insisted upon,

the design in the best and safest
some compromise was
inevitable,
it
was
manner
possible.
and we
find
certain instances red deal (so often miscalled
others the framing
is
left to
"
warping of panels.
a practical carpenter to carry out
With the
traditions of that date,
two methods sometimes adopted

pine ") is used instead of oak, and
;
applied direct with the plaster wall forming the panels.
in
in
At Tytten-
hanger we have the broad panels inserted in doors, but here they are of substantial
thickness.
That
this
wholesome
was very prevalent in the later

that panellings from earlier periods were
fear of the large panel
Commonwealth years is evident by the fact

used in the new houses of that date, in many
344
cases.
It
was
as
if
the
men who knew,

the carpenters
and
joiners, insisted
convinced both architect and client

It is just
on the small panel as a measure of safety, and

that their views were just and sound.
before the Restoration that
we
find decorative
hitherto, been the exclusive province of the joiner,
often
woodwork,
left to
which
had,
the designing-skill of
the architect, with a loss in constructional soundness but a gain in freedom
and novelty.
At the same time, especially in the East Anglian counties, the joiner still holds sway,
copying older designs and methods, with the result that we get such examples as
Fig. 370,
which on the evidence
of its details merely,
might be referred to a much
earlier
date.
woodwork, apparently, which on the evidence

the seventeenth century, would justify a date as late as 1670-80.
There are no details

panellings of
in this
of other
It is of
Fig. 381.
RED DEAL PANELLING AND MANTEL.

Removed from
a house at Leatherhead.
Early eighteenth century.
345
Messrs. Robersons.

either Norfolk or Suffolk origin,
it
in the
is
years, both in
many
is
the
first
significant fact to be noted.
framed panel. The joiner-traditions persisted in these counties

When such pieces as long settles
furniture and woodwork.
or benches are found, in these localities, carved with a date,

fact,
this
is
always later than one would expect,
We know
often considerably so.
architect
also
new
was introduced, and, with him,
in all
coming into vogue
lingered, especially
in
manner
architects'
in the
The fashion
London..
that the
which
is
frequently the
judging merely by style, and very
East Anglia, other than
found very small favour
London
Secondly,
East Anglian furniture of the very late seventeenth century that we find
this lavish use of the inner
for
which
of the large panel
very large houses where the
workmen from
probability,
and even parcel-gilding of wood panellings was

date, and oak was being replaced by red deal. There still
for painting,
at this
among
the East Anglian traders
who had
connections with Flanders,
a desire for the small-panelled wainscotting of oak, and these elaborately mitred inner
framed panellings became the rule among the merchants of the two counties towards
the close of the seventeenth century. There is a strong possibility that much of the
was made
furniture which corresponds, very closely, to this panelling in style,
same
districts,
and
for these houses.
is
This, then,
the justification for dating such
The general style, although

quite distinct when examined in detail.
examples as Fig. 370 as late as 1670-80.
work
of
manner
much
earlier date, is
like
some
of the
an
earlier
It is
persisting to a late date, but with considerable modifications.
It was,
more or
less,
inevitable that an occasion
of deal for oak, or the use of

satisfy,
and that the
correct,
but
is
would
arise
where the substitution
a plaster wall in place of a wooden panel, would
large jointed panel
sufficiently so for
would have
to be ventured.
our present purpose, to say that
It
it is
is
Inn, illustrated here in Figs. 371 to 374,
is
woodwork
in the
one of the very early examples of the use of
area.
five joints
Kilmorey
from some ten years before, but there
At Shavington the panels are

in them,
and with chamfered
temporary with the
Clifford's
At
Ham
dining-room, in the same style of projecting panel with
large raised bolection moulding, dates
same panel
of
Clifford's
large oak panels in the wainscotting of a room, other than in a large mansion.
House, the panelling
to
not literally
The oak room from
the eighteenth from that of the seventeenth century.
fail
the use of large
panels of wood, and especially the use of deal, which sharply divides the
even
in the
larger,
"
fields,"
Inn room, almost to a year.
in the first year of the short reign of
the most fashionable and matured
manner
James
of its time.
346
in
is
some cases with
four,
but the work here
It
was
also
done
for
not the
is
and
con-
Viscount
and may be said to represent

Novel, as it was for its date,
II,
JJ
and elaborate
as this Clifford's Inn
Cornish gentleman.
It
was
Penhalow took possession
in 1674,
room
is, it
on the
of a set of
rood
Panellings
was made, not
day
chambers in
fifth
and Mantels
for a noble,
of February, to
Clifford's Inn.
twelve years later (another set of chambers was added to the
but for a plain
be precise, that John

In this No.
first
3,
some
during that time),
superb panelling was completed and installed. By his agreement with the benchers
John Penhalow had the double set of chambers, not only for his own, but for two lives
this
beyond, and he lived here with his panelling for twenty-eight years.
his brother
Benjamin
until
After him came
1722,
and he was succeeded by the third
John Rogers. Whether the

Penhalows or Rogers, or later
life,
tenants, were responsible for
numberless coats
which the
of
obscure
is
oak was daubed,
rich
the
name
He must have
skill,
with
paint
not possible to say.
it is.
the
Equally
of the designer.
possessed taste and
and withal considerable daring,
or was
ledge,
it
want
of technical
know-
to have designed a scheme
requiring oak panels of such large

size,
often as wide as thirty inches.
Whoever he was, whether

of
Wren
a pupil
or a craftsman brought
Penhalow from
by
his native Cornwall,
he did his work well, selected
fine
quartered timber, jointed his panels

so
carefully
pattern
is
that
even
the
ray
carried accurately from
one section to the other, and in

the wealth of fine carving above
the mantel, inserted the arms of

his
patron,
Fifr
Penhalow quartering
25
Penwarne.
382
MORTIMER STREET, LONDON, W.

Door and architrave
There are four doors to the
in
1730-40.
347
carved red deal.
U roodwork

room, two of the kind shown
in Fig. 373,
two with
in solid oak, but the
The enriched mouldings are
and two windows.
pediments as
scrolled
in Fig. 374,
ornamentation
mantel ami the panels of the door pediments are of lime tree (originally nearly
of the
now
white, but
warm brown)
The
applied to the oak ground.
originally,
ceiling,
The
was not removed with the room.
was
of plain plaster.
fine
quartered oak, are Hat, without chamfers, and stand forward in front of the face of
it
Obviously,
panels, of
the training in the rebates of boldly-projecting bolection mouldings.
The work may have been inspired from that of Wren or Webb or more probably
from both. It has Webb's sections in the enriched mouldings, especially in the door
architraves and overmantel, and the applied carvings
is
a sense of scale
and
of restraint, in idea of
owe much
what could be
to Gibbons.
justified in a
Yet there
room 18
ft.
by 14 ft. 10 ins., and with a height from floor to ceiling of only 9 ft. 10 ins., which
one would not expect from Wren, Webb or Gibbons, accustomed, as they were, to rooms
ins.
of vast size.
When we
Wiltshire (the
home
work
approach the direction of Cornwall, we find at Compton,
of the
Penruddocks, another Cornish family),
of similar character, but
carvings, although without the

in this
room from
of one
wood on another which
Clifford's
on a much larger
heavy massing
Inn
it
is
scale.
still
dining-room,
Compton the
True, at
of Gibbons, are
in the
in his
in
applied
manner, whereas
only the application of pierced and carved work
suggests Gibbons at
all.
One would
like to believe that
John Penhalow brought his craftsmen from the south-western counties of England to
embellish his London chambers, but the evidence for this is meagre and cannot be relied
upon.
We
have illustrated the type
of
woodwork which was made
plain Cornish gentleman in Clifford's Inn between 1686
turned, for a brief space, to examine the
man,
Chatsworth in Derbyshire.
palatial
woodwork nor
same large-panelled
Attention
style as
made
of a
may
be
for a noble-
by itself.
The history
we begin
of the
as far
This can only be by
in a
manner which
Cavendish family
who founded
Sir John,
to attain
dukedoms.
to Cardinal Wolsey,
of a digression, as neither
is
places almost each example in a
interesting from
back as the Chief Justice of the Court
and 1377,
way
furniture really illustrate the evolution of craft or design, being
always exceptional in character,
if
and 1688.
chambers
perhaps not a very wealthy one at that date, in the case of the Earl of Devon-
shire at
class
for the
many
of King's
points of view, even
Bench
in 1366,
1373
the line of which, at a later period, two branches were
William Cavendish, the fourth in descent, was gentleman-usher
and remained
faithful to
34S
him
in his disgrace.
He
outlived the great
Wood
and Mantels
Panellings
Cardinal, and at the dissolution of monasteries obtained large grants of abbey lands,
upon which
his third wife, the
to which the
famous Bess
same lady added many broad
Tradition has
it,
prophecy
of
Hardwick,
built
many
acres.
of the time foretold that
never die as long as she continued building, and
it is
Bess of Hardwick should
reported that her death actually
took place during a snowstorm, when the masons could not work.
in the reign of
Henry VIII the subject
of such a forecast
as trade disputes or strikes, otherwise, in
mansions, and
had not
Fig. 383.
349
obvious that
to reckon with such trifles
modern parlance, the
DETAIL OF THE ARCHITRAVE AND DOOR,
It is
FIG. 382.
actuarial risk
would

have been greatly enhanced.
wick
left to
many
True or
prophecy or no prophecy, Bess of Hard-
false,
succeeding Cavendishes the advantage,
or should
it
be the incubus,
of
Chatsworth, Hardwick, Holker Hall, Lismore Castle, Compton Place
houses.
and Devonshire House
at Eastbourne,
in Piccadilly, these
were
all
Cavendish property
at the beginning of the eighteenth century.

