HI SOME ACCOUNT OF JBomrstit 21 r t Ij i 1 1 c t u x t ENGLAND. FROM EDWARD 1. TO RICHARD II. WITI1 NOTICES OF FOREIGN EXAMPLES, AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS OF EXISTING REMAINS FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS. JOHN HENRY PARKER, C.B., M.A., F.S.A., &c. Sccconti lEtitticm. OXFORD and LONDON : JAMES PARKER AND CO. M DCCC LXXXII. PREFACE. Soon after the completion of the first volume of this work, Mr. Hudson Turner, whose health had for some time been failing, was cut off by consumption in the prime of life. Those who knew him best can most fully appre- ciate the loss which Archaeological literature has thereby sustained : few persons have ever possessed such full and accurate knowledge of the Public Records contained in the various offices in London, or knew so well where to find exactly what was wanted for the elucidation of any particular point. The importance of the series of extracts from the Records which he collected, translated, and pub- lished in the first volume of this work has been universally admitted ; but he unfortunately trusted too much to his extraordinary memory, and has left few written memoranda or references. The materials which he had collected for the present volume were so slight, and in so imperfect a state, that no one who had not been previously acquainted with the plan of the work, or what they were intended to illus- trate, could have made any use of them. Under these cir- cumstances the present Editor, who had all along directed his labours, undertook the task of arranging and digesting IV TREFACE. his few scattered materials, and thereby was led into edit- ing the volume himself. In this he relied greatly on the experience he had acquired in preparing the successive edi- tions of the Glossary of Architecture; but if he had not known that he could safely calculate upon much valuable assistance from others more competent than himself, he could never have ventured to have undertaken it at all. It is now his pleasing task to acknowledge the assistance he has received : — from Mr. W. Twopeny and Mr. Blore, with whom the work in a great degree originated, and to whose suggestions, as well as the loan of their beautiful drawings, its success is mainly to be attributed ; — Mr. Richard C. Hussey, who originally engaged to be the editor, and, though compelled to relinquish this by the increase of his professional engagements, has continued his advice and assistance throughout; — Mr. Duffus Hardy, who has given many valuable suggestions, and directed the careful exami- nation and selection from the Records, since the death of Mr. Turner, — and the Rev. James Raine of Durham, who has furnished much information in matters relating to the north of England. — His thanks are also due to Mr. A. Nesbitt, for the use of many of his drawings, and much valuable assistance throughout the work ; — the Messrs. Buckler for the free use of their extraordinary collection of drawings, the result of the labours of three genera- tions ; — the Duke of Northumberland, for the drawings of the remarkably early oriel at Prudhoc, prepared ori- ginally for the work on the Castles of the Percys, which PREFACE. V Mr. Hartshorne has in hand for his Grace, but very hand- somely given up to the present work, as belonging rather to the general history of Domestic Architecture, than to any local work ; — M. Viollet Le-Duc, and M. Didron, of Paris, M. de Caumont, and M. Bouet, of Caen, for either the notices themselves, or directions where to find the existing remains in Prance, and M. Verdier, for those in Italy, — and many other friends who have supplied in- formation respecting the existing remains in the several localities with which they were acquainted. It is not without anxiety that the Editor now takes leave of a volume which has occupied every spare moment for many months, for which he may truly say that he has often consumed the midnight oil, and for the preparation of which he has travelled many hundred miles, never being contented to take from other sources anything which he had the opportunity of verifying for himself. Turl, Oxford. March 1 , 1853 . TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. General Remarks. — Reign of Edward i. — Connection of France and England. — Change in the style of architecture. — Edward n. and hi. — William ofWykeham. — Richard n. — Ex- isting Remains. — Country houses in England. — Town houses in France. — Plan of manorial houses. — Contract for building the house of Sir John Bishopsden of Lapwortli in 1314. — Roofs covered with wooden shingles. — Royal manor-houses. — Sale of unnecessary houses of Edward in. — Houses with towers. — Pele towers. — Tower-built houses. — General appearance castellated. — The moat. — Survey of Newcastle, and survey of Conway castle. — Fortified manor-houses. — Illuminations in HSS. obviously truthful. — External decoration of houses. — The Round tower at Windsor called La Rose, painted exter- nally with roses. — Works at Windsor. p. 1 — 32 CHAPTER II. The Hall. General arrangement. — The roof. — The windows. — The hearth. — The louvre. — Fire-places and chimneys. — The dais. — The high table. — The screens. — The minstrels’ gallery. — The spur. — The lavatory. — The side-board. vm CONTENTS. Paintings on tiie wales, at Winchester, Westminster ; — re- presented in the Luterell Psalter ; — described in the Romance of Guigamar, and by Chaucer; — ordered by Bp. Langton at Lichfield in 1312. Tapestry. — Arras. — Specimen in Berkeley castle; — repre- sented in the Luterell Psalter; — bequeathed by Edward the Black Prince ; — charged in wardrobe accounts of Edward n. ; — made in London and Norwich. — A tapiser mentioned by Chaucer. — Hangings, bequeathed by earl of Arundel in 1392. — Hangings in Warwick castle, with story of Guy, earl of Warwick, granted by Richard n. to earl of Kent. — Arras be- queathed by duke of Lancaster in 1397; — described by Frois- sart ; the favourite ornament of the day, carried with them by the nobility. Furniture. — Tables. — Benches. — Few chairs. — Reredos and hearth. — Pots and mugs. — Rudeness of furniture, represented in a MS. of Boccacio, 1409 ; — sometimes hid with dorsars and bankers. — Folding chairs. Tiie Dining Tarle, usually boards and trestles. The Dinner. — Hour of Dining. — Table-cloths. Plate and Garniture of the Table. — Platters. — Dishes. — Cups. — Salts. — Glass vessels rare. — The ship. — The mazer. — The wassail bowl. — Washing before and after meals. — Knives. — Spoons and forks. — Two eating off the same platter. — Grace said at meals. — At supper. — Candle-sticks. — Minstrels and jesters. — Reading at meals. — The fool. — Summons to meals. — Attendants in hall. — Tho banqueting room. — The staircase. — The porch. p. 33 — 78 CHAPTER III. The Cqambers. I. The CnATEL. — The sacrarium the whole height. — The nave divided by a floor, as at Markenfield, Hendred, Studley, Godstow, Maxstoke. — Instances from Liberate rolls. — Wen- ham. — Chepstow. — Chichester. — Lyte’s Carey. — Oratories at Chepstow. — Brougham. II. Tiie Oriel. — The upper room of CONTENTS. IX the chapel. — Instances from Liberate rolls. — Same namo ap- plied to a gallery and loft. — Passages from Romances. — Mat- thew Paris. — William of Worcester. III. The Solar. — The parlour. — Fire-places and Chimneys. — The lord’s chamber. — The lady’s chamber. — Furniture of chambers. — Wainscot. — Windows. — Doors. — Ring-knockers. — The bed-chamber. — - Beds. — Bedsteads. — Curtains. — Carpets. — Rushes and green leaves. — Extracts from Romances and Chaucer. — Baths. — Iron- work. — Clocks. — Lamps and torches. IY. The wardrobe. — Extracts from the Liberate rolls. — From wills. — Chests. — The Garderobes or Privy Chambers. — The garden. — Fountains. p. 79—117 CHAPTER IY. The Offices. TnE Kitchen. — Penshurst. — Raby. — Bishop’s Auckland. — Bamborough. — Durham. — Fontevrault. — Chichester. — Glaston- bury. — Martock. — Bolton castle. — Illuminations of the Luterell Psalter and Romance of Alexander. — Liberate rolls. — Inven- tory of Edward hi. — Frying-pans. — Gridirons. — Spits, &c. — Plates. — Pots. — Kettles. — Tankards. — Barrels. — Vessels of wood or metal, and pottery. — Forges. — Trades carried on in baronial mansions. — Provisions and cooking. — Drinks. — TnE Bcttert. — The Pantry. — The Larder. — Carriages. — Roads. — Mills. — Barns. 118 — 152 CHAPTER V. Medieval Towns. Origin of towns. — Plan of towns. — English towns in France, of remarkably regular plans. — Bastides. — New towns. — Free towns. — Ville-neuve and Ville-franche very common names in France. — Winchelsea, new town, regular plan. — Hull, founded by Edward i., situation similar to Libourne also founded by him. The Free Towns. — Foundation. — Mode of proceeding. b X CONTEXTS. — Ville-franche de Rovergne. — Ville-neuve d’Agen. — Libourne. — Sauveterre. — Monsegur. — Molieres. — La Linde. — Sainte- Foy. — Bazas. — Beaumont. — Montpazier. — Important influence of the Free Towns on civilization. Guilds. — Houses of guilds. — Guild-halls. — Town-balls. — Hotels de ville. — Halls of the inns of court. — Guesten hall at "Worcester. — Bel fry- towers at- tached to halls in the Low Countries. — Ghent. — Tournay. — Laon. — Jacobean town-halls. — AVeobley. — Leominster. — Boss. — The king’s hall. — Winchester. — Westminster. — Halls for guards attached to monasteries. — Caen. — Mont S. Michel. — Merchants’ halls in London. — Houses in towns had the lower story vaulted and half under ground. — Gerrard’s hall. — Gene- ral aspect of a medieval town, from Illuminations in MSS. — Upper stories usually of wood. — Views of Constantinople and Venice from MSS. — Houses in Venice painted on the exterior, as described by Philip de Commines. — Covered ways, or piazzas. — Gate-houses. — Gateway towers. — Of castles. — Ab- beys. — Houses. — Colleges. — Hospitals. — Almshouses. p. 153—194 CHAPTER VI. Existing Remains. § 1. Counties of Northumberland and Durham. — Castles. — Religious houses, Chibburn. — Towers or peles. — Ancient farm- house. — Cottages. — Elsdon rectory. — Bamburgh. — Alnwick. — Dunstanborough. — Belsay. — Prudhoe. — Corbridge. — Raby. — Bishop’s Auckland. 195 — 210 § 2. Cumberland and Westmoreland. — N aworth. — Carlisle. — Dacre. — Yanwath. — Brougham. 211 — 225 § 3. Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cheshire. — B olton. — Mid- dlebam. — Markenfield. — Spoflbrth. — Dalton. — Baggily. 225 — 237 §4. Derby, Nottingham, and Lincoln. — Southwell. — Lin- coln. — Market-Deeping. 237 — 243 CONTENTS. XI § 5. Stafford, Leicester, and Hutland. p. 243 — 4 § 6. Warwick, Northampton and IIcntingdon. — Kenil- worth. — Warwick. — Maxstoke. — Coventry. — Caludon. — Temple Balsall. — Woodcroft. — Norborough. — Aid winkle. 244 — 257 § 7. Worcester and Gloucester. — Bredon. — King’s Nor- ton. — Malvern. — Broadway. — Dudley. — Standish. — Tetbury. — Beverstone. — Berkeley. — Gloucester. — Stanley Pontlarge. — Bi- shop’s Cleeve. — Evesham. 257 — 9 § 8. Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Berkshire — Bampton. — Broughton. — Woodstock. — Shirburne. — Marlow. — Burnham. — Creslow. — Donyngton. — Windsor. — Bisham. — Hur- ley. — Sutton Courtenay. — Cumnor. — Brimpton. 260 — 275 § 9. Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Middlesex. 275 — G § 10. Norfolk and Suffolk. — Cambridgeshire and Essex. — Yarmouth. — Ely. 276 — 7 § 11. Kent, Surrey, and Sussex. — Penshurst. — Nursted. — The Mote. — Leeds castle. — Battle hall, Leeds. — Charing. — Great Chart. — Salmstones. — Nash court. — Canterbury. — Wing- ham. — Monkton court. — Sandwich. — Aldington. — Thorne. — Southwark. — Farnham. — Guildford. — Croydon. — Buckworth. — Bodiham. — Chichester. — Battle. — Lewes. — Pevensey. — Amber- ley. — Crowhurst. — Mayfield. 277 — 293 § 12. Wiltshire and Hampshire. — Laycock. — Bradenstoke. — Salisbury. — All Cannings. — Stanton St. Quentin. — Beaulieu. — Bishop’s Waltham. — Southampton. — Winchester. 293—6 § 13. Somersetshire and Dorsetshire. — Nunney. — Meare. — Martock. — Compton Dundrum. — Lyte’s Carey. — Crewkerne. — Clevedon. — Chapel-Cleeve. — Weymouth. 296 — 303 § 14. Devonshire and Cornwall. — Exeter. — Darlington. — Inceworth. — Earth. 304 — 5 § 15. The Marches of Wales, Shropshire, Herefordshire, and Monmouthshire. — Ludlow. — Shrewsbury. — Haughmond. — Goodrich. — Weobley. — Grosmont. — Chepstow. — Caldecot. 305- 12 XU CONTENTS. § 16. North and South Waxes. — The Edwardian castles. — Pembrokeshire. — Picton. — Pembroke. — Carew. — Manorbeer. — Llawhadeu. — Upton. — Lamphey. — Brecon. — St. David’s. p. 312—331 CHAPTER VII. Fokeign Examples. France. Provins. — Rouen. — Poitiers. — Bayeux. — Soissons. — Noyon. — Paris. — Pois3V. — Coulmier-le-sec. — Laon. — Mont S. Michel. — Riom. — Mout-Ferran. — Limoges. — S. Yriex. — Beaumont. — Ca- hors. — Villefranche d’Aveyron. — Caylus d’Aveyron. — St. Anto- nin. — Cordes. — Itodez. — Meude. — Langogne. — Cluny. — Carcas- souue. — Montreale. — Perpignan. — Flaviguy. — Perigueux. — Blanquefort. — Douvres. — Cully. 335 — 344 Flanders. Bruges. — Ypres. 345 Germany. Treves. — Nuremburg. — Ratisbou. — Rostock. — Wismar. — Stralsuud. — Greifswald. — Anclam. — Marienburg. 346 — 349 Italy. Pisa. — Lucca. — Siena. — Viterbo. — Orvieto. — Florence. — Bologua. — Padua. — Verona. — Vicenza. — Venice. — Mantua. — Como. 350 — 352 LIST OF ENGRAVINGS. CHAPTER I. General Remarks. Page Interior of the hall at Penshurst, Kent . . . Frontispiecj Dacre castle, Cumberland . . . . .11 External staircase, Belsay castle, Northumberland . .13 Drawbridge and wooden palisading, from a HS. . . .14 Castles with towers and drawbridge, from a MS. . .15 Belsay castle, Northumberland, general view . . .17 View of Venice in the fourteenth century, from a MS. . .26 Part of the old cloisters, Windsor castle, and barge-board, Wing- ham, Kent . . . . . .30 Interior of the hall, Sutton Courtenay, B<.rks. . . .32 CHAPTER II. The Hall Interior of the hall, Great Malvern 35 Window in the hall, Meare, Somersetshire 37 Windows in the gables of halls at Southwark, Northampton, and St. David’s .... 38 The louvre, Westminster hall 39 Fire-place in hall, Meare, Somersetshire . 40 The dais and high table, from a MS. ib. Wooden spurs to doorways at York 43 Side-board in a house at Lincoln . . 44 Water-drain, Dacre castle, Cumberlanl . 45 Cistern and lavatory, Battle hall, Leeds, Kent . % 46 Seat in the hall, from a MS. 52 The dining-table, from a MS. 55 Ancient salt ..... 59 Domestic bearing the ship . 61 Mazer-bowl with cover, 1345 — 81 ib. temp. Ric. n. 62 Minstrel, from the Luterell Psalter , 71 XIV LIST OF ENGRAVINGS. Page External staircases, from MSS. .... . 76 Porches, from MSS. ..... . 78 CHAPTER III. The Chambers. East end of chapel, Broughton castle, Oxfordshire . 79 Section of chapel ..... . 80 The solar, from a MS. ..... . 86 The solar, Sutton Courtenay, Berks. . 87 Chimney, Burford, Oxfordshire .... . 88 Fire-places, Lincoln and Edlinghaui . ib. Fire-place with dogs, and chimney, from MS. . 89 Chimneys, "Woodstock and Grosmont . 90 Southwell, Norborough, Exton, Lincoln, Moteombc . 91 Furniture: tables and chair, from MSS. . . 93 Windows with seats ..... . 94 Bedstead and cradle, from a MS. . 96 A bath, from a MS. ..... . 102 Iron-work, from MSS. ..... 103, 105 Chest, Huttoft, Lincolnshire .... . 112 Garderobes, Langley castle, Northumberland . 113 Southwell palace, Notts. . 114 Fountain, from a MS. ..... . 116 Garden, from a MS. ..... . 117 CHAPTER IV. The Offices. The Abbot’s kitchen, Durham .... . 119 Plan of the same ..... . 120 Interior of the same .... . ib. Cooking in the open air, from a MS. . 122 Servants carrying up the dinner, from a MS. . 124 Boiler and pot-hook, from a MS. . . 125 Pottery found in Carey-street, London . 126 found in Oxford, and at Lewes, Sussex . . ib. Forging and grinding, from MSS. . 128 Baking, from a MS. ..... . 129 Churning, from a MS. ..... . 138 State carriage, from the Lutorell Psalter . . 141 LIST OF ENGRAVINGS. XV Page Chariot, from a MS. of the Romance of Alexander . .144 Mode of carrying provisions; wheelbarrow and truck, from MSS. 145 Water-mill, from a MS . . . . .150 Wind-mill, from a MS. . . . . . .151 Abbot’s barn, Pilton, Somersetshire . . . . ib. CHAPTER Y. Medieval Towns. House in the principal street of Cordes, Languedoc . .153 Plan of the town of Montpazier, and view of the covered way round the market-place . . . . .154 House at Yriex, near Limoges ..... 156 Plan of the town of Winchelsea ..... 158 Bird’s-eye view of the town of Hull . . . .164 The palace of the Pope at Cahors . . . .181 View, plan, and details of the crypt of Gerrard’s hall, London . 185 Imaginary view of Constantinople, from a MS. . . .187 Timber-house, Weobley, Herefordshire . . . .188 Houses in the market-place, Alby, Languedoc . . . 190 Exterior, interior, and plan of the treasury, Merton coll., Oxford 193 CHAPTER VI. Existing Remains. View of the chapel, and plan, Chibburn, Northumberland . 197 Oriel window, Prudhoe castle, Northumberland . . . 206 Plans of Raby castle, Durham, upper and lower stories . . 208 Carved wooden ceiling, Naworth castle, Cumberland . .211 Staircase, Carlisle castle, Cumberland . . . .212 Plans and view of lower story, Dacrc castle, Cumberland . 215 Plans and view of Yanwath hall, Westmoreland . . .217 Water-spout on tower of the same . . . .218 Chimney and watch-tower of the same . . . 219 Gate-house, Brougham castle, Westmoreland . . . 220 Gateway, Brougham hall, Westmoreland . . . 222 View of Markenfield hall, Yorkshire .... 230 Back view of Markenfield hall .... 233 Plans of upper and lower stories of the same . . 234 Interior of Baggily hall, Cheshire . . . .236 Xvi LIST OF ENGRAVINGS. Page Part of the archbishop's palace at Southwell, Notts. . . 237 Chantry house, Lincoln ...... 239 Market-Deeping, Lincolnshire, interior and window of parsonage 242 AVoodcroft house, Northamptonshire .... 249 Norborough hall, Northamptonshire .... 252 Plans of the same ...... 254 Exterior of the hall, Great Malvern .... 258 Remains of Hampton castle, Oxfordshire .... 260 Broughton castle, Oxfordshire, south front . . .261 Ground-plan and groined passage in the same . . 262 Grated opening in chapel, and view of guard room . . 264 Gate-house of the same ..... 266 Plan and south view of Sutton Courtenay, Berks. . . 272 Low side window in the hall of the same . . .273 Exterior of the hall, Penshurst, Kent .... 278 Nursted court, Kent, exterior . . . . .281 interior ..... 282 Exterior of the palace, Mayfield, Sussex .... 290 Interior of the hall of the same .... 292 Plans of Meare, Somersetshire ..... 297 North-east view of the same .... 298 The Fish-house, Meare, exterior and interior . . . 300 House at Chapel Clceve, Somersetshire . . . 303 View of Clevedon Court, Somersetshire . . . . ib. Timber house at Weobley, Herefordshire . . . 307 Caerphilly castle . . . . . . .314 House at Pembroke, South Wales . . . .321 Langley castle, Northumberland, view and plan . . . 332 CHAPTER VII. Foreign Examples. House at Caj lus, Guiennc ..... 337 House of the chief huntsman, Cordes, Languedoc . . 339 The abbot’s house, at Cluny, Burgundy .... 340 House at Caudebec, Normandy . . . . .341 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. CHAPTER I. GENERAL REMARKS. The reign of Edward the First was one of the most brilliant and flourishing epochs in the whole history of England. At home the people enjoyed peace and pros- perity, and made rapid progress in civilization. Abroad some of the finest provinces of France owned their obedi- ence to the English crown. These happy results were in no small degree due to the personal character of the monarch ; bred up from his earliest youth in the French wars, and early entrusted with the government of the important pro- vince of Aquitaine, he shewed all the qualities of a great king, his prudence and sagacity equalled his valour, and he succeeded in attaching the people firmly to his cause by the wisdom and the liberality of his measures. The good effects of his policy may be traced for above a century after his time in the hearty adherence of the natives of Gascony and Guienne to the English cause; far from feeling themselves to be degraded vassals, they were proud of belonging to the English party, and even to this day the people have a fond tradition of the flourishing days of the English rule 3 . Nor was his government at home less marked by wisdom and firmness, or his people less flourish- * In proof of this we need only riches, quand nous sommes Frangais nous quote the popular proverb, “ Quand nous sommes toujours gueux.” sommes Anglais nous sommes toujours n 2 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. ing b . At that period France was more advanced in civili- zation than England, and Edward laboured to introduce and encourage the arts in England by bringing over choice workmen and artists from France. A marked change in the style of architecture took place, and this change was evidently of French origin, though the new style was brought to greater perfection in England. The window tracery in geometrical forms, which is the most striking feature of the new style, appeared in France some years before it was introduced into England, but once intro- duced here it soon took root and flourished in a most wonderful degree 0 . Simultaneously with the rapid develop- ment of Ecclesiastical Architecture, similar progress was made in Domestic buildings ; not only were the halls en- riched by the introduction of the new style of windows, but the plans of the houses themselves were improved and enlarged, and the number of offices increased. The reigns of the Second and Third Edwards are scarcely less distinguished in the annals of architecture than that of the First. There is abundant evidence that these monarchs all took a warm interest in its progress, more especially of Domestic architecture, and there can be no doubt that their personal influence was generally felt. The favours, the honours, and the emoluments heaped upon William of Wykehatn by Edward the Third were chiefly earned by his skill as an architect displayed in rebuilding the royal palace at Windsor. The three reigns combined are called by some antiquarians the Edwardian period, and this period comprises the most brilliant and glorious epoch b The knights and harons of France, here invented is extraordinary, and un- who had been at home accustomed to rivalled in any other country. In France handsome hotels, richly ornamented the same figures are constantly repeated, apartments, and good soft beds, were by especially the trefoil, and this continued no means pleased at the poverty they until the vagaries of the Flamboyant had to encounter. — Froissart. style began to mark the fall of Gothic c The variety of designs which were architecture. GENERAL REMARKS. 3 in the whole history of the Art. It was exactly for this pe- riod and no longer, that the Decorated style prevailed ; in other words, the Art was then in the highest state of perfection : previous to this period it was still in pro- gress, and immediately afterwards it began to decline. The Domestic architecture of this brilliant epoch in our history is scarcely less worthy of attention than the Eccle- siastical; considered as mere masonry it is impossible to sur- pass the accuracy, the firmness, the high finish of the work of this period. The sculpture is equally beautiful, and in its wonderful fidelity to nature is unrivalled. Nor was the skill of the architect behind that of his workmen ; the ad- mirable manner in which the plans and designs are ar- ranged, and the ingenuity with which difficulties are over- come, may be equalled, but cannot be surpassed. In the reign of Richard the Second the last change of the Gothic styles took place, and though the Perpendicular style is admirably suited for Domestic buildings, it must still be considered as a decline from the highest perfection of the Art. Such structures as the colleges of Wykeham, the roof of Westminster Hall, and many others, shew that the architects of the time of Richard the Second can hardly be said to have declined, though the change then intro- duced was the beginning of the fall. This is one of the periods where an overlapping of styles must be looked for. Some buildings of this reign belong rather in style to the next century, while others belong almost entirely to the style then dying out. Just as in the reign of Edward the First, the Early English and Decorated styles are singularly intermingled, so is it in the time of Richard the Second with the Decorated and the Perpendicular. The change began indeed in the latter years of Edward the Third, but the instances are not numerous enough to be considered otherwise than as rare exceptions to the general rule. 4 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. The existing remains of the fourteenth century are more numerous than those of the preceding periods, and a comparison of them sufficiently proves the enlargement of plan and increase of comfort, and of more civilized ideas. Many of the houses of the fourteenth century are of large extent and great magnificence, and testify to the wealth and prosperity of their owners. The bishops’ palaces are among the most important, as at Wells, Lincoln, St. David’s, Southwell, and Norwich. The houses and castles of the nobility are among the finest and best examples of this period. Penshurst has a glorious hall of the time of Edward ii., and some other parts are of the same period, though the other sides of the quadrangle are considerably later. There is a remarkable deficiency of town houses of the fourteenth century in England, owing no doubt to their being usually built of wood, and so frequently destroyed by fire. This deficiency is abundantly supplied by the English towns in France, mostly founded by Edward i., of which an account will be given in a subsequent chapter. There is an equal deficiency of country houses of this period in France, owing obviously to the constantly disturbed state of the country, which rendered it necessary for the inhabitants to live to- gether in towns for mutual protection, while the compara- tively peaceful state of England rendered a moderate for- tification generally sufficient, at least in the more settled districts. Neither is there any deficiency of documentary evidence to the same effect. For though it is true that we lose the benefit of that series of records which enabled us to throw so much light upon the Domestic architecture of the latter half of the thirteenth century, yet their place is amply sup- plied by other documents of equal authority. The Liberate Rolls, which in the time of Ilenry the Third abound in such minute directions relating to the GENERAL REMARKS. 5 onstruction of the royal houses, cease soon after the ac- cession of Edward the First to afford any further informa- tion than the amount of the sums expended in building; and they preserve the same character down to the acces- sion of Henry the Fourth. On the other hand we have now arrived at a period when building accounts are more numerous, and better preserved, than at any preceding time; a period to which belong the descriptive poems of Chaucer, and the inimitable chronicles of Froissart, besides the works of many other writers, which all contribute to elucidate the subject. At the commencement of this cen- tury we have the inventories taken of the lands and houses of the suppressed order of the Templars d , which supply many curious architectural details, much of which, how- ever, must apply to the period of transition between the style of the thirteenth and that of the following period. A common plan of manorial houses during the four- teenth century would appear to have been simply a paral- lelogram, with or without wings ; for example, in the year 1314 Sir John Bishopsden of Lapworth 6 in the d A specimen of these will be found in the appendix to the present volume. • Ceo sount les covenauns fees tutre Mounsy Sire Joh’n de Byssopesdon’ chi- valer de une part e Will’ Heose masoune Joh’n de Pesham de Roventon’ de autre p’t. Ce est a sav’ qe les avaunt dys Will’ e Joh’ frount au dyt Sir’ Joh’n a sun Maner de Lapworthe une mesoun p r porte de pere fraunche bone covenable e byen overe. La quele mesoun co’tend’ eu loung deens nuns qaraunte pees e en leyse dys e ut pees. E le foreyne mur s’ra ove les gables treys pees e demy epes sauns deus peyres descuys au foun- dem’t de hors. E les denseyns murs serrount deus pes e demy epes dount la porte s’ra en my la mesoun.’ E de une p’t la porte une chainbre base ove une chymeneye e garderobe etendue hors de la dyte chaumb' e ove fenestres e hus covenables e de altre p’t la porte chaumb' saunt chimene e saunt garderobe ove hus e fenestres covenables. E la porte avant dite s’ra de Laour solutn le devys le avaunt dite Sire Joh’n. E de amp’t le entre de eyns la porte mur de pere ausy haut c’ la porte au ques murs ceo jun- drount deus coluns de Peir’ sur les qes les foyles de la porte pendrount e s’ra la porte ava’nt dite ense’blem’t ove les chamb's bases avaunt dites unse pees de haut du soyl jekes au trefs p’mereyns. E a de sus la porte e les dytes chaumbres bases s’ra un cha’b' estage de longour e la leysour avaundyt ove deus chimenes deus garderobes ete’dans hors de la dite cha’b e covenablem’t ov huse fenestres co- G DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. county of Warwick, knight, covenanted with two masons for the erection of a convenient house of free-stone at his manor of Lapworth. This building was to be forty feet in length within the walls, and eighteen feet in width ; the end walls with the gables were to be three feet and a half in thickness, and the back and front walls two feet and a half ; the doorway was to be in the middle of the house ; and on one side of it they were to construct a base-chamber with a fireplace and a ward- robe extending out of the said chamber, with proper win- dows and doors ; and on the other side of the same door- way there was to be a chamber without a fireplace and wardrobe, but with fitting doors and windows. The principal doorway was to be of such size as the said Sir venables a le ordeynem’t de le ava’t dyt Sir’ Job’ e la cha’b* sovereyr.e ava’t dite s’ra neof pees de haut de gites a de souz jeqes au tref a de sus, e a de sus les sovereyne gites s’rount alures de per’ de deus pees e demy haut. E s’ra la dite porte issy fete qe un pount t r nes byen ceo acordera solum le ordeynem’t le ava’nt dvt Joh’n e le dyt Will’ Heose e Job’ de Pcsbam ou un de eus t’veronnt fraunche per’ bon e covenable p r le dyt overeyne p’fer’. E le dyt Sir’ Job’ la per’ f’ carier de la q’rer’ Job’ de Pesha’ de Roventone jeqes a le overeyne ava’t dyt ou de ausy p’s In sy le dyt Will’ de plus loyns la vod’quer’. E ledit Sir’ Joh’ t°veramerym charpentie sabeloun cbaus prest saunt detramise de le ava’nt dyt overeyne. E les ava’t dytes Will e Job’ ou un de eus p’frount tot le overeyne ava’t dyt ava’t Le Touz Seyns p’cheyn aven’ ap's la’fexioun de cet covena’nt ava’t dyt. e p’ ce covena’t fer’ e p’former ausi c ava’t est dyt Je Job’ de Byssopesd' moy oblige p’ moy e p’ mes heyrs e p’ mes exeq’tors eslre tenuz eles ava’t dys Will’ e Job’ ou a un de eus en Vynt e sing mars a payer a deus t’mes. ceo est a saver a la purificaeioun n’re Dame p’cheyn aven’ apres la ’fexioun de cete escyt doze mars e demy E quant la dyt overeyne s’ra finye solum la forme ava’t recorde aut* doze mars e demy e p’ cete overeyne en la forme e au jour ava’t dyt leaument a fer’ nos ava’t dys Will’ r’ Joh’de Pesham de Roventon nos oblisouns r’ grauntoms deestr’ tenuz juntem’t e se- veraumn’t p’ n’ e p’ nos heyres a le dyt Sir’ Joh’ e a ces heyrs en Vynt lyveres de esterlynges a payer ap’s la Qu’seyne de Touz Seinz p' cheyn aven’ ap’s la’fexioun de cete covena’t e n’ avaunt dys Will’ e Job’ de Pesha’ volomse grauntoms p’ n’ e p’ n’ heyrs q* le dyt Sir’ Joh’ e ces heyrs p’rount destreyndre touz nos teneme’s en Roventon’ en qe meyns qe il devyne’t e ce destresse gard en ’tre gaie e plage iss- ynt qe p’ bref ne sant bref lie seyt de- liver’ si la qe les vynt lyvres seyent paye ou le overeyne p’fet solum le covena’t ava’t dyt. Em teymoynanse de cete chose nos John’ Wille e John’ auny mis nos seus. Escreyt a Lapworthe le lundy p’cheyn ap’s la feste Seynt Marlyn en le an du regne le Rey Edward fyx le Rey Edward setyme. CONTRACT FOR A HOUSE AT LAFWORTH. 7 John should determine ; and on each side of the entry there was to be a stone wall as high as the doorway, to which walls two columns of stone were to be affixed on which the leaves of the door might be suspended ; and this doorway, together with the base chambers, to be eleven feet in height from the ground to the first rafters. Above the doorway and the two base chambers they were to build an upper chamber ( chambre estagee) of the length and width of the house, with two fireplaces, two wardrobes projecting out of the same chamber, and with fitting doors and windows, according to the directions of the said Sir John ; this “sovereign chamber” to be nine feet high from the floor to the rafters, and alures f of stone two feet and a half in height were to be raised above the roof timbers. The principal doorway was to be so constructed that a drawbridge might be fitted to it. The masons appear to have been lessees of a quarry ; Sir John engaged to lead the stone from it at his own costs, and also to find timber, carpentering, sand, and lime. The contractors bound them- selves, in sureties, to complete the building within a year from the date of the covenant. Sir John de Bishopsden engaged to pay twenty-five marks for the entire work by two equal instalments, that sum being equal to about 200/. modern currency. We have in this instrument an early example of what is modernly termed a self-contained house, in which, exclusive of the wardrobes or closets, there were only three rooms. Yet the ancient arrangement of having one large apartment, or hall, is still preserved ; “the sovereign chamber,” extend- ing the entire length of the mansion, was forty feet long and eighteen feet wide, sufficiently capacious for the entertain- ment of guests, and the daily resort of dependents. From f The word alure commonly signifies a passage, but is here used for the para- pet only. 8 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. the special clause in the covenant that the entrance-door which was clearly under a porch, should be adapted to a drawbridge, it is evident the house was intended to be sur- rounded by a moat, carried closely round the building; beyond the moat there would be another enclosure in which stables, barns, and other domestic offices were erected. Several examples of such an arrangement still exist, one of the best being Hever castle, in Kent g , although, in point of date, it belongs to the following century. It will be observed that no mention occurs in this covenant of the materials of which the roof was to be made, and it is equally deficient as to the character of the windows; but it must be remembered the document is the mason’s contract only. The contract for rebuild- ing old Darley Ilall, in Derbyshire, specifics the details of the windows, and the number of lights in each ; but as regards the roof it is most probable it was covered with wooden or stone shingles. That wood as a material for external roofing was still in use, although gradually giving way to other and better substances, is proved by letters patent granted by Edward the Second in 1314 to his mother-in-law Margaret, queen dowager of England \ They state the king had been informed that divers manor- houses and castles which she held in dower, and which were roofed with wooden shingles, were greatly in need of repair, and that they might be roofed at a less cost with slates, stone, or earthen tiles, than with such wooden shingles ; he therefore grants her permission to unroof those houses which needed repair and to cover them with slate or tile, and at the same time leave to cut down and sell as many oaks and other trees in the woods of the manors and castles aforesaid, as may suffice to repay the s The wooden stables at Hever are fifteenth century, very curious, and not later than the h I’at. part 2. 7 Edw. II. m. 16. PLANS OF HOUSES. ( J reasonable expenses incurred by her for new roofing the houses in question *. But whatever variation there may have been in the plans of houses during this century, it is quite certain that a large chamber, or hall, was still a prominent feature in every building, even in farm-houses. Thus in the reign of Edward the Third a sale took place of certain unneces- sary houses in the king’s manors of Folly-John, Winkfield, Ascot, New Windsor, Old Windsor, Slough, and Eton, under the superintendence of William of Wykeham, then clerk of the works at Windsor. Master William sold to one William de Combe, one of the king’s cooks, “a hall with two chambers annexed, a granary, with a gateway built over it, a stable and two barns,” in the manor of New Windsor 14 . It may be said, it is true, that granges or farms on royal manors were likely to be of a superior character to farm- buildings on other properties ; but those who are acquainted with the state of the kingdom in the fourteenth century may have reason to infer that the royal estates were in no better condition than, if so good as, those of the Church and many of the wealthier nobility. The hall sometimes occupied the whole heightof the house, sometimes had a low ground story under it. The wings were commonly of two stories only, the cellar below and the solar over it. In other instances they form towers of three or four stories. The other buildings for offices and stables were so arranged as to form either a perfect quadrangle or three sides of a quadrangle, with the hall in the centre of the prin- cipal front, and the gatehouse in the centre of the open side opposite to it. These outbuildings were frequently of wood, 1 At The Mote, Ightham, -Kent, part k Roll among the Queen’s Remem- of the shingle-covering still exists under brancer’s records at Carlton Ride, F. L. a later roof. H. 943. C 10 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. and sometimes the hall also. The whole was surrounded by a moat, usually enclosing a quadrangular space, whether the whole of the space was occupied by buildings or not. Sometimes, as at The Mote, Ightham, it actually washes the outer walls of the house and offices ; in other instances, as at Penshurst, there is a space between the moat and the buildings ; in such cases there w r as always a wall or a mound and palisading immediately within the moat to enclose the baileys or court-yards. The entrance was pro- tected by a gate-house with a portcullis and drawbridge. Prom the disturbed state of the times every house of any importance was fortified, and it was necessary to obtain from the crown a licence to crenellate or fortify before any house, at least any manor-house or gentleman’s house, could be built. It is sometimes not easy to distinguish between a fortified dwelling house and a castle or fortress, which generally had habitable parts, such as Caernarvon and Caerphilly, and the other Welsh castles which partake of both characters, though certainly belonging rather to the class of castles than of houses. On the other hand many dwelling houses in the border countries were so strongly fortified as to be hardly distinguished from them, and yet do not lose their character of dwelling houses, of which class Brougham castle is a fine example. Many houses of this century have each a small square tower attached to them, sometimes as places of security to which to retire in case of any sudden attack ; in other in- stances as a mark of rank, as this was one of the usual dis- tinct privileges of the nobility, although in towns wealthy citizens were sometimes allowed to have towers to their houses, and the use of a tower and belfry was one of the privileges of a corporate town, of which the citizens were occasionally deprived when they gave offence to the sove- reign. Many of these belfry-towers, and also many houses DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. DACKE CASTLE. CUMBERLAND. FELE TOWERS. 