It
was
in
1686 that the Earl of Devonshire (afterwards the Duke) began the altera-
tions to Chatsworth, with
was
Talman, the architect of Dyrham, as
He
in his forty-sixth year at this date.
and Robert Owen, the
"
London joyners
Thomas Young and William Davis

of Grinling
"
brings
Gibbons with Chatsworth, and he
Henry Lobb
records for 1688, and
workmen from town
figure in the estate
are the carvers.
The Earl
his advisor.
;
Legend has connected the name
may have made
models or even have carved
a sample piece or two in the Great Chamber, Fig. 375, but the bulk of this fine carving,
in soft lime tree, is the
at
work
man, Samuel Watson, who was engaged

Thomas Young and William Davis, before-mentioned,
of a Derbyshire
Chatsworth from 1691 to 1715.
appear to have been contractors,
or " upholders," in the eighteenth-century phraseology,
as to them sums aggregating more than 1,000 are paid
for the carvings in this
Great
Chamber, and over 2,000 for wainscottings, which include the panellings here. In
1692 William Davis appears, associated with Joel Lobb and Samuel Watson, contracting
with the Earl of Devonshire for carvings in lime tree to cost 400.
The Earl could not have been a very wealthy man at this date, that is, on the scale
which the possession of six great houses would demand. There was no Eastbourne
and London property had not acquired a tithe of the
afterwards did. Yet there is no severe economy evident, as far as
to swell the Cavendish revenues,
rental value which
it
the work at Chatsworth
more
concerned.
is
lavish scale than the Great
the walls, and
its
The State Drawing-room,
Chamber, with
its
Fig. 376,
is
even on a
wonderful Mortlake tapestries on
equally wonderful carvings over the mantel and the doors.
Through
the open door in Fig. 375, can be seen one of the door-cases of locally-quarried alabaster,
and
in Fig.
377
is
shown one
balustrading of the stairs, the work of Tijou.
have occupied
many
Watson, the carver,
years.
is still
doorways together with the forged iron

Work on this scale of magnificence must
of these gorgeous
Talman
is
instructed, as
we have
seen, in 1686, but
engaged at Chatsworth some twenty-nine years
later,
Samuel
although
probably working, at this date, on accessories which were in the nature of after-thoughts.
The
large six- or eight-panelled doors, as seen in the State
door-heads, were the
many
periods,
mode
Drawing-room, with carved
at the close of the seventeenth century.
Woodcote Park
at
Epsom
now the golf club-house

35
From
that house of
of the
Royal Auto-
Fig. 384.
SECTIONS OF DOOR
AND ARCHITRAVE,
Actual
351
size.
FIG. 382.

mobile Club
an ante-room which was formerly the chapel, the door, shown here in
in
was taken.
Fig. 378,
It is
on a smaller
than the doors at Chatsworth, only three-
scale
and double, with the large box-locks of the period, a copy from the French
Louis Quatorze. In Fig. 379 is shown the mantel from the same room, probably of
panelled,
somewhat
later date, as
much work was done
to the middle eighteenth century,
Woodcote from the
at
late
with a framed panel above the opening, here empty,
but formerly containing a picture, surrounded by festooned carvings
somewhat weak
of red deal for
oak usually marks the beginning of the eighteenth
century, the usual finish being either painting or graining.
an example of scumble-work at this period,
a glazing
Occasionally
artistic
deception in material
work
marbled.
is
necessarily implied,
For important work oak was
composition, or even scagliola.

rule during the reign of
we meet with
of amber-coloured varnish
white or a stippled ground of yellow, the effect of which
is
in soft lime tree,
in design.
The substitution
.1
seventeenth
and,
over
charming, although some
is
very occasionally, the wood-
used, often in conjunction with stucco
still
Parcel-gilding of ornaments also
becomes almost the
Anne.
From Whitley Beaumont, about six miles from Huddersfield, came the fine room
shown in Fig. 380. Here we encroach on the classical manner of the first years of the
The wood
eighteenth century.
ments
ment
which are
in the frieze,
into
is
oak throughout, with the exception
The columns,
of pear tree, gilded.
room and ante-room,
inspiration of the classical cornice, with
soffits
with dentils placed closely
with triglyphs,
is
of animals, birds
of this
room from
floor to ceiling is 13
of
bases, also hollowed out.
modillions entirely covered on the
very unusual
Between these
detail,
and
somewhat
ft.
tablets of the frieze are
is
heads
The height
7 ins.
later date,
Here the scheme
the frieze
probably of the later years of George
much more
simple,
and the room
is
I, is
low, 8
ft.
the top of the cornice, which was evidently the finish under the ceiling, unless
a coving, in plaster,
The
and
and other devices, with Beaumont cyphers interlaced.
in Fig. 381.
ins. to
its
a
together,
entirely architectural.
Another room,
shown
which divide the apart-
are also of oak, very lightly constructed, in four vertical
sections cooper-jointed on the shafts, with turned caps
The
of the orna-
was used above,
section of this latter
is
dentils below, but the frieze

of the large
which
also unusual,
is
is
doubtful with a cornice of this size.
with large overhang to the corona, and carved
divided from the panelling by a small astragal bead instead
stepped frieze moulding which one would have expected at this date.
The wood here
is
red
deal,
timber which
35-
was very general
in
work
of
the
Wood
and Mantels
Panellings
The
eighteenth century.
usual finish of this wood-
work was
paint,
red
was
deal
but this
of
always
beautiful grain and quality,

far
to
superior
procurable
It
day.
the
anything
the present
at
was imported from
Baltic
Dantzic
ports,
and Memel, but the source

is
now
extinguished.
commendable
very
has
fashion
recent years,
this
of
obtained,
of
stripping
which
deal,
fine
is
generally of beautiful colour
when the paint
removed,
is
graining the knots,

which
are
the
figurements,
dis-
only
to match the
texture of the wood, and

finishing
friction.
with
its
with
The
fine
door
which
in
of old pencil
in its
is
this
and the colour
shown
has been
original situ,
door,
and
architrave,
in Fig. 382,
stripped
wax
is
manner,
now
that
This
cedar.
apart from the fine
quality of the carving,
is
Fig. 385.
ALCOVE CUPBOARD
IN
RED
DEAL.
Victoria and Albert
Museum.
Hroodwork

main
in
exceptional
It is of
details.
One
badly than accurately.
much more
easily copied
can be referred to here.
The modern
the type which can be
detail in proportions
bottom and the
six-panelled door has the smallest panel at the top, the next in size at the
middle panel
is taller
the same in height.
In this door the lower and middle panels are
than the other two.
This could not have been conditioned by the position of a surbase
The
moulding, as this could have been fixed at any height from the floor in reason.
idea
that the eye gives an effect of
is
downward
perspective, so that the lower door panel
really appears to be less in height than the middle one.
eighteenth-century doors, in fact
and yet
in
in copies,
reproduction work
it
it is
effect of a
one gets the
may
flat of
The
architrave, also, has an
and
this
two
sections, the
the panel on
is still
its
fielded side
door.
the extraordinary thickness of

is
door and
of the
window
abnormal projection
for the size of the
door and the room,
further accentuated
by the bevelling of the architrave return. It is in

the front half being worked on the solid instead of the
mouldings of
its
architrave are
reveals in the
shown
in Fig. 384.
same room are carved
The
in the
skirting
same
of the door carving can be seen, to a larger scale, in Fig. 383.

is
Another point
the door panels.
nearly level with the face of the door frame.
facing of the front ogee, as one usually finds in mouldings of this size.
this
not unusual in
rarely noticed, with the result that,
is
modern Swedish machine-made

is
is
be said to be rather the rule than the exception,
the one which
to be noticed on the page of sections
The
This detail
fine
The
sections of
and panel-moulding
manner. The detail
The date
of this
work
about 1730-40.
To
this period belongs the fine china alcove or niche
which was made to displav
the decorative porcelains of the middle eighteenth century, illustrated here in Fig. 385.
This comes from the South-west of England, but there

of type
and the
which existed, formerly.

fine red deal
has
the action of lead and

shell
above
is
finely
cartouche, originally
now
oil in
is
no longer the
The paint has been removed from
local distinctions
this alcove
cupboard,
the colour of faded pencil cedar or pear tree, the result of
the paint, and the exclusion of light for
many
years.
The
carved, in high-relief scrolling with the arms of Hicks on the

all
painted in polychrome and gold, with very rich
effect.
The
ends of the shelves finish with carved spandrels in similar fashion to the returns of treads
in the staircases of the
charm
same date
(see Fig. 254).
Simple
in general effect, yet
with a
and play of light and shade, with this china

niche the progression of English woodwork must be concluded, as far as the scope of this
book is concerned, leaving the subsequent development of panellings and interior joinery
quiet
in proportion, detail, colour
to be traced further, during the remainder of the eighteenth century, in a later work.
354
Chapter X.
Bedsteads and their Development.
HE
and testament
last will
chester, builder of
New
founder of
William of
of
Windsor Castle and part
He
his death.
leaves
money
to the
Winchester, Wolvesy, Oxford, Guildford and Old and
hundred pounds. To the church

blue cloth embroidered with
and thirty capes
gold,
of
of
of
Win-
Winchester Cathedral,
College at Oxford, high prelate and the wisest coun-
which Edward the Third ever had,
sellor
Wykeham, Bishop
of
is
dated 1403, one year before
poor in the prisons of London,
New
Sarum, to the amount
of
two
Winchester he bequeaths his new rich vestment of
the
same, with gold fringes, a pyx

the host,
of beryl for
and a
cross of gold with relics of the
To New
true cross.
leaves his
mitre,
College he
crozier, dal-
To
matics and sandals.
Winchester another
college
at
mitre,
his
Bible
books from
To
Bishop
his
and several
his library.
Robert
Braybrooke,
London, he demises
of
his large silk

in
his
bed and furniture
palace
at
Winchester,
with the whole suite of tapestry

hangings from the same place.
One could have wished
more ample and detailed reference to the bed of an important

prelate, dating
fourteenth
queathed
from the
late
and
be-
century,
Fig. 386.
OAK BEDSTEAD (TESTER

5
ins.
wide.
4J
Length
Present height 5 ft. 10 ins.
ft.
ft.
MISSING).
2 ins.
(between posts).
Posts 3J ins. square.
in the first years of
Saffron
355
Walden Museum.
Fig. 387.
Fig. 388.
OAK BEDPOSTS.
5
ft.
ins.
to 5
ft.
ins.
high
OAK BEDPOSTS.
z| ins. thick.
ft.
5 ins. high
4 ins. thick.

Victoria
356
and Albert Museum.
Bedsteads
the
Development
bed"
"silk
refers
obviously
their
The
fifteenth.
term
and
to
hangings, but
whether the bedstead
the
was
of
t ype,
or merely a pallet
the four-post
H-
standing in a curtained
recess,
we
means
of
have
knowing.
many
Magnificent as
of
the
no
Church
high
were
dignitaries
their mode of
life,
in
very
real comfort, in
little
the modern sense, was
known
before the six-
teenth century.
The
magnificence was bareye
was
dazzled, but the
body
baric
was
the
little
comforted.
We know, also, especially in secular houses,
from
the
castle
down
fortified
to
the
yeoman's
superior
*\
the bed-
house, that
chamber had only a

secondary importance.
The
life
was
in the
of the family
Great Hall,
and the private apartments, including the
Fig.
6
ft.
389
OAK BEDPOSTS.
6 ft. zi ins. high (complete) by 3J

high.
bedrooms, were rudelv
Victoria
357
Fig. 390.
in>. thick.
and Albert Museum.
Early English Furniture and JI oodwork
Fig. 391.
OAK BEDSTEAD.
(Restored).
Height
5 ft. 10 ins.
Length 6
ft.
6 ins.
353
Width
ft.
ins.
S medley Aston, Esq.
Bedsteads
and sparsely furnished, with
little
and
their
or no pretence to real comfort.
to be clothed with panellings of wood,
the
first
Development
Walls only begin
attempt at relieving the nakedness
of stone walls or partitions of wood and plaster, during the latter part of the fifteenth
century.
rich
and powerful prelate would have
his
walls
hung with
tapestries
Fig. 392.
HEAD-BOARD OF OAK BEDSTEAD.

4
ft.
i\ ins. wide by 4
ft.
il ins. high.
Date about 1545-50.
359
Victoria and Albert
Museum.
Jl
r
oodwork
Fig. 393.
OAK BEDSTEAD, MIDLAND TYPE.

Height 6
ft.
3 ins.
Width
4 It.
6 ins.
Mid-seventeenth century.
;6o
Length 6
ft.
Victoria
and Albert Muteum.
Bedsteads
even at a considerably
earlier period
than
this,
and
their
Development
but in the ordinary houses, even of the
moderately wealthy, where painted hangings were not used
in imitation of the lordly
tapestry, the walls were either left bare or decorated with crude paintings on
studs or plaster
or on both.
filling,
In turbulent times, the men-folk slept in their clothes, and where they could.
know
We
that retainers in large houses far outnumbered the bedroom accommodation.
shakedown
softest place
To
we
wood
was probably the usual bed,
of straw or rushes
or, as
an alternative, the
which could be found on a floor-board.
illustrate early bedsteads,
are compelled to
and
this is
show examples which
only possible in fragmentary form,
are, in the
mere
fact that they are bedsteads
as a rule, nothing has survived
Of these,
beyond the posts, and in

rare instances, the head boards.
The fragment from Saffron Walden Museum, Fig. 386,
is all that remains of what must have been an important bedstead in the early sixteenth
at
all,
palatial pieces.
That
century.
it is
not later than the
first
years of
Henry VIII
is
shown by the patterns
upper portions, which resemble the carved brick chimneys

The panelled head-board has the early form of moulded panel (not a
of the posts, especially of the

of this date.
linenfold), a similar
we have already seen
example
in the
of
which
Lavenham
porch, Fig. 267.
In the Victoria and
Museum
are several examples
Albert
shown here
of these early bedposts,
more or
Figs. 387 to 390, all with
in
less
suggestion of the Renaissance super-
imposed on the Gothic.
The three
Fig. 387 are almost free
from
and
fluence,
The
in date.
in
many of
be
central one
of a
its
is
particularly
simple chip-carved
The same
feeling
is
found
the early chests, which will
illustrated
Fig. 388
this in-
are, probably, the earliest
charming, with
ornament.
in
in
the
next volume.
shows the complete four posts
bed with the remains
of the
head
Fig. 394.
framing on the two at the back. These
OAK BEDSTEAD.
are the half-posts to which the head-
Dated 1593.
3 a
361
Fig. 395.
OAK BEDSTEAD.
Height 8
ft.
7 ins.
Width
5 ft. 8 ins.
Length 7
362
ft.
10 ins.
Fig. 396.
OAK BEDSTEAD.
363
Great Fulford, Devon.
Fig. 397.
OAK BEDSTEAD.
Date about 1630-40.
Astley Hall, Chorley. Lanes.
36+
Bedsteads arid their Development

framing was
fixed.
on the front
in
is
Fig. 389
posts.
is
The Gothic pinnacled buttress-finish at the floor-ends of those

the manner one would expect at this date, but is rare in beda pair, of square section, the shafts with pronounced Renaissance
ornament on bases traceried
in the late
Gothic manner.
Fig. 390 are
probably French,
the one on the right having the insignia of the Medici family, the one in the centre the
The ornament,
fleur-de-lvs.
of England.
also,
is
executed in the manner of Touraine rather than
comparison between the diamond-treatment of the shaft of the post
on the right with

those on either side
will
38;
Fig.
show this difference
although some
allowance must be
made
the
de-
faced state of
the
for
former.
shows
Fig. 391
one
of
bed-
these
steads erected, but
and
tester
the
cornice are missing,
and the panelling

which acts here as
a head-board
original
and
is
is
later in date.
rails
of
steads
not
also
The
these bed-
were laced
with ropes threaded
through holes, and
on
this rope
mesh
the bedding was

placed. In Fig. 392,
which dates
about
the
Fig. 398.
from
WALNUT BEDSTEAD.
middle
Date about
565
1671
1,
and Woodwork
cen-
sixteenth
of the
tury, these rope-holes
have been pierced right

through the vertically-
moulded panels
This fragment,
head.
the
of
of the
balusters
applied
which are distinctly
Renaissance
char-
in
acter, in spite of their
probably
crudity,
of a bed-
formed a part
stead
of
form,
open
without cornice or
There
tester.
some
is
reason to suppose that
bedsteads of this kind
were made
draped alcove, and
in a
probably one of
is
it
stand
to
this description
is
which
referred to in William
of
testa-
Wykeham's
ment.
It
the
in
late
is
sixteenth century before bedsteads

really
become
important pieces
Sir
of furniture.
Belch, in
"
Toby
Twelfth
"
Night,"
and
many lies
as will
thy sheet of paper,

although the sheet
lie
Fig. 399.
STATE BEDSTEAD.
Height 14 ft. 4 ins. Width 6 ft. to
Late seventeenth century.
as
says,
in
ft.
The Duke
-,66
of Buccleuch.
were big
enough
for
Bedsteads
and
their
Development
Fig. 400.
STATE BEDSTEAD.
Victoria and Albert
367
Museum.

the bed of Waiv, set
first
Twelfth,
which has been illustrated
must have been well-known
in
this
in
book
in
Fig.
82.
may
for
call
pieces.
middle classes was a much more simple

be taken as illustrating the type, one which persisted, in country
The seventeenth-century bedstead