11 with towers, remain in the old towns of France and Italy. In the border countries these towers, commonly called Pele towers, are very usual, answering the same purpose as the keep of a castle, the strongest point for the last despe- rate defence. The tower appears sometimes to have been originally the whole of the house, which was afterwards enlarged by the addition of other buildings ; these addi- tional buildings were sometimes at first of wood, and re- newed in stone at a subsequent period ; in other instances the additional buildings are nearly of the same age as the tower. At Yanwath the tower is of the fourteenth cen- tury, the rest of the house has been mostly rebuilt in the fifteenth and sixteenth. The Pele tower itself has in some cases remained to the present day without any additions, and forms a complete small house, strong enough to resist any sudden attack. The ground room is vaulted, the staircase is in the thick- ness of the wall, the two upper stories have wooden floors and roof. There is a very perfect specimen of a small Pele tower of the time of Edward the First, at Corbridge in Northumberland, the whole of the walls are original and entire, the roof and floor only have been destroyed. Another class of houses which is in some degree distinct from the last, and may be called tower-built houses, con- sists of a house of considerable size built in the form of a tower, of three stories high, with windows on all the four sides in all the stories, and with four turrets, one at each corner; these turrets are large enough to contain, one, bed rooms ; another, offices ; the third, closets ; and the fourth, the principal staircase. Dacre castle, Cumberland, and Langley castle, Northumberland, are good examples of this class. But houses built on this plan are by no means confiued to the border countries, Nunney castle in Somer- 12 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. setshire is a good example ; the magnificent brick house of Tattershall in Lincolnshire of a later period is also on this plan. These tower-built, houses were generally surrounded by moats like other manor-houses, and no doubt had offices and stables either within the moat, or adjoining to it, but not joining on to the house. These were sometimes de- fended by a wall within the moat, with a gate-house, portcullis and drawbridge, in other instances by wooden palisades only. The offices were frequently of wood, as was commonly the practice in all castles and large houses of this period. When the king was about to visit a par- ticular palace instructions were sent beforehand for the erection of such offices as were considered necessary, as we have shewn was the case in the thirteenth centurv, and the custom was continued in the fourteenth. Perma- nent offices and outbuildings of stone do not appear to have been general before the fifteenth century, although occasional instances do occur in the thirteenth, as we have shewn in the instance of Aydon castle, and they became gradually more freqnent during this century. The general appearance of a country house of this period, whether of the great baron or of the more humble squire, partakes of the castellated character, the most conspicuous objects in either case being the battlements and towers, with sometimes the bridge and the barbican, although on a closer examination the domestic features become apparent. In the one the walls may be more lofty, the towers more numerous and of greater strength, but still in the other we generally find at least one tower of refuge, the walls crenel- lated, and dotted here and there with loopholes. In both we find the same general arrangements for domestic use ; the hall, with the kitchen and offices at one end ; the cellar, with the solar or lord’s chamber over it, at the other; and the 1 Vol. i. p 58. STAIRCASE ON THE TOWER. AS SEEN FROM THE ROOF. BKLSAY CASTT.T3, NORTHUMBERLAND, c 1320. GENERAL APPEARANCE OF A COUNTRY HOUSE. 13 various chambers, fireplaces, and seats in the windows, dis- tinctly marking their domestic character. In the stronger fortresses however the domestic portions have sometimes a semi-military character ; the thickness of the walls and the deep embrasures of the windows, and their height from the ground, all identify the fortress. The kitchen of Raby castle is in itself a strongly fortified tower, and the louvre at the top of the vault is in the form of a turret. In the more disturbed districts there are no other open- ings on the ground floor than loopholes ; the lower rooms are all vaulted, and the dwelling rooms are in the two upper stories, the ground floor being used for store rooms or stables. One of the vaulted chambers in the larger castles is generally a guard room, with the dungeon or prison under it, the only entrance to which is by a trap door, air being supplied by a flue in the thickness of the wall. The entrance was frequently by an external stone stair- case leading from the court-yard to the door of the hall, as at Markenfield hall, Yorkshire, and Belsay castle, Northumberland. When the hall is on the ground floor there is gene- rally a porch over the entrance, and at the opposite end of the passage a back door leading into the servants’ court, as at Penshurst. In tower-built houses the entrance is neces- sarily external, there being no court-yard ; it is sometimes on the first floor, and approached by a drawbridge, as at Nunney castle, Somersetshire; in other cases it is on the ground, as at Langley castle, Northumberland. The ap- proach to the principal rooms is then by a winding stair- case of stone of considerable size, and not merely one of the small newel staircases in the turrets ; the other chambers are approached chiefly by means of these smaller staircases ; in every chamber there is usually a fireplace, 14 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. and each has also a closet attached to it, either imme- diately connected with it, or placed in one of the turrets with a passage leading to it in the thickness of the wall ; these closets vary very much in size according to the pur- poses to which they were applied. That wooden palisades'" were frequently the only defence besides the moat we have abundant evidence, and they are continually so represented in the illuminations of manu- scripts of the period, as in one of the Romance of San Graal and the Round table, in the British Museum, which bears the date of 1 3 1 G ". m “For seven empty casks for the paling for the bridge. 7s. Id.” Extracts from Roll of Expenses of King Edw. i. at Rhuddlan castle. — Archaeologia, vol. xvi. p. 32. • “ This castle was in appearance very strong, for there were good ditches round it full of water, and near the ditches were great ‘roeillis’ and wonderfully strong, and after these were walls won- derfully strong and thick and lofty, and they were as white as chalk.” DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. ILLUSTRATIONS PROM ILLUMINATED MSS. CASTLE with drawbridge FROM A MS OF THE ROMAN DE LA ROSE. BODLEIAN LIBRARY. A CASTLE. WITH KEEP TOWER AND TURRETS. FROM A MS. IN THE BRIT. MUS, T1IE MOAT. 15 These palisades were painted, sometimes of various colours, and sometimes white only. The chief reliance seems to have been upon the moat, which was both wide and deep. The custom of protecting the manor-house by a moat continued to the time of Elizabeth or later, and the moat often remains when the house has disappeared, as in the case of the palace of Richard, king of the Romans, at Beckley, Oxfordshire, of which no other vestige now remains to mark the site, beyond the uneven ground where the grass has grown over the ruins. There were frequently two or more manors in the same parish, and as there was usually a house on each manor, there were sometimes two or more manor-houses in the same village. At Sutton Courtenay, Berkshire, there are still remains of two at no great distance apart, one tolerably perfect, of the fourteenth century, of which an account will be given hereafter; the other considerably earlier, of about the end of the twelfth century, of which only a fragment remains perfect. In the village of Appleton, Berkshire, the moats of three houses still remain or may be distinctly traced ; the parish is large and still consists of three separate manors. The house known by the name of “The Mote,” near Ightham in Kent, w’hich probably derives its name from the very fine moat by which it is still surrounded, has a hall and some other parts of this period, but the other buildings which complete the quadrangle are of the time of Henry vm. and Elizabeth, and on the opposite side of the moat facing the entrance gateway, is a second quadrangle of timber buildings of the time of Elizabeth for stables; this outer court seems not to have been protected in any way, owing to the more peaceful times in which it was built. In the north of England, manor-houses, undoubtedly built in the fourteenth century, w^ere made on the plan 1G DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. of small fortresses, as Belsay castle, Northumberland, and the same remark is applicable to the mansions on the western frontier against Wales, where the surrounding walls were fixed by licence at a minimum of ten feet in height. There is reason to believe that many houses of this period were originally quadrangular within moats, but the only example known to remain with all its sides perfect and of the same height, is Bolton castle, Yorkshire ; this is rather late in the century, and in consequence of its pecu- liar situation on the side of a steep hill it has no moat. At the beginning of the century the only edifices really entitled to the name of castles were fortresses built in the Norman period, and subsequently rendered habitable for ordinary use, by the construction of additional buildings within the enciente. Of such the main feature was the old keep, which was invariably, at this time, in a very dilapi- dated condition, having been deserted for the more recent habitations reared within its enclosures or Baileys °. Such was the ordinary castle of the early part of the period ; the only exceptions being Welsh castles, as Caernarvon, and others, planned by Edward the First, and completed in the reign of his son. But as we advance into the cen- tury examples arise of castellated buildings erected by private individuals, which were both adapted for domestic purposes and for military defence. The best method, however, of illustrating the difference between the habitable castle of the fourteenth century, erected, be it observed, with a view also to defence, and the old Norman fortalice, converted to domestic uses at a subsequent date, will be to examine the substance of a survey of one of the latter made during this period. 8 The Norman keep was sometimes re- castle, where the upper story with its fitted and adapted to the improved style oratory, and the whole of the interior of of living of the period as at Brougham the walls arc of the fourteenth century. CASTLE. n<0»TJarSH!BEEL*n!D». SURVEY OF NEWCASTLE. 17 The castle of Newcastle-on-Tyne if not one of the greatest was certainly one of the most important of the fortresses reared during the Norman period, on the north- ern frontier of England. It had been repeatedly repaired in the reign of Henry the Third, and in the time of his son and successor it acquired renewed importance, not only as a fortress, but also as a depot of stores for that prince during his wars in Scotland. Edward the First occasionally resided in it, and an erroneous tradition still marks the particular room, in the ancient keep, where he is said to have received the homage of Baliol for the crown of Scotland ; a ceremony which really took place in the house of the Blackfriars in the same town. Now in the time of Edward the First, this castle had been rendered habitable by considerable additions, but that such additions were made wholly irrespective of the keep as a place of residence, appears most clearly from a survey of the fortress taken in the eighth year of Edward the Third, a.d. 1335 p . We learn from that document that the royal apartments were not in the keep but in the court-yard, or bailey ; the jury, for the survey was made by sworn jurors, found that the king’s great hall (“ grant sale le Boy”) was out of repair at the west end, as re- garded a window of four lights, with its timber gable and seven couples, or cheverons, of the roof, the wood-work having been carried away; the shutter also of another window was missing ; the leaden roof was gone, and it would take 200 stone of lead, worth 100s., to replace it. Two circular glass windows were required in the two gables, which would cost 26s. 8 d., and the workmanship thereof the same amount. And that at the further end of the same hall a roof of boards and lead was needed r Tnquis. 8 Edw. hi. Among the Records of the Queen’s Remembrancer; Rot. E. B. 1124; Box T. D 18 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. which would require 840 stone of lead, of the value of 25/. The king’s chamber with the cellar beneath was in need of repair ; timber and carpentering for it would cost 10/., the roof would require 200 stone of lead, and if the masonry were to be restored it would cost 20/. In this return we have a perfect description of a hall and chamber on the plan usual in the thirteenth century ; a hall having two end gables with a circular window in each, and an adjoining chamber over a cellar. This hall and chamber must have been distinct from the keep, because the latter is still entire, and no part of it will correspond to the preceding details. Therefore these apartments must have been in one of the baileys, probably in the inner one. That it was usual to build habitable rooms in this style within the enclosure of Norman castles, is proveable by many documents. Thus in 1281 Edward the First q granted a licence to John de Cobham to pull down the walls of the hall and chambers in Rochester castle lately burnt, to re- move the stones thereof, and to rebuild the same edifices elsewhere within the castle ; of course such terms cannot apply to the keep of Rochester castle ; so that the hall and chambers were distinct buildings. Rut the survey in ques- tion affords absolute proof as regards the state of the keep at Newcastle at the time when the king’s hall and chamber were returned as so ruinous. The jurors found that in “the great tower (or keep) plumbery was needed to the value of 20 marks; that the ruinous masonry of it would cost G marks in repairs, and that a house above the (exter- nal) entry of the same tower ought to be rebuilt, the timber and carpentry of which would cost 10/.” It is thus placed beyond doubt that the king’s lodgings and the keep were distinct buildings, and it will be found that they were so generally in all Norman fortresses adapted to habitable ’ Pat. 9. Edw. i. m. 23. SURYET OF NEWCASTLE. 19 purposes. The same arrangement still exists in Bam- borough castle, Northumberland ; there is an Edwardian house in the court-yard, quite distinct from the Norman keep. Carlisle castle is another example of the same kind. It may be as well here to enumerate the other build- ings which are noticed in the survey of the castle at New- castle already referred to. These were, besides the king’s hall and chamber, the kitchen, which was built in one of the towers called the “ mantaille ; ” a pantry, a buttery, and a garner, or storehouse ; all of which were in a ruinous state. There were moreover nine towers, or “ mesorons, ” forming the enceinte of the building, which should have been kept in repair by the several baronies in the county of Northumberland after which they were named, but they were all more or less dilapidated. A few years later the sheriff of the county sent in his account of moneys disbursed in the repairs of this castle, from which it appears that those parts of the building in which prisoners were confined were called “pits;” not it would seem, because they were excavated in the soil or rock ; but from the fact that prisoners were lowered into them through trap-doors, the pits themselves being formed by towers built on the surface : the loft-floor of the “ great pit” suddenly fell in the year 1357 and “nearly killed those imprisoned beneath,” and while the repairs of it were in progress some of the prisoners escaped during the night by breaking through “ sedem latrine ,” an entry which clearly shews the pit could not have been sub- terranean. Indeed it is rare to find any underground chambers, or dungeons, in the remains of medieval castles in this country ; there are none in the tower of London, and it does not appear that any ever existed there. At Richmond in Yorkshire, indeed, there is a pit excavated 20 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. in the rock at one angle of the enclosure, which is said traditionally to have been a prison, but there is no proof either of its antiquity or of the purpose for which it was constructed. In this country it seems to have been the ordinary fashion to build on a foundation laid almost on the surface of the soil, a practice which accounts fully for the absence of subterranean structures. It has been already observed that the cellars of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were above ground. On considering the account given in this survey of the state of the castle of Newcastle r in the early part of the fourteenth century, and comparing it with documents of the same period relating to other buildings of like charac- ter, one of two conclusions must be arrived at; viz., either that the buildings were reared in a hasty and careless manner, or that they had been wilfully dilapidated. Al- though the great hall at Newcastle was erected in the reign of Henry hi., the other works which had assimi- lated that fortress in plan to the Welsh castles were executed in the time of Edward i., and yet we see that in about half a century the whole place was ruinous and scarcely habitable. This fact is still more strikingly ap- parent in the history of some of the Edwardian castles in Wales, that of Conway, for example, as it may be doubted if Caernarvon was ever thoroughly completed. Little more than twenty years after the completion of Conway castle, viz. in 1343, a survey of that building was made under a royal commission, which, as it completely bears out the preceding remarks, and also shews how nearly the remodelled Norman edifice at Newcastle resembled the riantagenet castle in plan, is here subjoined. “ The jury found that the great hall, together with the ’ Account of the Sheriff of Northumberland, 31 Edw. in. SURVEY OF CONWAY CASTLE. 