Fig. 393
Large and ornate bedsteads
Shakespeare's day, but the fact that they
remark shows that they could only have been exceptional
affair.
in
"
Night" was not written until about 1601, and it

acted on the Christmas of that year in the same Hall of the Middle Temple
But
Shakespeare's day.
was
known
'em down.'' so this famous bed must have been well
of the
districts,
even until the
of
the eighteenth
century.
Both head and
close
foot-ends are completely

in
panelled
the
to
up
This latter was
tester.
sometimes framed to
correspond, but, more
often merely boarded in.
The open sides were

usually closed with cur-
and
tains,
of
fresh
many
air
for
lasted
years with English
country-folk,
the
dread
this
latter
even until
the
years of
nineteenth century.
may
It
be
an
in-
dication of date, but
more
an
probably,
alternative
is,
merely
fashion,
where the front posts are

distinct
and
from the pallet
side-rails of the
itself.
An
absence
bed
of
Fig. 401.
foot-board, as in Fig. 394,
STATE BEDSTEAD.
The Earl
368
of Chesterfield.
may
be taken as an
in-
Bedsteads
the sixteenth
dication
of
to
fashion
this
box
on
supported
bases,
their
years.
Similarly,
bedsteads with
with shaped brackets,
either
as
Development
and Lancashire held
although both Yorkshire
century,
many
for
and
in
the
bulbous
posts
Fig.
395,
or
on a
stage of four columns, as in Fig. 397, are early in the seventeenth century, as a
and often show marked traces
rule,
is
of either
French or Flemish workmanship.
It
not improbable that England owes this importance of the bedstead to Flanders
The
or France, especially to the former.
front of the tester cornice of Fig. 395
is
carved with the arms of the Courtenays of Devon, and the South-west, as we have
the
led
seen,
century.
way
396
Fig.
ornate
in
is
woodwork
until
from the same county, a
almost
fine
the
close
oak bedstead
of
the
sixteenth
at Great Fulford,
usually described as the second Sir John Fulford's bed, but, as he died in 15S0,
date from the closing years of his
life,
connected from the front posts, and
The carving has the

work of that part of
Here the
later.
it
pallet
must
is
dis-
without the foot-board of the Courtenay bedstead.
much
rich
Devonshire character noticeable in
fifty
years before, such as in the screens at Lapford and Swimbridge
The cornice
not far away.
is
and may be even
to this bedstead
is
of the
Church wood-
disproportionately light, and there
square carved necking above the post capitals which one would hardly expect to
is
find,
but these ornate bedsteads, apart from the fact that they often suffered from ignorant
restorations, sometimes incorporated portions of carved woodwork from despoiled
churches, and the one close to Great Fulford had been visited
1547, with the
missioners in
carvings which
much havoc was wrought among
that
result
Thomas Brideaux had put
From Devonshire
to Lancashire
is
by Cromwell's comthe fine
in only thirty-seven years before.
a far remove, but similar traditions will be found
There are the same carved
at Astley Hall, Fig. 397, as in the Great Fulford bedstead.
bulbs to the posts, and the mattress-framing fixed only by the tenons into the head-
There
board.
is
one striking difference,
there are eighty-six mitres in the cornice alone, and

front posts.
bedstead
if
Astley Hall
most
of
it is
There
is
as
many
others in the bases to the
remarkable
for its rich
original to the house
it is in.
woodwork and
furniture as for the fact that
In the next volume will be illustrated a remark-
same house, an almost
solitary survival of a
which must have been very popular in the seventeenth century,

to in documents and books of the time.
With the marriage

'
mouldings
and panelled foot-board making a complete open

the back were cut away and posts and tester removed.
able shuffle-board table from the
of mitred
also the carved
the arcaded stage of

is
made
in the elaborate use
of Catherine of Braganza, bedsteads

369
as
it is
game
frequently referred
from Portugal, or copies

made from them
Fig. 398
in this
country, although rare, are not
unknown
after the Restoration.
an example where the lathe, either in turning or spiralling,
is
This
exclusively.
used almost
the form and type from which the later four-post beds of the
is
century were,
eighteenth
is
in
all
probability,
derived.
This bedstead resembles the
low-back chairs, generally made from ebony or lignum, which are sometimes met with,
and which are usually styled Portuguese, although many were probably imported from
Goa.
Of the
and
all
late seventeenth-century state bedstead, with
woodwork covered with
silk or similar fabric, it is
moulded cornice
every one differing materially from
the cornice
is
straight,
ornamented with plumes
its fellow.
and mitred
known
in breaks
its limit
The
mouldings.
at
Thus
at
Holme Lacey,
merely
Boughton, Fig. 399,
and curtains
In Fig. 400 the cornice
is
moulded
of the time
This elaboration of the state bed
Fig. 401, both in height
and intricacy
tester only of this bedstead has its original covering.
are modern, reproduced from the old fabric
is
it
and arches, the woodwork covered with a material
as morine, enriched with applique- work.
reaches
between them,
at the corners, with valance
of silk of floral pattern intersewn with gold threads.
canopy
impossible to illustrate a range
of examples, as, although there is a general resemblance

superficial,
to the
of
covered
The curtains
by Messrs. Morant some years
ago.
Bed-
must have been general in the great houses of the seventeenth

One
century, although many have been dismantled as cumbrous and unhygienic.
elaborate bed-head, moulded and still covered with its original lemon-coloured silk, now
steads of this kind
in tatters, is
Park, and
hands
stowed away, with other derelict furniture,
many
of recent
pomp and
of these ornate state beds
in the
Long Gallery
must have met with a
at
Lyme
similar fate at the
owners more concerned with matters of health and cleanliness than with
display.
57
INDEX
-
Abbeys
and convents,
Aston
see
Church
dens of gluttony and
Hall, 33, 216, 251
Atherington Church,
vice in fifteenth century,
16,
140, 142, 164, 165, 166,
167, 174, 180
number and power
at the Reformation, 108
Adze, the primitive plane, 29
Bablake Schools, Coventry,
Aldington Church, Kent, 170
Baines, Sir Frank, 84
34, 293,
All Saints, Hereford, 143
Barend Expedition,
Alston Court, Nayland, Suffolk, 104

Great Hall at, 194
Barking, Suffolk, screen at, 147, 206
Altar
Bay windows,
Barre, de
afterwards of stone, 119

early
;'
la,
tools from, 31, ;2
330
189, 193, 194
staircase at, 205
Beachampton Farm,
Bealings, Great, see Great Bealings
richly decorated, 119
Roof
edict regarding, 119
Beams, cambered,
importance of the, 119
Beckingham, Stephen
of
wood
in early ages, rig
see
Tolleshunt
(see also
sometimes placed on rood-loft, 119
264
Beddington Manor House, lock
Bedrooms, dread of fresh air in
subsidiary, 119
Bedsteads
replaced by plain
Anne
wooden
tables, 119
of Brittany, sec Brittany,
Anne
of
development
Apethorpe, 1500, 32
of.
at,
made
early, only palatial pieces, 361
frequently craftsmen
early,
in
Bedstead
of
early,
at Astley Hall,
4, 11, 20, 21
known.
unknown, 357
365
seventeenth century, yeoman type, 368
change of location, without sanction, punished,
life
period, 3(11
Portuguese type, imported, 369, 370

rails of, laced with ropes to support mattress,
few holidays in
same
of fifteenth century
V}
specialised
to stand in draped alcoves, 357,
resemblance of posts to brick chimneys
of the
also, I
and woodwork not
fifteenth century,
Artisans
i66,
366
nearly always Churchmen, 9

Architecture, almost wholly secular under Henry
,
36S
355, 357, 359, 361, 365.
Trade Guild, 4
Architects of early Churches
of
:,2,
368, 369, 370

early,
vii,
Maim
340
early,
Appledore Church, Kent, screen at, 135, 140

Apprentices, could not be taken without sanction
Architecture
304
369
at
life
Boughton, 370
at Great Fulford, 369
of early. 21
usually crude,
but want
un-
at
"
steady deterioration in status
of,
from
Holme Lacey, 370

wooden club used
Beetle," a
in riving timber,
Bergholt, East, see East Bergholt
six-
teenth to eighteenth centuries, 3, 10, 11, 12

stringent laws regulating work of, 3, n, 19, 20
Beverley Minster, 31
Bewfield, Katherine, 1504, 125
Ashbocking, font cover at, 171

Astley Hall, bedstead at, 361)
Bewfield, Alderman,
Billesley,
37i
church
at,
Thomas,
337
will of, 172
29

Manor, 315, 334, 336, 337
Billesley
steel lock',
.it,
338, 3
Billesley village swept
Blackett, arm--
Bloomfield's
1
li
l>v
plague, 338
waggon, 92, 94
Cescinsky, Herbert, 7
337
at,
261
of,
Chairmaker,
"
oik," quoted, 172

History
tdenham, arms of, 297, 330
1
of,
development,
7,
favoured
especially
in
8
2,
39
38,
Chalfield, Great, see Great Chalfield
Chancel Screens
not so lofty in South-west. 1(14

the arch-headed type of the West, 163
Boothby Pagnell, 211

Borenius, Dr. Tancred, 122
Chancels, screened off from nave, older than the
nave as a
Bovey Tracey, 165, 166, 172

Boxford Church
at, 206,
craft
(hairs, rarity of early,
Bodenham, Count Lubienski, 334

Bodenham, linger, 330
Bodiam Castle, 15
door
introduced into houses, 54, 200, 202
341
away
Whalley family
Billesley,
[o,
Ceilings
JFoodwork
rule,
119
Charlton, 216
Charterhouse, 212
247
fourteenth-century porch
Bradninch, screen at, 145, 166
at, 195,
Hraganza, Catherine of, marriage

Bramfield, 31, 126, 180
Chatsworth
197
Mortlake tapestries
of,
woodwork
woodwork
369
at,
350
350
at,
at, cost of,
350
206
Braybrooke, Robert, Bishop of London, 232, 355
Chelsworth Church, door