21 cellar under it, were ruinous, on account of the age of the materials, and default of lead, and could not be repaired under ICO/.; namely, in masons’ work 100/.; in mate- rials, wood and carpentry, 20/. ; and in lead and other requisites, 40/. That the kitchen, bake-house and brew- house, under the same roof, were ruinous and nearly destroyed, and could not be repaired under 60/. That the drawbridge of the lower bailey was weak and ruinous, and could not be repaired for less than 30s. ; and that the tower beyond the postern of the castle, which stands as a great safeguard for the rest of the castle, was in a precarious state, and could not be restored under 60/. ; and a certain house called ‘le Gerner,’ (store-house,) was ruinous and could not be repaired under 100s.; also that the roofs and ten floors, and eight chambers, in the six- sided tower were ruinous, and could not be repaired under 131/.; in masons’ work and materials, 70/.; carpenters’ work, 30/. ; and lead, 31/. Also,, that the drawbridge of the castle would cost 40s. That the wall of a certain gate near the postern was ruinous, and could not be repaired under the same sum ; and that the stables were weak and ruinous, and could not be repaired under 4/.” The whole repairs were estimated at 425/. 10s. It is obvious from these facts that there was some radical defect in the method of budding practised by our ancestors, or that their materials were bad. At the same time much damage would arise from the imperfect exclusion of the weather by unglazed windows, and as the roofs are gene- rally described as ruinous, the question is what had be- come of the lead which originally covered them. And here arises a natural suspicion of wilful dilapidation by keepers and others, who made the most of their temporary tenure of office. Lead has been in all ages a valuable metal, especially in England. It must not be forgotten, however, 22 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. that the plan of working by contract {ad tascham ) may have had some share in producing these singular results. We have already referred to the numerous licences to crenellate manor-houses which occur on the records of this century, and are of invaluable aid in determining the dates of the several modifications which the style of Domestic Architecture underwent during that age. It does not speak much for the social order of the times that fortified houses should have been so necessary ; but in truth the reign of Edward the Third was not so remarkable as that of his father for the general observance of the king’s peace, a circumstance which may be mainly attributed to his foreign wars, which distracted his attention from home government, and drained the country of money which was not speedily returned in the route of commerce. Perhaps at no time except during the thorough disorganization which occurred in the first half century succeeding the Con- quest, and in the turbulent reign of John, and the equally unsettled times of his son’s minority, could instances be cited on legal testimony of country gentlemen, of knightly degree, waylaying and robbing merchants, pursuing them even to the gates of a cathedral town ; and it would not be easy to point out an example earlier than the close of this century, of its being necessary to obtain leave to fortify the belfry of a church ; yet a licence for that pur- pose was obtained by the priest of Harpham in the 48th year of Edward the Third 8 . There is only one similar example within the writer’s knowledge. Henry the Third granted to the monks of Holmcultram in Cumberland, that they might keep bows and arrows and use them against the marauding Scots of the western borders. As before observed l , however, much of the insecurity prevailing ■ Pat. p. 1. 48 Edw. m. m. 31. "De * See remarks on the state of Eng- campanili in cimiterio kapelle de Harp- land in the thirteenth century, ham kernellando.” FORTIFIED MANOR-IIOUSES. 23 even in the fourteenth century arose from the maintenance of large tracts of forest land which served as strongholds for numerous bands of thieves, or “ trailbastons,” as they were called, whose depredations led to the enactment at an earlier time of the statute which bears their name. At this distance of time, when many of the existing remains of fortified manor-houses of the period in question have undergone as many changes as they have had changes of tenants, it is impossible to speak certainly of the degree to which they were fortified. Such as still exist in the north of England are undoubtedly more characteristic of a time when it was necessary for a man’s house to be a castle, in the literal sense of the word, but their dangerous vicinity to Scotland fully accounts for extraordinary pre- caution, and they have preserved more of their original details, for the very obvious reason that it was not until the middle of the seventeenth century that fear of the Scotch had ceased to act upon the domestic economy of the inhabitants of the countries beyond, it may almost be said, the Humber. Taking the old fortress-houses of North- umberland in general, it will be found that the earliest modern additions to the ancient structures date, and they are often really dated, from about the middle of that cen- tury. Of this, instances will be cited as the subjects come under notice. Illuminated MSS. of the fourteenth century are fortu- nately sufficiently numerous, and they are in general so obviously truthful in the architectural details which they contain, that we are enabled to form a decided opinion as to the external features of houses in towns during this period. They are ordinarily drawn with their gable ends toward the street; the gables are usually decorated with barge-boards, and very commonly with crockets. The 24 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. barge-boards are sometimes represented as richly carved. Chimneys in design are very much what they were in the preceding century, viz. cylindrical, and the jointing of the masonry is often shewn. Roofs have a somewhat lower pitch, and are occasionally depicted covered with oblong instead of oval tiles. Although the old plan of having the entrance on the second floor, by an external stair, was still general, we have numerous representations of houses to which the entrance was on the ground floor, by a few steps within a wooden porch ; such porches are often highly ornamented, and are generally painted. It was usual also in some cases to have wooden porch-like projections over the windows ; the pre- valence of this fashion is more especially shewn in repre- sentations of castles ; but the contrivance was obviously directed against the weather, and was not adopted for de- fensive purposes, as similar features are shewn in town houses. Ordinarily, however, the town house of the four- teenth century had its windows protected by shutters pro- jecting externally, attached by hinges to the transoms ; such shutters were commonly used in the preceding cen- tury, and at an earlier date, as already observed. In speaking of gable ends it should have been remarked that they are not unfrequently drawn with corbie-steps, a kind of detail or ornament which was at all times more prevalent in France and Germany than in England. Still examples of comparatively late date are to be found in this country, and they are very numerous in Scotland. At Bruges there are still existing houses of the end of the fourteenth century with gables so decorated ; in fact most of the old houses in Flemish towns have such gables. The constant intercourse between English and Flemish mer- chants, particularly in the fourteenth century, probably led to the introduction of some of the peculiarities of Flemish EXTERNAL DECORATION OF HOUSES. 25 street architecture ; from the Flemings we certainly derived the system of merchants’ marks, hieroglyphs which furnish so interesting a puzzle in the history of English commerce. That corbie-gables should be so common in Scotland is readily accounted for by the close alliance between that country and France up to the period of the union of the crowns ; to this day many of the street-cries of the good town of Edinburgh are of pure French origin. We now come to the subject of external decoration ; it has been seen that the processes of pargetting and pointing were known early in the thirteenth century ; although the sort of pargetting then employed seems to have been con- fined to filling up the crevices and fissures in walls with mortar or cement, and pointing, as then understood, would appear to have been the imitation of ashlar work on the plaster surface of internal walls. Now the objections which prevail against the adoption of the paintings in very early manuscripts as guides in the study of early architecture of any description, scarcely apply to the contemporary paint- ings of the period under discussion. Indeed it has been admitted that the earliest drawings appear to possess some truthful details, among which the continued representation of external polychromatic ornamentation is not the least re- markable ; and as buildings are drawn with such external ornament down to the fifteenth century, it may be assumed with much probability that it was the custom to paint walls externally as well as internally. This country does not abound in building materials adapted to give a variegated character to the outside of buildings ; and it does not appear that such materials were ever imported in early times. No variety of colour could have been obtained by the use of brick, since we know that, with one or two ex- ceptions, that material was not employed to any great ex- tent until the fifteenth century. The reader will, of course, E 2G DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. take care to observe that these remarks apply only to early drawings undoubtedly executed in England, because no just conclusion could be attained by speaking on the general authority of all manuscripts preserved in this country. It must be borne in mind that the art of drawing was still in a very rude state, though it made considerable pro- gress during this century, and there can be no doubt that the artists endeavoured to represent accurately the buildings they were accustomed to see. In fact the truthfulness often approaches to caricature, especially when applied to the illustration of subjects from Iloly Scripture, or from clas- sical authors, or in distant countries. Thus the view of Constantinople in the Luterell Psalter is evidently a faithful representation of an English or French town of this period, and the artist could never have seen the domes or cupolas which are characteristic of Byzantine architecture, and which could not have been wanting in any real view of Constanti- nople. On the other hand the view of Venice in the beau- tiful manuscript of the Itoma ice of Alexander in the Bod- leian Library, is evidently an exact view of that town as it appeared in the fourteenth century. (Sec the plate opposite.) It has been shewn in the first volume how very jealous the citizens of London were of the external appearance of their habitations, and how much they objected to the in- troduction of coal for fuel. By their own magistrates they were compelled to whitewash even the thatches of their houses, where thatch existed as a roofing material; this was a precaution against fire, observed to this day in Wales, in which country plastered thatches arc of ordinary occurrence. When coal became the common fuel instead of wood, which it did in the fourteenth century, the white walls of their dwelling-houses suffered bv that change in DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. ILLUSTRATIONS FROM ILLUMINATED MSS. VIEW OF VENICE IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. FROM a MS. (BODL. 0«) IN THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY. EXTERNAL DECORATION OF HOUSES. 27 domestic economy, and it is reasonable to suppose that the scrupulous citizens resorted to those means of beautifying the exterior of their dwellings which had been in use among the wealthy for more than two centuries before. From the accounts of the works at Windsor castle in the time of Edward hi., preserved in the Record Office at Carlton Ride, it is evident that parts of the new buildings were painted externally; it will be sufficient to mention the Round Tower, which was also known by the name of the Rose Tower or La Rose u . In the accounts for the year 13G6 we find mention of several colours and varnish, and gold leaf, for the use of a painter called William Burdon, ° Account of Adam de Hertyngdon, of works at Windsor castle, & c. a°. 39, 40 Edward in. (mark E. B. 1243. Box Z.) Era'/ colorum. Idem comput’ in xij. lb de vertegres empt’ de Johanne Glendale pro pictuid cujusdam Turris vocal’ la Rose pret’ lb xij. d. — xij. s. Et in xviij. lb rub’ plumb’ empt’ de eodem Johanne pro praedictis operibus. pret’. lb xviij. d. — xxvij. s. Et in lxvij lb albi plumbi empt’ de eodem Johanne pro praedictis operibus. pret’ lb vj. d. — xxxiij. s. vj. d. Et in viij lb virmeloii empt’ de eodem Jobanne pro praedictis operibus pret’ lb ij. s. — xvj. s. Etin 1. lb de Broun empt’ de eodem Johanne pro praedictis operi- bus pret’ lb iij — xij. s. vj. d. Et in vj. lb de vernyssh empt’ de eodem Johanne, pro praedictis operibus pret’ lb viij. d. — iiij. s. Et in iij. lb de vernissli’ empt’ de eodem Johanne pro praedictis operibus pret’ lb vj. d. — xviij. d. Et in m l iiij c auri benevoli empt’ de eodem Johanne pro praedictis operibus pret’ c m ' vj. s. — iiij. li’ iiij. s. Et in xxij. lagen’ olei empt’ de eodem Johanne pro praedictis operibus. pret’ lagend ij. s. — xliiij. s. Et in vij. lb asure de Wys empt’ de eodem Johanne pro praedictis operibus. pret’ lb iiij. s. — xxj. s. Et in j. quart’ j. lb de Synople empt’ de eadem Jo- hanne pro praedictis operibus in gross. — x. s. Account of Adam de Hertyngdon, of works at Windsor Castle, &c. a°. 39, 40 Edward in. (mark E. B. 1243. Box Z ) Vadia Piet* Idem comp’ in vad’ Willielmi Burden, pictor operant’ ibidem super pictur’ unius Turris vocat’ la Rose per cxxiij dies di’ (dimidio, and a half) infra tem- pus praedictum cap’ per diem xij. d.— vj. li’. iij. s. vj. d. Et in vad’ v. Pictor’ operant’ ihidem quilibet per lxxvij dies infra tempus praedictum quolibet cap. per diem viii. d. — xij. li’. xvj. s. viij. d. Et in vad’ ix pictor’ operant’ ibidem quilibet per evij. dies infra tempus prae- dictum quolibet cap’ per diem vj. d. — xxiiij. li’. xviij. d. Et in vad’ v. pictor’ operant’ ibidem quilibet per lxxv dies di’. infra tempus praedictum quolibet capient’ per diem v. d. — vij. li’. xvij. s. iij. d. ob. Et in vad. ij. pictor’ operant ibidem uterque per xij. dies infra tem- pus praedictum utroque cap’ per diem iiij. d. — xxvij. s. iiij. d. 28 DOMESTIC architecture: fourteenth century. who was at work upon the painting of a tower called La Rose, for one hundred and twenty three days and a half; and during part of that time he had several in- ferior painters at work under him. A considerable quan- tity of materials was required for their use, sixty-seven pounds of white lead, twelve pounds of verdigris, eighteen pounds of red lead, and eight pounds of vermilion, one pound of brown and seven pounds of blue, altogether about a hundred weight of colour, and twenty-two gallons of oil, for which was required, also one thousand four hun- dred leaves of gold, six pounds of fine varnish, and three pounds of inferior varnish. It is evident from the foregoing extracts and remarks that the Rose or round tower at Windsor was painted externally in imitation of the flower from which its name was taken. At this time William of Wykeham had not been ap- pointed to the superintendance of the works at Windsor; they were under the control of Adam de Ilartyngdon, whose accounts furnish some curious proofs of the diffi- culties which must have attended extensive building works in the fourteenth century. As in earlier times, all the metal work was executed on the spot, and forges and furnaces were built for the smiths and plumbers. These forges and furnaces required fuel, and it had been already discovered that coal was a more efficient material than wood. Owing, however, to the prejudice of the Londoners against that mineral product no supply of it could be pro- cured in the metropolis, and the king’s master of the works was compelled to buy a cargo of it at the pit mouth in the county of Durham. At this time, when thousands of vessels and many lines of inland railway are daily engaged in bringing this important necessary of life to the capital, the narrative of the voyage of a ship chartered to carry coals WORKS AT WINDSOR. 29 for the works at Windsor in 13G7 may be interesting to the reader. According to the custom of the time the king sent his writ to the sheriff of Northumberland ordering him to buy seven hundred and twenty-six chaldron of coals, and send them to London. The sheriff purchased them by the “greater hundred” at Winlaton in the county of Durham, at 17 d. the chaldron. From Winlaton they were conveyed in “keles” to Newcastle-on-Tyne and there shipped. The freight to the south was at the rate of 3 s. 6d. a chaldron. On their voyage to London the colliers met with a “ mighty tempest at sea,” and through that, and by reason of the excess of London measure over that of Newcastle, a loss of eighty-six chaldron and one quarter was incurred, the greater part having been thrown over-board during the tempest. Arrived at London the coals were put on board “shutes,” or barges, and taken to Windsor at a cost of Is. a chaldron. The total expense of bringing this insignificant quantity of fuel to London, including its cost price, was 1G5/. 5s. 2d., to which must be added the barge hire to Windsor. The preceding remarks may perhaps appear somewhat beside the present purpose, but as they strictly arise out of the contents of a document relating to build- ing, they may be excused by the reader, as a pardonable digression. The custom of painting over the outsides of houses in various gay colours, as green, red, or blue, is still common in some parts of Holland, where many ancient usages are traditionally kept up, as in the villages of Brock and Saardam, a few miles from Amsterdam ; this seems a con- firmation of the opinion drawn from other sources that such a custom prevailed in the middle ages. We must bear in mind how large a proportion of the habitable buildings of this period were of timber, which would re- 30 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. quire painting in some way to preserve it from the weather, for although park palings will stand for almost any length of time, yet carved woodwork, and even plain timbers when mixed with plaster, require painting. In Lancashire and Cheshire, where timber houses abound, the timbers are usually painted black and the interstices white, the effect of which is extremely picturesque, and there is nothing improbable in supposing that this is a continuation of a more ancient custom. It is indeed difficult to find timber houses of the four- teenth century now remaining; the hall at Malvern, which was a fine specimen, has been wantonly destroyed within these few years ; Baggiley hall, Cheshire, is a rare example still existing, though in a sad state of neglect and mutila- tion ; the hall is the only part of the original house that remains, and even that is not entire, having been shortened at one end. Smithill’s hall, Lancashire, is very similar to Baggiley, so much so that the hall would appear to have been copied from it, but the mouldings are not earlier than the fifteenth century, and the other parts of the house con- nected with it, and apparently of the same age, are clearly of the time of Henry the Seventh or Eighth, including some fine oak panelling with the usual heads of the Cmsars, and the linen pattern. The windows of the hall are very singu- lar, but do not appear so early as the fourteenth century. Of the numerous other timber houses of Lancashire and Cheshire the great majority are of the time of Elizabeth and James i., or later, and though the use of cuspated timbers, pierced trefoils and quatrefoils, gives them at first sight an earlier appearance, the earliest are of the time of Henry vii. There are many very beautiful and perfect specimens of Elizabethan work, of which perhaps Speke hall, near Liverpool, is one of the most perfect. The survey of Newcastle, from which we have quoted so largely, is an DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY TIMBER WORK. PART OF THE OLD CLOI8TER8. WINDSOR CASTLE. BARGE-BOARD, WINGHAM. KENT WORKS AT WINDSOR. 31 additional proof of the extensive use of timber work within the walls of the castles of this period, as the extracts from the Liberate Rolls have shewn to be the case in the pre- vious century. The same may be observed in the Return to the Commissioners for enquiring into the state of the Tower of London in the ninth year of Edward ill., pre- served in the Record Office in the Tower*. An interesting work upon the “ Ilalf-timber Houses of England ” has been published by Mr. Habershon, but they belong almost entirely to the Elizabethan era. Similar houses are, how- ever, frequently mentioned, not only in the Records but by the cotemporary writers. For example, Ye knight got masons many ane, And grate them hew ful faire fre stane. A nobyl hows yare gert he make, Ful sone for ye lady sake ; When it was wrought als it sold be, Bath of stane andals of tre r . That the houses in Scotland in the fourteenth century were usually of wood only is evident from the following passage in Froissart’s Chronicle. Whilst the French and Scotch made an incursion into Cumberland and Westmore- land, the English army entered Scotland by way of Ber- wick, and overran nearly the whole country, destroying and burning all the houses. “ The French and Scotch therefore marched back the same way they came. When arrived in the lowlands, they found the whole country ruined ; the people generally made light of it, saying that icith six or eight stakes they would soon have new houses, and that they should get cattle enough from the forests, whither they had been driven for security. The French however suffered much, for when returned to x Printed in the Appendix to Bailey’s History of the Tower. 1 MS. Cotton. Galba E. ix. 1. 40, b. 32 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, they could scarcely pro- cure provisions for their money, and their horses perished from hunger.” It is now time to proceed to the question of internal decoration, or finishing, in buildings of this age. As it was the fashion to paint internal wood-work in the previous century, it cannot be supposed that the custom was soon abandoned. In fact there is every reason to suppose, taking the authority of existing records, that wood-work was more elaborately decorated at this than at any pre- ceding or subsequent period. In the time of Elizabeth and James i. the wood-work of the fourteenth century was frequently imitated, and though these imitations are generally so clumsy as to be readily detected, they are sometimes so well executed that it is difficult to decide whether they are merely imitations, or old materials used up again, which was always a common practice. In some of the timber houses of Lancashire and Cheshire, as at Smithill’s hall, before referred to, it is not easy to decide whether the work is original or imitation, and this applies equally to details, such as carved screens in churches. The roof of the tower in Naworth castle known as “ belted Will’s tower” has a richly carved panelled ceiling of work which has all the character of the fourteenth cen- tury, yet there is no doubt that this tower was entirely fitted up and almost rebuilt (though the outer walls are older) by Lord William Howard, better known as belted Will, in the time of Elizabeth or James i. There is a tradition that this beautiful ceiling was brought from the ruins of a neighbouring abbey, which may perhaps account for the apparent anomaly. > ;> DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. INTERIOR OP THE HALL. STJTTON COURTENAY, BERKSHIRE CHAPTER II. THE HALL. Our examination of the Domestic Architecture of the fourteenth century -would scarcely be complete, unless we made some enquiry into the interior arrangements of the dwelling. From the walls we naturally turn our attention to the furniture, and general appearance of the apartment, and to perform the task of bringing this to the reader’s imagination, we shall be forced to digress in some degree, into the manners and customs of the period. To their rudeness and want of that refinement which we perceive around us at the present day, the following pages will testify. Although in the fourteenth century much im- provement took place over the preceding one, yet, we cannot expect to find much similarity of appearance be- tween the room of that period and one of the same rank in modern times. A few articles of furniture, such as the table, the sideboard, the cupboard, the bed, &c., belonging to the rich, were probably of much the same form, but as we find no trace or mention of any of the modern decora- tions and comforts, we naturally conclude that they were not then in use. It will be then our duty to treat only of those things of which we have proof of the existence at this period, and first to say a few words as to whence we derive our infor- mation. The existing remains are scanty in the extreme, but there are still two other sources, the illuminations in the manuscripts, and the descriptive poems and romances of the time. r 34 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. The romantic literature of the period affords curious and valuable illustrations of the domestic affairs of our ances- tors, and much of the charm pervading the old romances is to be attributed to the scenes which they present to us of the home life of the age in which they were written. The occasional efforts at minute description which they display, are especially interesting to the antiquary. The ponderous Gestes and Tales of chivalry, so popular during the middle ages, are quarries, which it may be tedious to work, but which afford precious materials as a reward for the labour. These productions are more valuable from their very artistic defect and their historical anachronisms. The Romanciers made Hector live in the thirteenth century or Alexander the Great in the fourteenth, by surrounding those heroes with the social appliances, and domestic cus- toms, of their own time. Often ignorant of classic lore, they did not seek to introduce ancient manners into ancient story, but feasted the heroes of the Theban or Trojan wars in the baronial halls of medieval France and England a . In the fourteenth century the hall was still the principal feature of the house, as described in the thirteenth, and as indeed it continued long afterwards. It usually occupied the whole of the central part of the house, sometimes from the ground to the roof ; in other instances there were cellars or low rooms under it, and sometimes a kind of vestibule with a vaulted ceiling carried on a series of pillars and arches, as at Raby, and in the bishop’s palace at Wells. The prin- cipal entrance was through the passage behind the screen, called the entry; the fire was on a hearth in the middle of the hall under the louvre : at the further end, opposite to the entrance, was the dais or platform raised on two steps * In a splendid MS. of the 12th cen- Maccabees are represented as clothed in tury belonging to the dean and chapter Norman armour, of Durham, the warriors in the book of DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY GREAT INTERIOR OF TOE HALA, MALVERN. WORCESTERSHIRE THE ROOF OF THE HALL. 35 and boarded, on which the high table was placed. The other tables were long and narrow, arranged on each side and extending the whole length of it from the dais to the screen. The floor of the hall itself was either of stone or of tiles, covered with straw or rushes. It was over- looked at one end by the music gallery, at the other by a small window opening from the solar, or the lord’s chamber over the cellar. Such was the usual, though not the invariable arrangement of a hall of the 14th century. It seems indeed the natural arrangement, and is continued nearly in the same form in all large dining halls to the present day, as in all the colleges of Oxford and Cam- bridge, at Eton, Westminster, Winchester, Guildhall, and the Inns of Court in London. THE ROOF. The roof was commonly of open timber work, often richly ornamented, as at Malvern, Baggiley, and other instances. Some have tie-beams and king-posts, others are arched, and in some eases pierced wood-work resembling the tracery of windows is introduced under the arches. In a few cases a stone arch is thrown across to assist in carrying the roof, as at The Mote, Ightham, where the stone arch is so slender as to be of the same dimensions with the principal timbers, and at Mayfield, where these stone arches still remain, while the timber roof has been almost destroyed. The most usual covering was still of wooden shingles, but thatch was also frequently employed, but in the course of this century slates and tiles came into more general use. The fish-house at Meare, in Somersetshire, of about the middle of this cen- tury, still retains its thatched roof, the timbers of which are original. The hall of The Mote, Ightham, Kent, has also a part of its original covering of wooden shingles, though a later roof has been built over it, and the original one turned 3G DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. into a ceiling, now plastered over. The pitch of the roof was still very sharp, but in the course of this century it became generally more moderate, and towards the close of it the nearly flat roofs of the succeeding style began to be occasionally introduced. The ornamented crest along the ridge of the roof was a usual decoration of this period, as shewn by the illumina- tions in manuscripts, but we are not aware that any speci- men of it has been retained. The wood-work was usually left plain, but occasionally it was ornamented both with carving, and with painting and gilding. There was usually a louvre or opening in the roof, like a lantern, in the centre of the hall for the escape of the smoke. The roof was sometimes so framed as to stand about four feet within the walls, and to form by the timber columns on which it rested two small aisles and a centre, as at Nursted court, Kent ; this arrangement occurs in the twelfth century at Barnack and Oakham, and is continued in the fifteenth at Coventry. It will be remembered that the king’s halls at Guildford and Ludgershall had also wooden piers and arches, as shewn by the Liberate Rolls in the thirteenth century b ; and at Winchester the stone piers and arches still remain. There is no reason to doubt that the same plan was occasionally adopted in the fourteenth century. It usually happens, however, that the hall of houses during this century has in more recent days been subdivided by modern floors and partitions, and the external features alone remain, as at Norborough, Northamptonshire, and many other places. THE WINDOW'S. The windows of the hall are usually of considerable size, with pointed arches, and divided into two lights by a b Vol. i. pp. 207, 210, 210. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY WINDOW IN THL BALL. ME ARE. SOMERSETSHIRE. THE HALL WINDOWS. 37 mullion, and generally have a transom also ; at first sight they are so much like church or chapel windows as to be often mistaken for them ; but they may readily be dis- tinguished by the recess in the sill with a seat on each side, the usual characteristic of a domestic window. Besides the foliation of the lights, the inner arch of the windows was sometimes also enriched with hanging foliation, as at Meare, in Somersetshire. The lower division of the window fre- quently had iron bars and wooden shutters only, without glass ; the upper part was glazed, but the glass was not fixed to the stone-work ; it was fitted into frames or case- ments, which were moveable, and were removed and packed up when the family was absent, shewing that glass was still scarce and valuable. It was not until the time of Henry the Eighth that glass windows came to be con- sidered as fixtures c . At one end of the hall, and sometimes at each end, there was a window in the gable over the dais, or the music gallery; this window was frequently round, as in the old palace of the bishops of Winchester, in Southwark. This custom was continued from the previous century, when it will be remembered, the justices of Ireland were directed to “cause to be built in Dublin castle, a hall 120 feet long and 80 feet wide, with sufficient windows and glass casements, after the fashion of the hall at Canterbury, and to make in the gable over the dais a round window, thirty feet in cir- cumference d .” Several other entries of similar purport will be found among the Liberate Rolls in our first volume 6 . In old romances we find frequent allusions to windows, c See Glossary of Architecture, article “ Glazing.” d See vol. i. p. 259. c They occur in almost every page from page 182 to 258. See especially p. 200, where the sheriff of Oxford is or- dered “ to make in the same hall two fair upright windows, with white glass casements to open and shut:” and to “ remove the leaden windows of the cha- pel, and put glass in their stead.” 38 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. in a way which would lead us to infer that painted glass was often employed in domestic architecture. The poet, anxious to convey a notion of the grandeur and luxury of an apartment, was sure to include them in his description. It is probable that the hall of the Dominicans mentioned in Piers Plowman’s Crede was similar to those found in the baronial mansions of that period ; he describes it as ; An halle for a high kynge an household to holden, With brod hordes abouten y benched wel clene ; With wyndowes of glas wroughte as a chirche. In the description of King Bradmond’s palace in the old Romance of Sir Bevis of Hamptoun we read that ; all the windows and the walls, Were painted with gold, both towers and halls: Pillars and doors were all of brass, Windows of latten were set with glass The following extracts from the Liberate Rolls shew that the custom was introduced in the thirteenth century, and there is no doubt that it became gradually more common in the fourteenth. “ In the hall at Geddington two windows with columns, like the other windows, and in the window which is in the gable of the hall make a white glass window with the image of a king in the middle.” Liberate Roll, 28 H. nr. “And to cause the upper window in the king’s hall towards the west, nigh the dais, to be fitted up with white glass lights, so that in one half of that glass window there be made a certain king sitting on a throne, and in the other half a certain queen, likewise sitting on a throne.” 30 II. hi. Also to make in the hall of the king’s castle at Rochester in the northern gable, two glass windows, one having the shield of the king, and the other the shield of the late count of Provence ; and also to make two small glass 1 Ellis, Early Metrical Romances, vol. ii. p. 120. Beryl was sometimes used instead of glass, and in houses of an in- ferior order, when they possessed any- thing superior to the wooden shutter, the lattice-work was glazed with thin horn or talc; or with canvas as at Auckland and at Ely. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY WINDOW AT THE END OF THE HALL, IN THE OLD PALACE OF THE BISHOP OF WINCHESTER, SOUTHWARK. PALACE, ST DAVID'S, PEMBROKESHIRE ST.JOHN'S HOSPITAL, NORTHAMPTON T1IE HEARTH IN THE HALL. 30 windows on each side of the same hall, and in each of them the figure of a king.” 31 H. III. Vol. i. p. 204, 209, 214; see also p. 243, 254. It still continued to be the general custom to make the fire in the middle of the hall, and the usage was not with- out its advantages ; not only was a greater amount of heat obtained, but the warmth be- came more generally diffused, which, when we consider the size of the hall, was a matter of some importance 5 . The huge logs were piled upon the and- irons h or thrown upon the hearth, and the use of wood and charcoal had few of those inconveniences which would have resulted from coal. The smoke escaped from the louvre in the roof, as in the earlier halls described in our first volume \ That on Westminster hall is an exact copy of the original one erected near the end of the 14th century. We have not been able to meet The Louvre, Westminster Hall. * Fires continued to be made on a hearth in the middle of the hall called the reredos, in many college halls in Oxford and Cambridge until about 1820, and in Westminster college hall until 1850. h Andirons were used in the 13th century. In the assessment made at Colchester in the 29th of Edw. i., among the goods of Roger the Dyer 1 andiron is valued at 8rf. In the wardrobe ac- counts of Ed. i. about the same time an entry occurs, of money paid to Thomas de Couvers for repairing the andiron of the king’s chamber. In a MS. in the Brit. Mus. written in the beginning of the 15th century an illumination repre- sents a fireplace furnished with andirons, Harl. 2278. * “ To make a hearth of free-stone 40 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. with any example remaining of the 14th century, though there is abundant evidence of their having been used at that period. Many of these louvres remain in halls of the fifteenth century, and many others have been destroyed within these few years. Numerous instances remain of fire-places and chimneys of the fourteenth century even in the hall, though they were more usual in the smaller apartments. At Meare, Somersetshire, the fire-place has the hood of stone perfect, finely corbelled out, and by the side of the fire-place a bracket for a light ornamented with elegant foliage. THE DAIS AND HIGH TABLE. THE DAIS WITH THE HIGH TABLE AND TAPESTRY. Add. MS. 12,238, fol. 130. In describing the arrangement of the hall we begin with the dais or raised platform at one end, on which the high table was placed lengthwise, or across the end of the hall ; in the centre was the seat for the lord, sometimes again raised in a separate chair or throne j ; the principal guests high and good, . . . and a great louvre J “ To put wainscote above the dais in over the said hearth.” At Woodstock, the king’s hall, and to make a fair, large 32 11. in. See vol. i. 217. and well-sculptured chair.” See vol. i. THE DAIS. 41 were seated on either side of him, facing the rest of the company ; no one was placed in the front part of the dais, that side of the table was left entirely open, that the lord and his chief guests might see and be seen by the rest of the assembly. The custom of occupying both sides of the high table with guests is a modern one, and does not appear to be any improvement. This table is constantly alluded to in old writers. We may cite as examples, in the life of Alisaundre ; To the paleis they gonne ride, And fonde this feste in all pryde Forth goth Alisaundre saun fable, Righte to the heygh table k . and in Chaucer’s Squire’s Tale : Up he rideth to the hie horde. Those seated at the high board were said to begin the dais, or board. In Syr Eglamour of Artoys we read that the Two kynges ye dese began ; Syr Degrabell and Crystabell than, Zyf they were sybbe ful nere Knyghtes wente to sette gwys, And euery man to hys offys, To serve hys lorde there and in Syr Bevys of Ilamptoun ; The semest, queth she, man of auour, Thow schelt this dai be priour And beginne oure dais m . We sometimes find old chroniclers and poets referring to the highest dais, which is generally described as the one p. 232, also p. 223, “ to make a canopy ' MS. Cotton, in Brit. Mus. Calig. A. above our seat in the hall with a royal ii. fo.9. b. seat.” p. 239. “ Printed from the Auchinleck MS. k I.yfe of Alisaundre printed from MS. by the Maitland Club, 4to. 1838, line Bodl.Laud.I. 74, by Weber, vol. i.p.49. 