Chequers Court, 212
Breccles Hall, 212
Chester, stall canopies at, 13O, 168
Brent Eleigh Church, 206
Chestnut, erroneously stated to have been used for

the roof of Westminster Hall, 98
Chests, importance of, in early households. 7
Brantingham, Bishop of Exeter, 278
Bridgman,
Sir Orlando, 293,
Brightleigh, N.
304
Devon, screen from Great Hall
at,
Chilham, 212
241
Anne
Brittany,
270
of,
Chimney-beams
Bromley-by-Bow, palace
of,
at,
copied from stone mantels, 290, 291

from Lavenham, 282
panellings from, 313,
315. 3i6, 317
Brookland Church, Kent, 58, 59, 170
from Parnham Park, 289
Brushford, Somerset, screen at, 167
from Paycockes, Coggeshall, 282

from Stoke-by-Nayland, 282
Buckden
(1484), 32
usual in timber houses, 2S1, 282, 283
Burford, Oxon, 125
Burgundy, Philip the Hardy, Prince
of,
122
Chimney-breasts, use of plaster panels on, 2qi, 293

Chimney-pieces, acquire size and dignity at end of
"
Burlington
Magazine," quoted, 308, 309, 310,
sixteenth century, 280

Choristers in Cathedrals, 271, 277
Burnet, Bishop, quoted, 131, 132
Burton Agnes. 33
Burton,
illiam,
Chudleigh, screen
room from house
of,
305
Church Farm,
Church
Cabriole
by
stalls at,
and sheep, small
size of, in fourteenth
door from, 209
chancel older than the nave, as a rule, 119

chancel screened off from nave, 105
and
fifteenth centuries, 18
Cavendish family,
Clare, Suffolk,
beautifying of the early, 109

carousing in the, 108
175
the gilder, 105
Casements, opening, rare in early houses, 3

Cattle
166
art of the, 15, 180
leg, 7
Cartmel Priory, Lanes., choir

Carving, finished
at, 145,
Chulmleigh, screen at, 165, 166
rise of,
chancel screens, construction
348
145, 146, 147, 151, 154
3/2
of,
140. 142, 143,
Index
Church
Coinage
chancel screens, massive character of early,
debasing of, effects of, on East Anglian trade

with Netherlands, 2',
135
chancel screens, massive character of Western,
debasing
Colchester
164
chancel screens, not so lofty in South-west,
West, 165
craftsmen of the, 4
dual ownership of nave and chancel
s
in the,
at
Ludham, 164
at
Ludham and
at
Ranworth,
at
Southwold, 163
Southwold and Yaxley, 149, 157, 158,
interchange of ideas in the, 5
and woodwork
furniture
of, in
at Ufford, 169, 170, 171

at Yaxley, 162, 163
delight in, during fifteenth century, 104
prior
to 1520, 16, 108
lack of
warming
difference
in early,
highest limit reached in chancel screens, 125

in churches, 135, 180
in early
rood-screens, see under Rood-lofts
12,
moment
little
lasses,
and Screens
in early, 4, 12
of, in fifteenth
century.
9,
employed by
wealthy, importance
Inn
of, in fostering styles,
fifteenth
in
of,
and sixteenth
in
woodwork
Hampton
at
Court. 104
at Rotherwas, 104
all
in,
in, 118
Gothic church woodwork originally
Norwich Cathedral, 120, 121, 122, 124

preparation on wood for, described, no
principal notes in colour at Ludham and Bram-
room from,
346, 347, 348
field,
panelled room, probably influenced from Cornwall,
148
proper, in heraldry, 118
tempera mediums on, 119
347
"
"
Clinker-boarding
of
early wainscotting,
Compton
200,
Place, Eastbourne, 350
Compton, Wiltshire, home
243, -244
Compton Wynyates
Construction
long-case, 5
mutilation
Cloister
Wolsey's closet
nearly
panelled
"
in
mediums used
the, 21
centuries, 19
ks
no
coloured, 103, 104, 105

lack
Cleanliness,
Cloi
103, 1114, ro5, 109,
luminers of Gothic, 115, 116, 1S0

artists
5,6
Clifford's
woodwork,
in pulpits, 173, 174
workmen and
1
chancel screens, 135, 169
in Ciothic
359. 36o
time of
between work of eastern and western
counties, 147, 165, 166
280
luxury of, 4
naves of, the meeting halls of the parish, 105
popularity of tapestry in houses of the, 2]2,
wealth and power
159,
160
in fifteenth century, a riot of colour, 105
influence
Bramfield, 148
151, 154, 155, 156
at
231, 232, 357, 359

facilities for
1(17
at St. Michael-at-Plea, 124, 125
in luxurious furnishings,
way
23
at Bramfield, 160, 162, 163
105
early, led the
11, 22,
234, 235
associated with construction of woodwork, 137
merely of shrines or sanctuaries,
early, consist
under Henry VIII,
!05
79.
of,
Museum,
Coldridge Church, 165,

Colour Decoration
164
chancel screens, the arch-headed type of the
and
of,
the
51
Hearth
at, 172,
of,
in
fifteenth
and sixteenth
centuries, 136
of chancel screens,
174
140,
142,
143,
145,
147, 151, 154

of pulpits, 172
Coggeshall Abbey, 283
Abbots
of,
;i
^,2
"
quoted, III, 115

Cobbold, Mr. John D., 269, 342
Cockington, pulpit
advancement
of the Penruddoi ks,
(1520),
Copying, importance of
283
373
later, considered, 6
146,

Corner-posts,
p..
Corridors, not
known
[9
Cothelstone Manoj
1
|
Doors, differ
[93
1,
in
early Tudor houses, 34
in early
33
568),
Courtenays of Devon, bedstead with arms
Coventry
i
athedral,
St.
see
Michael's
of,
Cromwell's commissioners
fourteenth
in
of,
Crosby Hall,
15,
in
and
constructed
290
at,
of,
Edward
of, 5,
5,
6
6
Elizabeth, reign
Church, door
(1549), 33
Sir
Anthony,
Denny,
Abbey,
Eltham
for panel-
at,
Coinage
206
possession of
Waltham
116
of,
life
of, 5
English people, social
life of,
under the Tudors, 105

hard as under
in fifteenth century not so
the Tudors, 103
Eucharistic sacrifice, 119
Exeter
at Reformation, 31
Law
31, 131, 157, 160, 162,
Library roof
at, 8r, 91,
92
panellings from, 300, 301, 302, 304
369
Development
England
century
an agglomeration of districts,
262, 263
Commonwealth,
in,
202
at,
in fifteenth
disturbed state
in
culture
Palace, roof at, 53, 62, 83, 84, 85, 86
Emblazonry, law
Despencer, Henry, Bishop of Norwich, 121

Destruction of Church woodwork
at the
of,
Elmsett Church, door
of currency, see
Deene Park
font pedestal at, 173
edicts of, regarding use of altars, 132
lings. 332, 353
Dedham
of,
VI
Edwardstone Church, 74
Eldred, Thomas, a navigator, 342, 343
334
imported from Baltic ports, 353

replaces oak in eighteenth century
Debasement
Bee's hall at, 35
Anthony
acts of oppression of, 16
in,
205
Early Churches, see Church

East Bergholt, doors at, 208
importance of fashions in the,
alcove niche
Castle,
East Down, church
and systems
late,
Earl Stonham Church, 64, 82, S3, 206
ij, 13
Davis, William, at Chatsworth, 350

Deal, red
in
306, 344
examples
difficulties in
century
140
Curzon, Earl, of Kedleston, 13
Dating
sixteenth
with wicket, generally
Devon, 369
Crowe, William, room from house
of
334
202
towards
Durham
Cunningham, Alan, quoted,
in,
in,
Dowsing, William, Journal of, 131, 132, 160, 162

Dragon-beam in houses of double-story overhang,
42, 202
72, 73
Culbone, Somerset, screen
210
similar fashion to panellings, 205
fifteenth centuries, 19, 20
Cromwell, Lord Treasurer.
-'<),
timber houses, 202
springing of heads, variations
oventry, St. Mary's Hall, 41

subdivisions
202, 205, 206, 208,
of,
modern versus old proportions
369
Church,
oventrj
Craftsmen,
churches or houses, 202
little in
construction
of furniture
and woodwork, systems
Exeter,
The
Vicars' Hall
of considering explained, 8
Devonshire, Earl of, 34N. 349, 350
early stone chimney-piece
Devonshire House, 350
panelling
alterations in, 279
Devonshire, panellings and pilasters considered,
in,
Stuart panelling
Evck, Van,
299
see
in,
279
271, 2jy, 278, 279

in,
279
Van Eyck
Diet, lack of variety in fifteenth century, 3
Doddington Hall (1595), 33

Doles from wealthy houses, custom
of soliciting, 27
Falstaff, Sir
John, 233, 234, 270

Famines, unknown in England in fifteenth century,
10S
Doors, 189, 192, 194, 200, 205, 206, 208, 209, 210
in early secular houses usually low, 52
374
Index
Fashions, importance of
in dating
in
examples,
development
5,
Glass
crown, method of making described,
Glue, sparingly used
Fenn, A. M., Mr., 194

Fenner's House, see also Yarmouth, 344
size of, 3,
Fireplaces, early, huge

Firred-beam Roofs, sec Roofs
Gold, superior decorative qualities
with
at
169, 170, 171, 172
Gothic
Food
compared
in fifteenth cen-
108
tury, 11,
Fonts, usually stone but sometimes of lead, 170
of,
103
silver,
Golden age of English woodwork
of seventeenth century, as a rule, 2

of,
Works
Westminster Hall, 96
Floors, either left bare or strewn with rushes until
end
by the early woodworker, 31
Godfrey, Walter H., Mr., 72, 73

Godmeston, John, appointed Clerk of
39
Fletcher of Saltoun, 11
Font covers, importance
prohibitive cost of, in sixteenth century, 2
of styles, 211
begins to be merged into the classical in six-
often included in terms of hiring
by King or
teenth century, 5
debasement
Church, 3
plentiful
and cheap
of,
137, 167, 168
false idea of material in late,
in fifteenth century, 3
168
Forde Abbey, 222, 223
necessarily an
Ford's Hospital, Coventry, 42, 43
the national style until end of fifteenth cen-
ecclesiastical style, 16
tury, 1
Fox, Bishop, 136
Framlingham Castle, 206
woodwork and
Framlingham Church, 79
Decoration
colour decoration, see Colour
woodwork, evidences
Fret, popularity of, 319
Fulford, Great, see Great Fulford
of skill in
Fuller, Robert, Abbot of Waltham, 258, 261
Great Bealings Church, Suffolk, 208

Great Chalfield, 212
Furniture
Great Fulford
Fulford, Sir John, bedstead of, at Gt. Fulford, 369
early, arbitrary use of the term,
bedstead
but
early, not only primitive in character,
and
also limited in amount
variety, 2, 6, 16
importance
clerical
of
development
Great Hall,
establishments
369
at,
divides houses into two sections, 212
dwindles in size and importance in sixteenth
in
of, 2
century, 34, 54
importance of fashions in, 211

narrow line of demarcation between wood-
work and,
festivals in,
40
often found in small yeomen's houses, 34, 197,
200
reasons for rapid development of style
in,
paucity of furniture
screens
subdivisions of types of, 7
in,
Gernon, Sir Nicholas, 121
163, 180
of,
of the family,
Grundisburgh, 142
Guilds
120, 14S, 149, 158, 159, 160,
Gibbons, Grinling, 350

Gibbs, William, 218
arms
room
of, 37, 38, 39

Great Mortality, The (1528-1529), 19
Grey Friars, Coventry, sec Ford's Hospital
Gainsburgh, Great Hall, 90, 197

Garner and Stratton, quoted, 43, 44, 45, 40
Gifford,
2^
197
usual furniture
Gable, in roof construction, 55
Gesso-work, 105,
in,
240, 241
the principal living
no,
for,
panellings at, 253, 254, 255
imported into England, 2
foreign, sparingly
and love
108, 109
antiquity
character
halls,
power
241
375
of,
17
of, 17, 21, 108,
importance
of,
of, in fifteenth
193
41
century, 4
^,

Haddeleye, the King's castle
1
[adleigh
HadL
eg
[ouse,
imber-framed
conscientious character of earl v. 180
:i
house
of,
Ihurch,
<
elaborate ceilings
at, 3, 51, 52
200
in,
Halberton, [65, t66, [72
elaboration of carving
Halo, Sir Stephen,
low rooms
Hales Place,
i-'i
renterden, Kent, 212
Half-timber house,
Hall.
Ham
ireal
Ion-.',
see
panellings
in,
346
from
plague,
see
House-plan
ick,
Hardwick
of
early,
Harmondsworth Barn,
Hatfield House,
Haughley Church,
Hebbys, John,
a factor in development of furniture

1,
33, 34, 35,
;(>,
37, 38, 39,
evolution in direction of greater privacy for

the family,
86
Houses
will of,
Hemsted, staircases
Hengrave Hall
63, 67,
188
middle sixteenth
40, 41, 42, 43, 45
350
Hall,
in, in
and woodwork,
149
local tree-growth,
century, id
also
(Hurt, 55
Bi ss
East Anglia, 177
due to
in,
House-building, era of, sets
Plagues, hi
Hampton
42
52
in,
of, in
variations
rreat Hall
at,
in, 41,
peculiar to England, 41, 176, 177

richness
House, timber-framed
see
Hamburg, mortality
Hardw
U roodwork
134
at,
early,
216
standard of comfort very meagre
in, 2
paucity of furniture in earlv, 4

Sir John, 121
Howard,
(1538), 32
Henley-in-Arden, St. John's Church, 74

Henry VIII
acts of oppression of,

debases the coinage, n, 22, 23, 125
debases the coinage, effects on East Anglian
Influence
Renaissance
of
on
architecture
and
furniture, 4
Italy,
trade,
Grand tour
a part of aristocratic educa-
to,
tion in the sixteenth century, 1

Ivychurch, Kent, chancel screen at, 135
divorces Catherine of Aragon (1533), 262
extravagance of, 10, 15

monastic property by, 268
use of roval arms of. 264, 265, 268
sale of
Jerusalem, arms of
Herland, Hugh, qi
entrusted with the renewal of the roof of
Joiners
methods
of,
and masons compared, 54
Journeyman," early
of fifteenth-ccnturv
significance of the term, 4
craftsman, 21
Holker Hall, 350

Keele Hall (1571), 33
Kent, William, 218
Holywells, Ipswich, 269, 301, 342, 343
Horwood Church,
"
Houghton,
72
Collections
17, iS
Hours of labour in
0:1
Husbandry and Trade,"
summer and winter
century, 21, 22
House, timber-framed
116
Joists, 55
Jones, Inigo, 218

"
life
of,
follow traditions of the masons, 54, 136, 166
Westminster Hall, 96, 98

the King's Master Carpenter, 96
Herland, William de, the King's Master Carpenter, 19
Holbeton, 167, 174
Holidays, absence of, in the
Kingdom
Kenton, pulpit
at, 174
Kerdiston, Sir William,
12:
Kersey Church, 206
in fifteenth
Ipswich, 206
20
craftsmen,
King's
Key Church,
a complete unit without plaster or brickwork,
Kirby (1570), 33
Kirkstead,
187
376
Abbey
of,
15
Index
Labourers
Statute
Locks, steel door

of, 23,
at
24
steady deterioration in status
Lake House
"
"
Lapford Church,
Lavenham
Beddington Manor House, 340
at Billesley Manor, 338, 340, 341
of, 1 r
Lodgings
(1575), 33
Lanhydroc, Cornwall, 32
a weaving centre
chimney-beam from,
Guild Hall
Long
name given to guests' chamber-,
the
Gallery,
193
2 82
34
becomes general and replaces the
Great Hall, 35
Melford
Church, roof
Long
Ludham Church, 31, 180
J2, 165
at, 67,
69
Luther, Martin, 53
at, 41, 42, 193,
202
Lyme
Park, Disley, Cheshire, 3, 21S, 219

mantels from, 294, 296, 2<)j, 304
remains of draped bedstead at, 370
Guild Hall, wainscotting in, 24;, 244

large trade of, with Flanders, 41
old house at, y$, 190, 192, 200, 208
old shop windows at, 192
Woolhall at, 189, 190, 192, 202
Lavenham Church,
chancel screen
Oxford Pew
Mantels, see Panellings
oak, develop in size
71, 72
at, 140, 142,
at, 167,
143
of,
Mark
(1501), ^2
Monasteries
Park, 294
Levens Hall, Westmoreland, 323

Lewes Town Hall, staircase in, 216
Leycester of
Lime
De Tabley, arms
of,
Suffolk, 341
1504, 125
"
Twelfth 'Night "in, 160 1,
^2,
of, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15,
116, 118
dissolution
of,
vagrancy after
high standard of production

origin of,
and parchemin panel
16
dissolution of, skill in craftsmanship dissipated

after, 10, 11
common
dissolution
Street, mantels, etc., from, 301, 302, 320, 321
Linenfold
of, in
performance of
Minstrels' Galleries,
Lyme
middle
368
Park, 294, 296
Leoni, G., 218

rebuilds
or Merk, value
first
Lyme
in
Mason's mitre, 244, 269

Maynard, Mr. Guy, 234, 235
Middle Temple Hall, 55, 85, 86, 368
338
Legh, Sir Piers, builds
and
style of, in Norfolk
168
Lee, Sir Robert, 334, 336
Lee, family
and importance
sixteenth century, 280, 293
Spring Pew at, 72, 167, 16S

Laws, harsh and strict in fifteenth century, 108
Layer Marney Towers
numbers
(q.v.),
of artists
the, 10,
in,
20
and craftsmen maintained
by, 20
249
inaccurate use of the term, 24 3
Monks Eleigh Church, 70

Montacute House (1580),
in bedsteads,
Morant,
description
of,
245
366
(1559), 33
Morieux, Sir Thomas, 121
Musical instruments, Tudor, 40, 41
occurs in conjunction with Renaissance orna-
of,
History of Essex," 264, 283
Moreton Old Hall
in panels, origin of, 241, 242
ment, 249
reasons for development
"
242,
243,
245,
-47
Lismore Castle, 350
Nantes, Revocation of Edict
Little
Hawkenbury Farm, Kent, 215
Nash, Joseph,
Little
Wenham
Little
Wolford, 212
Time," 40
Hall, 211
"
English
of, 7
Mansions of
Llananno, screen at, 180
door
Lobb, Joel, at Chatsworth, 350
roof at, 63, 86, 87, 88, 90
Lobb, Henry,
3 c
at Chatsworth, 350
at,
206
Neptune Inn, panellings from, 269