2121. G 42 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. on which the king or great man dined with his most dis- tinguished guests. At the feast given by Charles v. of France to the Emperor Charles iv. in 1377, Christine de Pisan says that there were five dais for the princes and the barons, and two grand, or higher dais, with barriers round them, for the king and the emperor 11 . At the coronation dinner of Henry iv. the king sat in the middle of the table, which was raised two feet and a half higher than the ends ; Apre le due henry saisis, Fu droit du milieu de la table, Qui estoit par feste notable Plus haulte deux pies et deini Que les deux bous °. At one end of the dais was a bay window, in the recess of which stood the buffet, in which the plate was displayed ; at the opposite end were two doorways, one leading to the cellar, the other to the staircase which led up to the solar, or principal chamber. At Penshurst the bay window has been destroyed by the addition of a later structure ; the two doors and the staircase at the other end remain. In castles it was not always convenient to have a bay window, and that feature became more common in the following century. THE SCREENS. At the end of the hall opposite to the dais, was the screen with the minstrels’ gallery over it, and under the gallery was a passage through, with a door at each end, one the principal entrance, the other the back door opening into the servants’ court. This passage was called the entry, or D Hist, de Chas. v.p. iii. c. 33. Seve- on the dais will be found in our first ral entries to the Liberate Rolls direct. volume, p. 223 to 256. ing the king’s throne or seat to be made 0 MS. Ilarleian, No. 1319. fol. 65. architecture: fourteenth century. GOOD RAM-GATE AND THE HIGH 008EGATE, THE SCREENS. 43 the Screens, and was sometimes separated from the hall by a curtain only ; in general there were two doorways through the screen into the hall, and in the end wall behind the screen there were three doors, the central one opening into the kitchen, sometimes by a short passage, or down a short flight of stairs, according to the nature of the plan ; the other doors opened, one into the buttery and had the buttery-hatch in it, the other into the pantry or other servants’ apartment ; in some cases in the smaller houses there were two doors only. The minstrels’ gallery, or music gallery over the passage, was occupied as its name implies; the approach to it was commonly by a newel staircase from the porch, or near the principal entrance, as at Penshurst. This gallery and the partition under it with two doors from the screens into the hall, were some- times of stone, as in Iiaby castle, Durham, but they were usually of wood only. This screen was also called the spur, or spere p ; the word is of frequent occurrence in the Liberate Rolls, and some- times signifies an ornamented post only, but in other cases is applied to the whole screen. In the former sense it is still retained as a provincial word in the city of York, where many of these richly ornamented door-posts are still re- maining. In this sense it is also used in the contract for a rood-loft in Merton college chapel, Oxford, a.d. I486, with speres and lynterns for two awters p . It also signifies the kind of smaller screen or inner porch over the doorway which was usual in medieval work, and it is sometimes difficult to tell precisely what kind of screen or spur is intended. p Sometimes spelt spoere and spure, sperum, esperum. See vol. i. p. 213, &c. in Latin sporum, esporrum, espurrum, i Arcli. Journal, vol. ii. p. 181. 44 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. For example in the Liberate Rolls, 22 II. III. Tower of London — “ Also to make a spur of boards, good and becoming, between the chamber and chapel of the new turret of the same tower, nigh our hall, towards the Thames.” 35 Hen. in. At Clarendon — “ and a screen r in the chamber of the afore- said Edward, and a spur* at the head of the king’s chamber, and another spur in the outer chamber of the king’s wardrobe there, and a spur in the queen’s chamber, and make a door to close up the entry towards the same chamber, and a glass casement in the window before that spur.” Here the expression a door to close up the entry seems to signify a door in the screen behind which was the entry with a window in it. “ And two spurs in the queen’s high chamber,” also at Clarendon and the same year. “And make a spur before the doors of that chamber” at Nottingham. 3G H. III. “ And three spurs in the chambers of the lord Edward were necessary,” at Clarendon. 3G H. ill. “ With a spur at the entry of the chapel, . . and make a certain door there, and place a spur well carved in our queen’s chamber ” at Hemering. 3 II. in. “ The head of tbe table in the king’s hall at Guildford towards the entry of the king’s chamber, a certain spur of wood.” 45 H. hi. For G boards for a “ spure ” for my lord’s chamber, 12 d. 1337-8. Raine’s Auckland Castle, p. 28. At Trinity college, Cambridge, the passage through the screens is used as a thoroughfare from one part of the col- lege to another, and the general arrangement of the screens or passage under the music gallery, is preserved in most of the college halls of Oxford and Cambridge. TIIE LAVATORY. Behind the screen, or in the screens as it was called, was sometimes the lavatory or washing place with its cistern of water, and a sideboard or recess, which was frequently very richly ornamented ; of this there is a fine example remaining in a house in the close at Lincoln. In Dacre castle, Cum- unum eserenum. • sporam. domestic architecture FOURTEENTH CENTURY SIDEBOARD IN A HOUSE IN THE CLOSE. LINCOLN, c 1320. THE LAVATORY. 4 o berland, is a very perfect water-drain, exactly similar to a piscina in a church of the same period ; from its position in the wall near the door it was probably in the screens, although it is difficult to ascertain with accuracy its relative position, the interior ar- rangements having been altered : it is however tolerably certain that it had nothing to do with a chapel, as it stands in the principal room, nearly opposite to the fire-place, and near the entrance. Froissart in his ad- mirable Chronicles gives us a description of the feast given on the arrival of Queen Isabella into Paris ; he says that after washing their hands , the king and queen and all the court entered the hall ; you must know, he continues, that the great table of marble which is in this hall and is never removed, was covered with an oaken plank four inches thick and the royal dinner placed there- on ; near the table, and against one of the pillars, was the king’s buffet, magnificently decked out with gold and silver plate, and much envied by many who saw it. Before the king’s table and at some distance, were wooden bars with three entrances at which were scrjeants-at-arms, ushers, and archers, to prevent any from passing through but those who served the table, for in truth the crowd was so very great that there was no entering but with great difficulty. 4G DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. There were plenty of minstrels who played away to the best of their abilities*. In the description of the emperor’s palace in the romance of Le Bone Florence of Rome, we have the following curious and interesting description of a lavatory in the middle of the hall ; There comyth watur in a condytc, Thorow a lyon rennyth hyt, That wroght ys all of golde ; And that standyth in the myddys of the halle, A hundurd knyghtes and ladyes smalle, Myght wasche there and they wolde, All at ones on that stone. In the inventories of this period mention is continually made of lavers, and ewers and bowls for washing, together with towels or napkins for drying the hands. It was sometimes a separate structure in the court-yard, probably over the well, and synonymous with the conduit, as “the round lavatory in the king’s court at "West- minster 11 .” Liberate Roll, 44 II. m. — “ Which they expended by the king’s order in repairing the king’s chimney at Westminster which threatened to fall, and in repairing the conduit of water which is carried under ground to the king’s lavatoky and to other places there ; and in making a certain conduit through which the refuse of the king’s kitchens at Westminster flows into the Thames ; which conduit the king ordered to be made on account of the stink of the dirty water which was carried through his halls, which was wont to affect the health of the people frequenting the same halls. Westminster, June 4.” PAINTINGS ON THE WALLS. That the walls of the hall and other chambers were usually covered with wainscote in the lower parts, and the upper parts ornamented with paintings as early as the 13th century, has been shewn in our first volume, and it was also proved that these paintings were commonly the work of English artists, and not of Italians or other 1 Vol. iv. p. 80. u See vol. i. p. 2U0; also pp. 195 and 251. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY CISTERN AND LAVATORY. BATTLE HALL. LEEDS. KENT. PAINTINGS ON THE WALLS. 47 foreigners x . The order of King Henry the Third “ to re- new and repair the paintings above the dais,” in the hall of the castle of Winchester in 1248, there quoted, and the following extracts from the Liberate Roll, are suf- ficient evidence of this custom. 23 II. in. “And cause a map of the world to be painted in the said hall,” (at Winchester,) “ . . . and cause the chamber of our queen there (at Cliff) to be wainscoted and painted with a history.” 32 H. hi. At Clarendon. “ To make a new mantel there, on which mantel he is to cause to be painted the Wheel of Fortune and J esse ; and to cover the king’s pictures in the same chamber with canvas, lest they should be injured.” 36 II. in. At Clarendon. “ And to cause the history of Antioch and the combat of King Richard to be painted in the same chamber, and to paint that wainscot of a green colour, with golden stars.” The same custom was continued in the fourteenth cen- tury. The paintings on the walls of the painted chamber at "Westminster, though originally executed in the thirteenth century, were renewed in the fourteenth y . For an inter- esting account of the artists, and of the processes employed by them, and the means used to prevent their work from being injured by the damp, the reader is referred to the Account of the Painted Chamber at Westminster, by the late Mr. Gage-Rokewood. In the account of the works at Windsor in the 27th and 28th years of Edward the Third, occurs the entry of a pay- ment “ to Richard Assheby for painting the wood-work in the chamber of the canons with varnish and ochre, of his own invention, 1005.” In an illumination in the Luterell Psalter representing a feast, the walls are richly adorned with paintings. The pencil of the limner was still employed in pourtraying 1 See vol. i. p. 86-7, and numerous &c., in Raine’s Auckland Castle, p. iii. extracts from the Liberate Rolls, p. 182 r See the Account of the Painted to 229. The history of S. Cuthbert was Chamber at 'Westminster, by the late painted in London in 1428, for the castle Mr. Gage • Rokewood, in the Vetusta of Auckland; see an account of the cost, Monuments, vol. vi. folio, 1842, p. 15. 43 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. thereon the legends of love and chivalry. In the romance of Gnigamar, written in this century, we have the following description of a chamber painted with Venus and the Art of Love from Ovid ; La chambre est peint tut eutur Venus de devesse damur. Futres bein en la paintur La traiz mustres e la natur. Coment hurne deit amur tenir E lealment e bien servir, Le livre Ovide ou il enseine *. The scenes painted upon the walls were often taken from the fabliaux and popular tales of the middle ages. Chaucer in his “ Dreme ” speaks of ; a chambre paint, Full of stories old and divers \ Langton, bishop of Lichfield, about the year 1312 com- manded the coronation, marriages, wars, and funeral of his patron Edward i. to be painted in the hall of his palace. It was sometimes the case that the lord, proud of his lineage, had his arms emblazoned upon the walls. Basing hall, once the mansion of the renowed family of the Basings, was anciently adorned in this manner. Stowe says that their arms “ were abundantlie placed in sundry parts of the house, even in the stone-work, but more especially upon the walls of the hall, which carried a continual painting of them on every side, as I myself have often seen before the old buildings were taken downV’ TAPESTRY. But this custom of painting the walls declined on the introduction of tapestry. In this century Arras became famous for its beautiful fabrics, and considerable im- * MS. Ilarl. 978. fob 118. * Verse 1320. b Survey iii. p. 65. ed. 1720. In the 36 Ed. ill. Rasing hall was the dwell- ing of Thomas Bakeweil. HANGINGS IN THE HALL. 49 portations were made for the use of the nobility. Tapestry was first employed as an ornament to the back of the dais, and was embroidered with devices of leopards of gold, fal- cons, swans with ladies’ heads, stars, birds, griffins, eagles, and flowers. A very ancient specimen is extant in Berkeley castle, and instances from manuscript illuminations are not rare after the beginning: of this centurv. The feast represented in the Luterell Psalter, is held in a hall hung with arras, on which the arms of the Luterell familv are worked®. Edward the Black Prince bequeathed to his son Richard his hansfinss for a hall embroidered with swans having ladies’ heads and ostrich feathers, and to his wife the princess he gave the hangings of a hall embroidered with eagles and griffins d . A writ of privy seal dated 20th of Feb. 134S, authorized Sir John de Bernyngham to receive for the princess Joan one “ hailing ” or hanging of worsted, worked with popinjays, and another embroidered with roses *. In the wardrobe accounts of the eleventh year of the reign of Edward the Second the fol- lowing entry occurs. “ To Thomas de Hebenhith, mercer of London, for a sreat hanging: of wool wove with figures of the king and earl, upon it, for the king’s service in his hall on solemn occasions, 30/. ; ” and we find that Thomas de Yarley received six shillings and threepence, for the cost of making and sewing a border of green cloth round the said hanging, to save it from being damaged in fixing it up f . In the latter part of this century Norwich became famous for the manufacture of worsted stuffs which were used as a substitute for arras in the halls of old manor-houses. The London artizans and embroiderers produced rich “ballings, ” and we read that, “A Webber, a Dyer, and a Tapiser” * Vetusta Monumenta, vol. ri. p. rsL c Archseologia, vol. xxxi. p. 7S. d Nichols’ Royal Wills, p. 73. f Archaeologia, vo>. xxvi. p. S42. H 50 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. were among Chaucer’s Canterbury pilgrims. In 1392 Richard earl of Arundel bequeathed to his wife “ the hangings of the hall, which was lately made in London, of blue tapestry with red roses aud the arms of his sons worked thereon Subjects from ancient story were some- times embroidered upon the hailing. The combat of the renowned hero Guy earl of Warwick and the dragon, is said, in that ancient romance, to have been pourtrayed on the hanging of the hall of Warwick castle ; In Warwicke the truth shall ye see, In Arras wrought ful craftily m . This piece of tapestry is mentioned in a grant made by Richard n. in 1398 to Thomas Holland earl of Kent. The king conveys that suit of arras hangings in Warwick castle which contained the story of the famous Guy earl of Warwick, together with the castle of Warwick". This shews the high estimation in which the produce of the arras weavers was held at this time, and we may further illus- trate its value from the will of John duke of Lancaster, who in 1397 left to Richard n. “a piece of arras, which the duke of Burgoyne gave me when I was at Calais,” and to his son the earl of Derby, afterward Henry iv., “ two of the best pieces of arras, one of which was given me by my lord and nephew the king, and the other by my dear brother the duke of Gloster 0 .” Tapestry indeed was the favourite ornament of the period, and in processions and on stale occasions great displays were made. Froissart describing the pageant given at Paris on the entry of Queen Isabella in 1399, says, that among other shows there was erected a scaffold surrounded with curtains in the manner of a chamber. The whole street of St. Denis was covered with a canopy of rich camlet and silk cloths as if they had 1 Tcstamenta Vetusta, vol. i. p. 130. * Dugdale, Baron, i. p. 237. m Sign. C. a. 1. ° Tcstamenta Vetusta, vol. i. p. 141. TAPESTRY. 