377
the
Olden

Panellings, see Wainscottings
Nettlecombe Court (1599), 33

"
Nonschenes the fifteenth-century midday meal,
"
at Billesley
at
2T
Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society, E20

Norfolk .111.1 Suffolk, trade of, with the Lqw Countries,
Norfolk,
Chatsworth,
.it
350
dreal Fulford, 253, 254, 255
at Holywells, Ipswich, 269, 270
county
in
at St.
the sixteenth century, 305
Norwich Castle Museum, 210

Norwich Cathedral, rotable
in,
at
Vincent, Rouen, 252, 253, 254
Swann
Hall, Suffolk, 342
at Vicars' Hall,
120, 121, i-!-\ 124
at
No-tell Priory, Yorks, 226

Nova Zembla, see Barend Expedition
at
Exeter, 271, 277, 278, 279
Whitley Beaumont, 352

Woodcote Park, 350, 352
difficulties in
<
.',38
.',48, .549,
at Clifford's Inn, 346, 347, 348
343
a rich
Manor, 334,
obtaining dry
wood
distinctive styles in, of Norfolk
)ak
colour, 104
of quartering to
English carpentry, 231
produce
figure, 28,
early character in late joiner-made, 345, 346
180, 237
from Beckingham Hall,
rarely seasoned in large baulks in fifteenth
century, 237
by deal in eighteenth century, 352,
317
from Exeter, 300, 301, 302, 304
from Lyme Park, 297, 298
353
of,
with the
"
thrower," 28, 29
from Neptune Inn, 269

from Rotherwas, 330, 332, 334
from Sherard House, Eltham, 324, 325, 328,
Ockwells Manor, 33
Offences, penal, over one hundred punished with
death or mutilation in the fifteenth century,
329
from Waltham, 256, 258, 262
from Yarmouth, 305, 306, 308, 309, 310,
11
Office of
Works, 84
Oil-
3"
accounts of purchases of, for decoration, 118

treacherous nature of, if ill-refined, 11S, 119
Old Burlington Street (No. 31), staircase

Oldham, Hugh, Bishop of Exeter, 278
Oxburgh Hall
264
2(13,
from Bromley-by-Bow Palace, 313, 315, 316,
replaced
riving
237
Suffolk,
342. 343
do not introduce tenon and mortise into
darkening of figure due to painting with lead
method
for,
and
large panels adopted as a fashion, 346

large panels
at,
230
condemned by
joiners, 344,
345
large panels introduced by John Webb, 344

linenfold, see Linenfold
(1482), 32
logical
Oxford Pew, Lavenham Church, 167
development
of,
in
timber
houses,
233
more frequently
2
Pageny, Master, the King's designer, 250
make than
staircases,
is
not used in clerical houses, 232, 359
Panellings and mantels, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235,
only appear in late fifteenth century, 359

panels in, become larger towards middle of
236, 237. 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 247,

-'49. 2 50,
of local
251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 258,
261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 268, 269, 270, 271,
seventeenth century, 341
-'77. 2 7 8 . 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 289, 290,
302, 304. 305. 306, 308, 309, 310, 312, 313,
parchemin, see Parchemin

reasons for late appearance
South-west type, 299
315, 3i6, 3!7> 3!8, 319. 320, 321, 322, 323,
Sussex and Hampshire, character
324. 325, 328, 329, 330, 332, 334, 336, 337,
the work of a lesser grade of artisan, 240
338, 34, 341, 342, 343, 344. 345, 346. 347.
walnut used
348, 349. 350, 352, 353. 354
with pilasters, 297, 299, 301, 302, 313
291, 293, 294, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301,
378
for, at
of,
231
of,
Rotherwas, 332
341
Index
Parchemin
Richard
panels, 247, 24c)
Parchment or
oiled linen used instead of glass in
early windows, 52
Robertsbridge,
Paycocke, Thomas, a wealthy merchant, 282, 283

Penhalow, John, panels chambers in Clifford's Inn,
roof,
Rood-lofts
of,
15
the, 125
destruction
of,
Commonwealth,
at
131,
132,
of,
14(1,
151, 160, 162
problems involved in construction
98
147
south-western counties, 134, 135
sizes of, in
Pilasters, see Panellings
Pilton Church, 165
superstitious practices in, 131
font cover at, 171
uses
Pindar, Sir Paul, house

of, 27, 28
Pixley, Hereford, screen
at,
of,
125, 131, 134
Roof, timber
^22, 32?, 324
of,
Pit-saw, use
a triumph of English carpentry, 54

barn type, lesson to be learned from, 63, 64
135
barrel, 72
in 1348, 1361, 1369, 1477, 1478,
England
braced-rafter types, 72
braces, 60
1479. 18
prevalence
of,
"
cambered beams
in Middle Ages, iS, ig

"
Sweating sickness
Poor Law,
clerestory
in
compound,
employment, 27
will of,
Pulpits, construction
62, 63,
development
134
of,
in, 69, 79, 86,
88
98
conditions regulating, 5S
Porches, 189, 192, 194, 195
Thomas,
58
in,
windows
collar-beams, 59, 77, 79, 84, 86, 94
men
inaugurated to relieve
"Porter,
Abbey
Rood, antiquity of
347
Penshurst Place, 39, 40
Pettelwode, Forest of, in Sussex, oak used for
see
0'.
Rogers, James E. Thorold, quoted, 9, n, 18, 2), 24

Rokesale, Sir Richard de, arms of, 118
chimney-beam from, 289
in
Westminster
Rochester Castle, 10
Paycockes, Coggeshall, Essex, 190, 200, 208, 244
Plagues
of
Ridley, Bishop, 132
Parkington, Mr. Thomas, 234

Parnham Park, 212
Westminster Hall
renew roof
II decides to
Hall (1394),
of, 54, 55, 58, 59, 60, 62, 63, 64,
65, 66, 67, 69, 70, 71, 72, 72, 74. 77, 7 8
172
79.
81, 82, 83, 84, 85, NO, 87, 88, 91, 92, 94, 96,
98, 102
Quercus pe'dunculata, 98
and
difference between,
Roof
Rafters, see
Ranworth,
31, 119, 132, 180
double-aisled, 64, 87, 88
Pvenaissance
influence
firred-beam, 59
from Italy apparent
in
England
in
flat,
early sixteenth century, 1

influences architecture and furniture at the
same
great curved rib
hammer-beam,
influences from France, 301

of,
unsatisfactory nature of, 55, 58
gable, 55
period, 4
introduction
ceilings, 73
difficulty in showing, in single photograph, 66
into
embellishment
Church work,
false, 60, 82,
166, 1O7,
in barns.
175
90
in,
60, 78, 83, 86, 87, 90, 92, 94

of, 81, 86,
94
(14
ornament introduced into England, 249, 250
pendentive type, 62,
ornament, variations
85,86
single and double, 60
250, 251, 252, 256,
of, in different counties,

268.,
269, 293, 294, 299,
hammer- posts,
IReredos, 119, 120
Norwich Cathedral, 120,
77,
81,
vaulted, 79
300, 301, 317, 318, 321, 322, 329, 332, 334
in
02
82, 84, 86, 94, 102
king-posts, 59, 73, 81
121, 122, 124
379
82, 83, 84,
JJrooclwork

Roof, timber
Seymour,
difference between clerical and secular
little
Sir
Thomas, owner
of Tolleshunt Major,
264
types, 67
Shakespeare quoted, 2)), 234, 270, 366, 368
painted, 77
post-and-beam, 59
Shavington, 346
Sherard House, mantels from, 324, 325, 328,
principals, 92, 94
Shipton Hall, 33
principles of construction
of,
55.
_)2>t
Silver, old English, nearly all originally gilded, 103

"
Centuries of Work and Wages" quoted, 9, n,
59' 60,
>n
62, 63
progression
of,
explained, 66
purlins, 59,
711,
86, 92,
18,
2:,,
24
"
Skreens" the partition dividing the Great Hall, 33

Slavery enacted in England in sixteenth century, 1
04
queen-posts, 59, 74. 86

rafters,
the
really
of
upper story
timber house,
187
richness of, in East Anglian churches, 83
1800), 2J
scissor-braced rafter type, 72
Speke
Hall, 251
thrust
Spring Pew,
of,
considered, 58
Staircases
tie-beams, 59
wall-posts, 59, 73, 77, 86
Rotherwas, Hereford
see
Lavenham Church,
72, 167, 168
absence of defined types in, 210

central newel or vise, 212
wall-plates, 59, 92
Westminster Hall,
Westminster Hall
construction
of,
229, 230
difficulty of resolving into types, 216,
colour decoration at, 104
early, not conspicuous, 211, 212
overdoor from, 296, 298
lighter in construction
unusual woods
at,
at,
334
panellings
towards end of seven-
more frequently
of local
rise in size
and importance
subsidiary character
of,
34
transplanting of, 215, 216

varieties of, 210
Church, 71
Alban's Abbev, 9
St.
Mary's Hall, Coventry, 41
St.
Michael-at-PIea, Norwich
Statute of Labourers, enacted, 2^, 24
Stoke-by-Nayland Church, 208
206
Stoke-by-Nayland, chimney-beam from, 282

Stools, usual seats at meals until close of seven-
font cover at, 172

former screen at, 125
reredos
teenth century,
134
Katherine Bewfield with bequest for
decoration of, 125
at, 124, 125,
Strap-and-jewel work, 320
St.
Michael's Church, Coventry, 47
Sutton Place, 3
St.
Osyth Church,
Swann
St.
2,
Stowmarket Church, 208
will of
St.
in eighteenth
century, 230
Star Hotel, see Yarmouth
St.
at,
than,
of, in early houses, 34, 200
wood frequently replaced by iron
door
make
218
Rouen, panellings
from St. Maclou, 253
from St. Vincent's, 252, 253, 254
Rougham
218
teenth century, 212
panellings from, 330, 332, 334
use of walnut
South Burlingham, pulpit at, 174

Southwold Church, 31, 78, 126, 180
Speenhamland Acts, the, of Mr. Whitbread (1795-
common, 58
71, 77, 78
Peter Mancroft, Norwich, 79
"
Hall, Suffolk, mantel at, 342

"
Sweating Sickness
brought by army of Henry Tudor from Wales,
Vincent, Rouen, panelling at, 175
18
Salford, 33
only attacks Englishmen abroad, 18

penetrates to Germany and the Netherlands, 18
Scagliola, 352
Scribing of mouldings, 208, 209
?8o
Index
Ufford Church, 31,
Swimbridge Church, 165, 166, 172

of,
Tables, development
painted roof
at, 169
166
Church,
Ugborough
Talman, architect at Chatsworth, 350
Tankard Inn, panellings from, 270

Tapestries
font cover at, 169
Uxbridge, panelling from Treaty House at, 329, 330
of, in painted hangings, 233, 236

usual wall coverings in wealthy houses, 2^2,
imitations
Values, standards
233. 359. 36o
Van
Van
Van
Van
chimney-piece from, 289, 290

designed by Waynflete, 290
Tawstock Church, 71, 72, 167
gallery at, 167, 175
of,
of, in
Eyck, credited with first use of

Eyck, Hubert, 115, 122, 124
oil
colours,
118
Eyck, Jan, no, in, 115
in
Eyck, Margaret,
Vegetables, green, lack of, in fifteenth century, 3,

sixteenth century, 12
Tempera mediums, 119

Thame, Abbot's Parlour
17, 18
Vere, John, Earl of Oxford, 334

at,
Vicars' Hall, Exeter, see Exeter
104
Victoria and Albert
Thistleton Hall, Burgh, Suffolk, 42
Museum,
104, 235, 236, 256,
258, 3oo, 301
Thorney Abbey House, 344

Thorpe Hall, 218, 219, 222
staircase at,
comparison
17
TattershaU Castle, 15
Taxation, weight
of, difficulties in
Vyell,
Thomas,
30
-29.
344
of Ixworth, Suffolk, 1472, will of,
Tidolaye, John de, 19

Tijou, Jean, his staircase at Chatsworth, 350
Timber,
Wadham
felling of, 27
woodwork
apparent
crude varieties
London, 10
classes,
of fourteenth
of,
found in Kentish farm-
earliest
in
houses
framing of, 231

innovation of the later fifteenth century, 231
of, 2
Tredegar Park, staircase
at,
223
Waldingfield Church, 206

for nonWall-paintings, in timber houses, reasons
Tregoz, Geffrey de, 264

Triptych, 120
more usual in Italy and
England, 120
at,
types formed by overlapping boards,
23L 243
low standard of comfort
Trussed, Sir Alured,
of early
houses, 236
woodwork
in
of,
Trunch, font-cover
life
Wainscottings, see also Panellings

an expensive luxury in sixteenth century, 236
century, 135. !36
Trading
2^,
Woodworker,
see
Torrigiano, Pietro, 250, 251, 256
Tracery, advance
from fifteenth to eighteenth
in fifteenth century, 21, 22
from Barend Expedition, 31, 32

of woodworkers, 2~j, 28, 29, 30, 31
of
rise in,
centuries,
Tower
at,
264, 2S1, 283
Tools
of craftsmen
Wages
Tissington Hall, 297, 298

Tolleshunt Major, or Beckingham,
College, screen at, 33
of, 234, 235

houses covered with tapestries, at
preservation
Germany than in
Walls, in early
later date with panellings, 2
Walnut-
172
character of wood, 332
334
planted in England (1565), 55-*

used for panelling at Rotherwas, 332
first
family, 334, jtf, 558
Tudor house, see House plan

plan in form of open courtyard, 33
Tudor- Jacobean style, origin of, 252
Waltham Abbey
2^2
panellings from, 256, 258,
Turning of legs of tables and chairs, 4
Sir
3S1
Anthony Denny purchases, 262,
263.

Ware.
real Boil of, referred to
1>\'
William Rufus, holds Court in Palace of West-
Sir Join' Beleh,
minster (1099), 96
[66
Winchester, choir
Warkleigh, Devon, screen at, 175

Warrack, Mr. John, ([noted. c8o
Watson, Samuel, carver
at
Waynflete
Windows
bay, see
Chatsworth, 350
344, 348
Westminster Abbey, stall canopies
Westminster Hall
tury, 2
richness of, in timber houses, 51, 52

at, iGS,
constructional problems in roof
enormous
size of roof of, 98,
Windsor
169
98
102
Wolsey, Cardinal,
Woodwork
348
350, 352
divisions of, into types, 7
98
impossibility of obtaining timbers long

of,
Golden Age
enough
of
Works
Woodworker,
96
oaks taken from Forest of Pettelwode
renew roof
of,
for,
life
development
of early, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23,
24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30,
Workmen,
98
Works,
96
Wren,
roof, 55, 63, 66, 67, 81, 84, 91, 92, 94, 96, 124
the
century, 11
of, 2
to
lack of knowledge regarding original roof, 96
II decides to
of, in fifteenth
importance of clerical houses in
98
John Godmeston appointed Clerk
roof
10, 15, 104, 262,
Woodcote Park, Epsom, woodwork from,
span of roof
of,
270
Hugh Herland entrusted with work to roof
Richard
10
Wingfield, Sir Thomas, panellings from house
98
(1394),
William of Wykeham, architect
Castle,
of,
of,
erroneous idea that chestnut was used for roof
for
Bay windows
glass a luxury in, until late in sixteenth cen-
Webb, John,
of, 96,
169
fifteenth century, rarely glazed, 3
the designer of Magdalen College, 10

the designer of Tattershall. 290
of,
stalls at, 136, 168,
sec
Office of, 84
Sir Christopher, 218,
Wykeham, William
of
of,
greatest triumph
English
carpentry, 102
roof timbers of Sussex oak, 98
scantlings of timbers in roof of, 98
William Rufus holds Court in (1099), 96
31
Artisans
of, 10,
348
136, 2^2, 355
Yarmouth, panelled rooms from, 305, 306, 308, 309,
Whalley family, 337

arms of, 337, 338
310, 311
Yellow, ranks in heraldry as a metal, 116
York Guild Hall, roof of, 64, 65, 67, 96
Whitley Beaumont, room from, 352
Young, Thomas,
382
at Chatsworth, 350
PLEASE
CARDS OR
SLIPS
UNIVERSITY
NK
2529
C4-5
v.l
DO NOT REMOVE
FROM
THIS
POCKET
OF TORONTO LIBRARY
Cescinsky, Herbert
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A

EARLY ENGLISH FURNITURE

CENTURY RETABLE, OR PREDELLA,

[Reproduced by direct colour photography from

Printed in Great Britain at

The Mayflower Press, Plymouth.

the attempt to write a history of English furniture and

not the case,

our present purpose.

of the evolution of furniture types,

which has survived from

not, be indicative of the fashions of its time

others of corresponding date and type, which establish

must always bear in mind also the possibility of a later copy of an

fashions which prevailed at various periods.

very early times may, or

isolated specimens, for illustration, were available,

they would be useless

on the subject, that an account

out, in other books

an orderly progression, one

quarter of the eighteenth century, but

would only make

for confusion to illustrate

such pieces as examples of late-eighteenth-century furniture, although made at that

are of the period but are not typical.

and when constructed

Tudor and Stuart

when made from that most durable

and stable manner which

material, English oak,

nevertheless, perishable, even with judicious wear and

not remarkable that so

fashion always as capricious as

at the present day, out-of-date furniture, in

For practical purposes, we are compelled to begin somewhere, and it is hazardous

woodwork, and the

fifteenth as far as furniture

book does, with the end

of the seventeenth century,

more than three hundred

years, and, with certain rare exceptions,

oak furniture or woodwork with which we are exclusively concerned.

justify the existence of this

as a contribution to the subject of English

been necessary to break

new ground, apart from such

authors are free.

tion ol the particular fashions of

each example illustrated, but also by endeavouring to

Apart from the interest attaching to such information,

Holland, which the Western districts only copied at a

attempt to view the early part of our subject

between towns, and more especially between

the remoter country districts,

in its proper perspective, that, at least

by the town apprentice, who became, frequently, the roving

or settled in the country districts as a small master.

The only system

that of the inception of

the chair was made.

and were perpetuated

London had departed.