51 had the cloth for nothing, or were at Alexandria or Damas- cus. “ I the writer of this account was present and asto- nished whence such quantities of rich stuffs and ornaments could have come, for all the houses were hung with ta- pestries representing various scenes and histories, to the delight of all beholders p .” It seems to have been a common practice for the nobles to carry their tapestry with them as they removed from one castle to another, and it formed part of their baggage when they travelled into distant parts. When the duke of Lancaster entertained the king of Portugal in his temporary lodgings between Monson and Magassa the apartment was decorated with the richest tapestry, on which his arms were worked, and as splendidly ornamented, as if, says Froissart, he had been at Hertford, Leicester, or any of his manors in England, which very much astonished the Portuguese' 1 . THE FURNITURE. The furniture of the hall, exclusive of the tapestry with which the walls were hung, appears to have usually con- sisted only of those things which were actually necessary for eating and drinking. The boards laid across the trestles for tables, benches, or sometimes a few chairs to sit upon, (amongst the rich, and in the latter part of the century, these were provided with cushions,) the reredos and hearth in the centre of the hall, and a few pots and mugs, &c. Numerous inventories of this period arc extant, in which the furniture of the hall is enumerated ; it may suffice to mention those of Finchale, of which we have a perfect series throughout the century. In the year 1311 the con- tents of the hall seem to be chiefly, — Two pots, and three p Froissart, Chron., vol. iv. p. 77 — less so called from the subject of the Johnnes’ Edit. tapestry or hangings. See also Raine’s Chron., vol. iii. c. lxii. Herod’s History of Auckland Castle, Durham, chamber in Norliam castle was doubt- 52 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. lavers, boards and trestles and other necessaries r . In the year 1351 the same hall contained 5 eight boards, and four pair of trestles and three seats. But in the year 1397 we find two dorsars (one old the other middling), also two bankers, — two pieces of imitation ware, and two lavers of the same; also two large pots with one laver and one bowl of brass; also two andirons and one poker of iron, three moveable boards with trestles, and one fixed; two chairs, and three benches, and three stools 1 . This was however the hall of an ecclesiastical fraternity, the hall of a contemporary layman might perhaps have had rather more furniture. But as far as we are able to judge from the paintings found in manu- scripts of this period, the furniture of the chief apart- ment was still scanty and inelegant. At the com- mencement of a Boccacio translated for John duke de Berry in 1409 we have a view of that nobleman’s f hall. The walls are boarded in the rudest style, and have 8aat in the Hall. the appearance of coarse FromtheM3 oftbeK ° mi “«ofAi Ibid., p. 141. m MS. in Brit. Mus. Addit. No. 7965. In the same Roll under Dec. 26. an entry occurs of 2s. being paid to M aud Makejoie, for dancing before Edward the prince of Wales in the king’s hall at Ipswich. ” Issue Roll. Exclieq. 44 Ed. ill. « MS. Ilarl. 2252. fo. 61, b. THE MINSTRELS. 71 In hcrt they were lyzt ; Sythen to ye castell gon they wende, To holde ye brydale to ye ende. Elyt lasted a fourtenyzt. Mynstrelles yt were thr in that stownd ; In gyftes were worth an hundrid pownd p . In William and the Werwolf we have a similar passage ; Fulle fyftene daies that feste was holden, With al the realte of Rome that e’vr rink of herde. No toDg mizt telle the twentithe parte, Of the mede to menstrales that mene time was zine, Of robes with riche pane, and other richesse grete, Sterne steddes and strong, and other stoute ziftes The name of minstrel was synonymous with that of mu- sician, and the bag- piper was very frequently the chief min- strel. In the illuminations of the Luterell Psalter he is repre- sented as marching before the servants who are serving up the dinner from the kitchen into the hall. It was the duty of the mu- sicians to strike up merrily as the attendants carried the dishes into the hall. In Richard Cceur de Lion we are told that. Fro kechene cam the fyrst cours, With pipes, and trumpes, and tabours r . p MS. Cotton. Calig. A. ii. fo. 11, a. -i fo. 79, b. ' L 3427. 72 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. THE FOOL. The fool appears to have been a constant attendant at court. As a domestic character we find many allusions to him in the writings of the fourteenth and fifteenth cen- turies. In the wardrobe accounts of Edward the Second it appears that ten shillings were paid to Dulcia Wi- thestaf, mother to Robert the king’s fool \ In an illumi- nation in the magnificent volumes of Froissart among the manuscripts in the British Museum representing the en- trance of Isabella of France into Paris, the royal fool is seen perched upon the palace wall dressed in a costume of red and green'; and in a painting in one of the royal manuscripts we have a portrait of John duke de Berry’s fool wearing his official dress, a party-coloured coat of green, yellow, and pink u . These were they who caused the “ beards to wag ” in the hall, and excited that mirth so often alluded to in old writers. Thus in a poetical life of Alexander, written in the fourteenth century, we read that. Merry swithe it is in halle, When the berdes waveth alle : and in another place, Merry it is in halle to hear the harpe, The minstrclles synge, the jogelours carpe x . In the manuscript romance of King Robert of Sicily we have some curious particulars relative to the dress of the court fool. When the angel to humble King Robert made him his fool, he had his hair and gown shorn : Thou art my foie, seyde ye aungele, Thou shalt he shore un delle, * Archa;ologia, xxvi. p. 314. the history of the Court Fool are rc- * MS. Harl. 4379. fo. 3. ferred to Geschiclite der Hof. Narreu. * 1 1. E. v. fo. 6. written in the year Leipzig. 1817. 1409. Those who feel curious to learn * MS. in Bib. Bodl. Laud i. 74. TIIE FOOL. 73 Lyke a foie for to be, ffor yet hast thou no dignite, Thy gowne shal newe be shore, ffor they gowne of gold is lore. Thy counselour shalt be an ape, And on clothyng for you shall be shape y . The angel king then Somowned him a Barbour before, That as a foie he should be shore, A1 round as a frere. An band brede a bove ye eyen, And on a gowne make a crosse '. And the angel going to Rome The foie Roberd with him wente, Clothed in a folis garnement, With foxes taylys hangyng al a boute, Men myght hem knowe in ye roughte *. Again in the romance of Ipomydon, we read, that when that celebrated hero prepared to meet his rival the duke Geron, he dressed himself in a quaint manner, and was shorn like a fool, and A barbor he callyd withouten more. And shore hym both behynd and byfore, Quayntly endentyd oute and in, And also he shore halfe hys chynne, He semyd a foie that quaint syre Bothe by hede and by atyre b . SUMMONS TO MEALS. The company were usually summoned to meals by the blast of clarions and the trumpets of the “ waytes : ” Waytes blewe up to mete c . T MS. Harl. 525, fo. 37, b. b MS. Harl. 2252, fo. 75, b. * ibid. fo. 37, a. c MS. Cotton., Calig. A. ii. fo. 9, b. * ibid. fo. 40, a. L 74 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. And in the romance of Ipomydon we read By that they came to the castille, There mete was redy every dele, Trumpes to mete gan blow, Claryons and other menstrelles mo d . And we are distinctly told in the Romance of Amis and Amilioun that In kynges court it is lawe, Trumpes in halle to mete gan blawe e . ATTENDANTS IN HALL. The squire attended upon the knight, and the sons of nobles and kings carved, and “ did service in hall ” as a part of their chivalric education. Of Chaucer’s squire we are told that Courteous he was, lowly and serviceable, And kerved before hys father at the tabel f . And again, Now stood the lordes squire at borde, That carp his mete. Froissart tells us that the young count de Foix carved before his father: and the renowned Ipomydon Was taught Aftyrward to serve in halle, Bothe to grete, and to smalle, Before the kyng mete to kerve, Ilye and lowe feyre to serve g . And further on we read that Ipomydon Yt day servyd in halle; A1 spake of hym bothe grete and smalle h . d MS. Harl. 2252, fo. 83. « line 1896. 1 Prologue to Cant. Tales. i MS. Harl. 2252, fo. 54, b. h ibid. fo. 55, a. THE BANQUETING ROOM. 75 And in the romance of Richard Cceur de Lion we are told that, Beffore King Richard karff a Knyght He myght ete after his wylle, He was deth nygh browghte, Or he myght etyn ought, But with hownds hat weryn in halle k . And Robert himself, deploring his fallen condition, ex- claims, Righte it is, how so it falle, With howndes y hete in the halle '. In houses of a secondary class the hall at night was con- verted into a dormitory for the accommodation of strangers or visitors, and so unrefined were the manners of the age, that both sexes slept there indiscriminately. This is evi- dent from many passages in old romances and fabliaux. The Bouchier d’Abbeville slept in the hall on a bed on the floor m . Many officers of the royal household had no better accommodation ; even as late as the time of Edward the Fourth this custom is frequently referred to in the book of Ordinances compiled for that king. Several of the domes- tics have beds allotted to them in the hall. In all large houses and castles there was a smaller hall or banqueting room in addition to the great hall. In the accounts of the royal palaces so copiously quoted in our first volume, (and to which we are so frequently obliged to refer in the present, as the most complete and perfect re- cords of every thing relating to Domestic Architecture at that period,) there is frequent mention of the queen’s hall in addition to the king’s hall ; and the mansions of the nobility and great prelates were little if at all inferior to those of the king. Nor did the arrangements of the four- 1 1. 3088. k MS. ib. fo. 38, b. 1 ibid. fo. 42, a. m Barbazan. iv. 1. 7G DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. teenth century differ from those of the thirteenth. At Bolton castle, Yorkshire, the great hall, and the little hall, or banqueting room, are both so far preserved that their walls are perfect, but wanting roof and floors. The great hall is on the north side of the quadrangle, the small hall on the south side ; each has its separate kitchen, and offices, and chambers ; in fact, the two sides of the quadrangle might be considered as two distinct houses, with the en- trance gatehouse in the east side and the offices in the west. THE STAIRCASE. When the hall was on the first floor, as was very fre- quently the case, the approach to it was still n by an exter- nal staircase from the court-yard ; this was sometimes a straight flight of stone steps against the wall with a land- ing place at the top outside the door, protected by a porch or pent-house ; the stairs themselves were also covered by a lean-to roof or pent-house, the sides being sometimes open and in others boarded up. The staircase was not always straight, in some cases there is a bend in it towards the court, as at Mark- enfield hall, Yorkshire, where the foundations remain, and the mark of the landing place and pent- house. In other instances it was carried round an angle of the build- From MS l “ th “ Bnli,h Mu,jum - ing, as at Meare, Somersetshire. The illustrations in manuscripts frequently contain repre- sentations of such external staircases, sometimes protected by wooden porches or pent-houses. “ See Aydon Castle, vol. i. p. 84. THE STAIRCASE. 77 As usual the Liberate Rolls contain the most minute directions respecting the staircase and pent-house, for in- stance, 24th and 25th II. m. “ To renovate the stair before the outer sate of the tower of Rochester castle, and make a cer- tain pent-house above the stair aforesaid.” — “ To cause to be made a certain iron trel- lice on the staircase before our chambers towards our herbary, and a certain wooden lattice in the two windows before the cham- ber of our queen, and cause the pent-house above those chambers to be covered with lead. And cause the apertures of the two , i . . i ii .i * House with external staircase protected pent- houses between our hall, the queen s by a porch, chamber, and our chapel towards the her- FromMS.intheBocUeianLibrary.Bodl.263 bary to be boarded, and two white glass windows to be made in the same boards °.” 34th. “ And on both sides of the stairs descending from the door of our chamber towards our wardrobe, make a low wall, and cover that staircase with lead p . To repair the porch before the door of the king’s chamber, (at Feckenham,) and to make a certain pent-house over the stair descending from that porch V’ From these extracts it is evident that the staircases to the other chambers were also sometimes external, as well as that to the hall ; but in other cases the smaller staircases were commonly internal, either newel stairs in turrets, of which every old house of any extent contains several, or a straight flight of steps from the lower end of the hall sometimes led up to the minstrels’ gallery and the room at the back of it. Such a staircase remains in the hall of the Fettiplaces at Childrey, Berkshire. ° Vol. i. p. 197. p p. 226 . * ibid. 78 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. THE PORCH. When the hall was on the ground floor the entrance to it was protected by a porch, as at Penshurst; this is of stone with a groined vault, and a tower over it, but in houses of less import- ance a plain wooden porch was sufficient, the doors of which were ornamented with iron-work. The illustrations in manuscripts of this period frequently contain repre- sentations of such a porch, which is rather a favourite subject of the artists. The Liberate Rolls are full of notices of the porch, as, 23rd. “Also make in Winchester castle, ^ M3 . * the Briu^ Mu-om. two posts before the porch of our hall.’* 28th. “ To make a new door in the aisle of the hall (at Woodstock) near the south angle, with a good and decent porch ; and to cause the three windows of the same hall to be raised with masonry in the fashion of a porch r .” “ Edward Fitz-Otho is commanded to cause a cer- tain great porch which the king has directed to be made, [at Westminster] and which is to be such as may become so great a palace, to be made between the lavatory before the king’s kitchen, and the door entering into the smaller hall ; so that the king may dismount from his palfrey in it, at a handsome front ; and walk under it between the aforesaid door and the lavatory aforesaid ; and also from the king’s Porch o t a h«u. kitchen and the chamber of the knights, and he is From MS * nthe BntuhMuieum. to cover it with lead r p. 201. That is, for the heads of windows to be carried above the line of the eaves of the roof like dormer win- dows, as restored in our view of the hall of Sutton Courtenay, Berkshire. * p. 260. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY EAST END OF THE DOMESTIC CHAI'EL. BROUGHTON CASTLE, OXFORDSHIRE CHAPTER III. THE CHAMBERS. I. THE CIIAPEL. The chapel was usually the room next in importance to the hall, but it varied very much in size and situation, and in relative importance according to the extent and nature of the establishment. It was generally near to the hall, and connected with it by a short passage leading from the dais or upper end of the hall. The east window was large and of ornamented character, similar to a church window ; the altar was placed immediately under it\ The sacra- rium, or small chancel for the use of the priests, was the whole height of the building, and in this part there is usually a piscina and locker, and sedilia, as in the chancel of a church. The western part or nave of the chapel, as it may be called for the sake of distinction, was frequently divided into two stories by a floor, both open at the east end, or separated from the chancel by a screen only ; in these two rooms there were often fire-places, and it would appear that they were not exclusively devoted to sacred purposes ; when the chapel was used, the upper room was the place for the lord and his family or guests, the lower * In houses of less magnitude and pretensions where there was no specific chapel, divine service seems to have been performed in the hall. The hall is frequently called the chapel from having been so used, as at Sutton Courte- nay, Berkshire, and at Crook Hall, Dur- ham. In the latter case there are licences extant to the owner of the house, temp. Ed. hi., renewed from year to year by the bishop, to have divine service under certain conditions, one of which was al- ways that the owner and his family should attend their parish church on the greater festivals and the day of dedica- tion, and that no private offerings should be made at home. 80 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. room for the domestics, or sometimes the upper room was for the ladies. At Markenfield hall, Yorkshire, there was an example of this division which seems to have been original, but the floor had at a subsequent period been lengthened, so as to block up the upper part of the east window, and it has recently been altogether removed, but the staircase leading to the upper room and the priests’ chamber remains. This arrangement continued to be usual in the fifteenth century, and even later, as at East Ilendred, Berkshire, and at Studley priory, and Godstow nunnery, Oxfordshire. In Maxstoke castle, Warwickshire, the chapel is placed transversely across the end of the hall, and is of the height of two stories, the hall, and the room under it; this is in work of the time of Edward hi. Numerous passages in the Liberate Bolls confirm this division of the chapel into two floors or stories, for ex- ample, — 21st. Ilenry HI. “ We command that you cause to be made at Kennington, on the spot where our chapel which is roofed with thatch is situated, a chapel with a staircase of plaster, which shall be thirty feet long and twelve feet wide ; in such a manner that in the upper part there be made a chapel for the use of our queen, so that she may enter that chapel from her chamber ; and in the lower part let there bo a chapel for the use of our family 22nd. “Walter de Burgh is commanded to wainscote as well the upper as the lower chapel of the queen at Kennington, and to raise the flue of the king’s chimney there, and to do other small necessary works there b .” 28th. “The bailiffs of Woodstock are also to cause the queen’s chapel to be lengthened by twenty feet towards the east, and vaulting above and beneath c .” 33rd. “The sheriff of Northampton is to put bars to the windows before the queen’s chapel, and new doors to the scame chapel, and a lattice beyond those doors i . ,, (These directions seem to apply to just such a screen as that at Wenham.) 35th. At Freemantle, “ And a certain chamber with an upper 6tory, with a chapel at the end of the same chamber, for the queen’s use 52nd. “ A certain chapel at the head of the same chamber, with an upper • p. 185. b p. 188. c p. 201. d p. 220. • p. 228. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 8ECTION ACROSS THE CHAPEL, See. From D. to D. on the Plan. A. Chapjl B Op jniug from the uppar room into the Chapel. PLAN OF THE CHAPEL. Sec. a. Staircase leading Into the upper room. b Staircase leading from the groined passage, c. Staircase now blocked up. CHAPEL, BROUGHTON CASTLE, OXFORDSHIRE. THE CnAPEL. 81 story, and glass windows befitting the same chamber and chapel. For the use of Eleanor the consort of Edward the king’s eldest son f .” It will be remembered that in Little Wenham the chapel is extremely small, consisting of the sacrarium only, and separated from the hall by a door with a window on each side of it ; the latter closed by wooden shutters when not in use : it seems probable that the same arrangement was followed in other instances, and there is some reason to think that this was the case in Chepstow castle ; the rich Early English arch across the hall may have been such a screen as that at Wenham, on a larger scale ; the window behind it has much the appearance of a chapel window, and is different from the other windows of the hall, and has no seats in the sill. In the ancient hospital at Chi- chester, the chapel consists of a sacrarium only, and is se- parated from the hall or principal chamber, by an open screen with a curtain. In some cases the chapel occupies a projecting wing of the house, and is of marked ecclesi- astical character on the exterior, as at Lyte’s Carey Ilouse, Somersetshire. In some of the larger houses and castles, the chapel was a detached building in the court-yard, as at an earlier period in Ludlow castle B . Besides the principal chapel there were other smaller chapels, and oratories ; this was sometimes a small vaulted chamber at the top of a turret, and very richly ornamented, as in Chepstow and Brougham castles. Attached to the chapel were usually two small chambers for the use of the priests, or chaplains, or friars ; these chambers are frequently mentioned in the Liberate Rolls h . 1 p. 255. period a very rich one at the chateau of 8 There is a good example of a chape) Jucoville, near Isigny. of this kind of the fourteenth century, in h See vol. i. pp. 215, 220, 224, 226, a manor-house not fortified at Cully, 232. near Bayenx, in Normandy, and of a later M 82 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. II. THE ORIEL. Another chamber of some importance is frequently men- tioned in old accounts by the name of the oriel or oriole; the exact meaning and derivation of the word has long been a question ; Dr. Copleston wrote a learned essay upon it h , in which he inclined to the opinion that it sig- nified the porch or entrance, with a chapel over it; Dr. Ingram was of opinion that it was an abbreviation of the word orat-oriolum, and signified the private oratory, and various entries in the Liberate Rolls give countenance to this opinion : but it had also another meaning connected with this, though not exactly identical. In our description of the chapel we have shewn that it was commonly divided into two stories by a floor, the upper one being open at the east end to the chancel, which was the entire height of the building ; these two rooms, which may be called the upper and lower parts of the nave of the chapel, were not ex- clusively devoted to sacred purposes ; they were separated from the chancel by a screen which could be closed by wooden shutters or by a curtain ; and they contained fire- places. The upper room was called the oriole, and it fre- quently formed a sort of landing-place, or waiting-room outside the door of the principal chamber. Thus in the Liberate Rolls, 17th Henry in. “ It is ordered of the sheriff of Hereford that at the head of tue oriole 1 of the king’s chamber in the castle of Hereford he cause to be made a certain fair and decent chapel, of the length of twenty-five feet, and that he cause that chapel to be wainscoated J .” £4th. “ To cause the oriol before the door of our queen’s chamber at Woodstock to be wainscoted the windows in the oriol before the door of our chambers in Rochester castle to be repaired, and to make new wooden windows in [the screen of] the chapel aforesaid k .” b Printed in Skelton’s Oxonia Antiqun, 1 Vol. i. p. 184. toI. ii. p. 144. k p. 196. 1 ad caput oriolli. THE ORIEL. 83 28th. “That the pillared windows of the oriol may be removed ; and a staircase made in that angle to ascend into the aforesaid oriol, and he is to joist that oriol with cumbered joists, and to cover those joists with lead ; and to make a fair private chamber, well vaulted, as well in the upper as iu the lower story of that oriol ; and to waiuscote the greater and lesser chamber of the queen’s and to make a pavement of tiles in the king’s de- mesne chapel, and in that oriol, and to wainscote it And at Gcdding- ton, “windows to be made before the queen’s oriol ra ,” [that is, probably, in the screen in front of it.] 30th, at Oxford, to “ Make also a door and windows in the oriol beyond the porch of our hall there,” ... at Ludgershall ”, “ to make an oriol before the door of the king’s chamber there, and also one covered alley from the door of the aforesaid chamber to the door of the hall °.” 3lst, at Brill, “an oriol with a stair p before the door of the queen’s chamber 34th, at Marlborough, “To lengthen the chamber behind the chapel of S. Nicholas, towards the priest’s chamber, with an oriol 1 .” 35th, at Winchester, “To put wooden windows in the oriol of the queen’s chapel *,” [probably in the screen.] 36th, at Geddington, “To make a chapel in the oriol beyond the door of our chamber, and three glass windows in the same chapel ; ” “ wain- scote the same chapel, and paint it of a green colour scintillated with gold, and make a certain screen * between the chancel and the body of the chapel, with a door in the middle, and two seats on each side of that door “.” 40th, “ In making a certain stair x with a door and oriel on the right side of the king’s chapel at Rochester L” 42nd, at Guildford, “To block up the outer and inner doorway of the chamber under the oriol, and to make a door from the king’s wardrobe into that chamber under the oriol *.” 44th, at Winchester, “To repair the gutters of the chamber of the chap- lains, and a pillar in the oriol towards the queen’s chapel “ The sheriff of Southampton is directed to build an oriol between the new chamber and the queen’s chapel in Winchester castle, of the width of the same chamber, and a passage to the oriol of the aforesaid chapel with four glass windows, and other small openings of glass ; and a fireplace in the aforesaid oriel to heat the queen’s victuals, and to build under the aforesaid oriol two walls from the same chamber to the chapel aforesaid b .” 1 p. 203. • p. 228. m p. 204. * clausum. " p. 208. u p. 238. ° p. 210. * stagimn. f cum stagio ; this may mean only an r p. 246. upper story. 1 p. 249. i p.213. » p.252. r p. 222. b p. 256. 84 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. The whole of the foregoing extracts may be reconciled with this explanation of the word oriol, and do not seem to admit of any other meaning. Yet the same name seems to have been applied to a recess in the hall or chamber, nearly as in the modern usage of the term. Thus in one instance in the Liberate Rolls, 53rd H. in. at Clarendon. “ To repair without delay the aisles, windows, and oriols of the same hall In the romance of a Squire of Low Degree, in the oriel of her chamber the princess of Hungary listens to her lover’s complaint : That ladi herde hys mournyng alle, Ryghte undir the chambre walle : In her oryall there she was, Cloysed well with royall glas, Fulfilled yt was with ymagery, Every window by and by On eche syde had ther a gynne, Sperde with manie a dyvers pynne. Anonc that ladie fayre and fre Undyd a pynne of yvere d , And wyd the wyndowes she open sett, The sunne shone yn at hir closet. In that arbre fayre and gaye She saw where that Squyre lay. All the passages quoted by Mr. Hamper, in Archaeologia, vol. xxiii., may also be reconciled with this explanation of the word ; the most important of these are from a roll at that time, (1830,) in the possession of the Right Hon. Lord Stafford, relating to the repairs of Maxstoke castle, in the 30th H. vi. “ Pro sperres, post, et gradubus, de cisdem fiend’ pro uno Oriell supra stabulam ibidem.” “ Sol, Thome Qrene carpcntar’ conduct’ ad facicnd’ unum novum oriell supra hostium solar’ ibidem iij*. iiij d .” c p. 255. In this instance the word this period was the same as described may be applied to the minstrels’ gallery. in the Liberate Rolls in the prev ious d This also shews that the manner of century, hanging and fastening the windows of THE ORIEL. 85 These passages evidently relate to a loft or upper cham- ber. In one instance the name of oryell seems to be ap- plied to the minstrels’ gallery in the hall. “ Pro novo oreyell pro Trumpctes Domini in aula c .” But as the passage is said to relate also to the rebuilding of the lord’s parlour and the lady’s closet, near the chapil; and the passage is not quoted in full, there may be some error in the quotation ; “ the lord’s parlour and the lady’s closet near the chapel,” are probably the upper and lower rooms screened off from the chapel. * The oriole which stood on the site now occupied by Oriel college was probably a chapel or oratory, which may have had an upper story to it ; and the same may be said of the oriel at Harfleur, mentioned in a deed of a.d. 1338, quoted by Carpentier, in his supplement to the Glossary of Ducange. The passage in the legend of the Earl of Toulouse, in Ritson’s Metrical Romances, may very well apply to the room over the porch, or the word may be used as synony- mous with chapel. When ye here the mas-belle, Y schall hur brynge to the chapelle, Thedur sche schall be broght. Be the oryall sydc stande thou stylle. Then schalt thou see hur at thy wylle, That ys so worthyly wroght. The Lexicon Anglo-Latini, a.d. 1440, explains the “oryel of a wyndowe ” by “ cancellus f ,” which seems to shew some connection between the oriel and the chancel, and probably here means only a window in the screen. In the “ Ordi- natio pro victu fratris Johannis Aslieli dudum Prioris de e Roll of Lord Stafford. The iron bars which separated the inner 1 Cancellus is properly an upright bar from the outer room in the treasury at of stone, wood, or iron, and the chancel Durham are called cancelli ; they still takes its name from being divided from remain, the rest of the church by these cancelli. 8G DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Daventre, a.d. 1420, habeat cameram quandam in eodcm Prioratu vulgariter appellatam ly oryall,” and in the com- potus of Maxstoke priory, a.d. 1447, “in camera orioli.” Matthew Paris several times uses the word oriel as ap- plied to a chamber, “ In Refectorio vel oriolo, cum sociis suis pranderet ”... in oriolo carnem comederent, “ atrium nobilissimum in introitu, quod Portions vel orioi.um appel- latur 5 .” This appears to be the room over the entrance in the gate-house, in which there was frequently an oratory. William of Worcester, describing the manor-house at Howndesdon in Hertfordshire, says “ altitudo diet® turris, cum le ovyrstorye vocat an oriell, cum fenestris ct vanys deauratis, est ut dicitur a fundamento dicta: turris c pedes h .” III. THE SOLAR. The principal chamber after the hall was that called the lord’s chamber, or sometimes the solar and the parlour, the use of which corresponded to the withdrawing-room of modern times. Part of a House from a M3. of the Uth century, in the British Museum, shewing the situation of the solar or lord's chamber. * Matt. Paris, ed. Wats, pp. 713, 1044, 1071. h Ed. Nasmyth, p. 89. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. THE SOLAR. SUTTON COURTENAY. BERKSHIRE. THE SOLAR. 87 It was the private apartment of the lord and his family, to which he aud his chief guests retired from the high table after the feast was over, leaving the commonalty in the body of the hall, where many remained to sleep. Whan that this Tartre king, this Cambuscan, Rose from his bord, theras he sat ful hie, Beforne him goth the loude menstralcie, Til he came to his chambre of Parements *. This chamber was usually situated behind the dais, sepa- rated from it by the end wall of the hall, and had a store room or cellar under it ; these two apartments together were frequently not so high as the hall, leaving the gable with the window in it free above them. There was generally a small opening j from this chamber into the hall from which the lord could overlook the proceedings, and hear all that passed. This chamber was placed transversely to the hall, being of the same length that the hall was wide, and had a window at each end, as on the other side it joined on to other buildings, at least in the larger houses, for a small house frequently con- sisted only of the hall in the centre, the solar at one end, View of a small fortified House, shewing the and the offices at the other. comparative importance of the Hall. From a MS. in the British Museum. In some instances both the upper and lower rooms appear to have been used as parlours. This chamber is frequently mentioned in the Liberate Rolls ; thus at Gillingham, A. D. 1250, “at the head of our hall towards the east, let there be made a chamber forty feet long and twenty-two feet wide, transversely towards the north, with a fire-place and a privy chamber k .” 1 Squyr’s Tale, 1. 10578. Perthisis. J The opening is sometimes called k See vo). i. p. 235. 88 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Although in the smaller houses the solar 1 and the lord’s chamber appear to have been the same, it is clear that in the larger houses they were distinct, and that the solar was the room in the upper part of the gate-house m over the entrance gateway and porter’s lodge ; this room was often of considerable size, and was one of some importance. It was sometimes used as a chapel. In Prudhoe castle, Nor- thumberland, the solar in the gate-house is a good-sized room, and has a bay or oriel corbelled out at one end, in which there are three small lancet-shaped windows ; the entrance is at the opposite end by an external stone staircase. This building is of the time of Edward i. or n., and it affords the earliest instance we have met with of that class of win- dows now popularly known by the name of an oriel window. FIRE-PLACES AND CHIMNEYS. In our first volume the use of fire-places and chimneys in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was abundantly shewn, and it is almost needless to observe that they continued in constant use throughout the four- teenth century also. We have stated that they were not yet commonly used in the hall, but in the other chambers their use was almost universal ; we frequently find a fire-place and chimney in every room in the house except the hall. A good example of this occurs Chimney, Boriord, Ox. 'or da Lure. 1 The term solar was applied to any upper room ; even a room over a shop was so called. m This was sometimes called the so- leret or little solar, as in the Liberate Rolls, 33 H. hi., “to make a certain soleret above the gateway at Gedding- ton.” — Vol. i. p. 217. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY FIRF-PLACB EDLINGHAM CASTLE, NORTHUMBERLAXr FIltE-PI-ACES AND CHIMNEYS. 89 at St. Briavel’s castle, Gloucestershire, a nearly perfect house of the thirteenth century, (except the hall, which has been destroyed ;) the rooms are small and numerous, and each is provided with a fire-place, nearly all of which are in their original state ; and there is a very good chimney of the fourteenth century on the gable. The fire-place always has a hood over it, of greater or less projection according to convenience, but it is generally considerable, and frequently corbelled out in a very bold and picturesque manner, as in the old deanery at Lincoln. The flat arch or chimney- piece is sometimes built of small stones joggled to- gether in a very ingenious manner, as in Edlingham castle, Northumberland ; sometimes it is of a single stone carried upon the cor- bels, and these again are in some cases supported by shafts with regular capitals and bases, in others the jambs are merely orna- mented by mouldings con- tinued to the floor. Among the illuminations in the manuscript of the romance of Alexander, is a very curious representation of a fire-place with its hood, and chinmev, and the fire- Fire-place with fire-doga and chimney, from the MS " * of the Romance of Alexander in the Bodleian Library LOS- dogs or andirons on the hearth. At the top of the chimney a stork’s nest is intro- duced in a very singular manner. N 90 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. The chimney-shafts of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries are commonly round and tall ; in the fourteenth they are more frequently oc- tagonal, and the use of tall chimneys was still con- tinued, of which we have a good example in the arch- bishop’s palace at Southwell in Nottinghamshire : but the chimneys of this cen- tury are frequently short Chimney, Old Woodstock. and placed on the point of the gable, as at Burford, Oxford- shire ; these are frequently terminated by a sort of spire, sometimes crocheted like a pinnacle, with apertures of various forms under it, and sometimes in it also, for the escape of the smoke. In • ■ * » .* instances these short ineys are placed on the li ;e of the roof instead of on the point of the gable. Of this arrangement we have good examples at Old Woodstock, and at Mot- combe in Devonshire. At Norborough, North- amptonshire, the chimney is attached to the gable, and richly ornamented with canopies and a cornice fitted with ball-flowers, and a bat- tlement over it. In the ruins of Grosmont castle, Herefordshire, tliei C Chimney , Groomoai cMlle. Hervfonlftliino DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. CHIMNEY OP THE LAVATORY, LINCOLN CATH UOTCOMBE. DORSETSHIRE NORBOROOOH, NORTHANTS EXTON. RUTLAND CHIMNEYS. 91 is a remarkably elegant chimney, consisting of an octagonal shaft, with a canopy and a crest at the top, and narrow openings, with trefoil heads. It is probably of the time of Edward i. When the fire-places are on the first or second floor, they are frequently carried so far through the thick- ness of the wall that it is necessary to corbel out the chimney at the back 1 "; of this we have a good example in the Potter-gate at Lin- coln, where the fire-place is in the room over the arch- way, and the chimney is corbelled out, and so carried up to a short octagonal shaft on the battlement. Although it was the ge- neral custom for the whole family, including the guests and retainers, to dine to- gether in the common hall", yet as the ideas of the higher classes began to Chimney. Poit*r-aaU\ Lincoln. m This fashion of corbelling out the chimneys may be observed in the twelfth century at the Jews’ House, Lincoln, but it was more common in the fourteenth. In some foreign towns this feature is re- markably prevalent, as at Trfeves, where it is a prevailing feature, and the lower part of the chimney is frequently ornamented with panelling of elegant character. ° See Raine’s Auckland Castle for an account of a strange scene which took place in the hall of the rectory house of Wolsingham, temp. Ed. ill. The bp. of Durham and the archdeacon of Northum- berland had been sitting until bed- time among the menials. 92 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE I FOURTEENTH CENTURY. grow more refined during this century, they appear in some cases to have preferred dining more privately in one of the smaller chambers, partly perhaps on account of the greater comfort of the fire-place and chimney. The chambers in which rich men dined, to use the language of Piers the Ploughman, are sometimes referred to in old romances. Distinguished guests were honoured occasionally with these private repasts. Meals were some- times served in the bed-chamber. In the romance of Guigamar we read. La dame en sa chambre le mcine Desur le lit a la meschine, Triers un dossal qui por cortine, Fu en la chambre appareilliez, La est li Dameisels cuchez En bacius de or leve aporterent, Sa plaie e sa quisse laverent °. In the romance of Syr Bevys of Ilamptoun we read that that worthy knight dined in the princess’s bed-chamber, and. On the maidenes bed-i-sete p . Longland in Piers the Ploughman’s Crcde, alluding to this, says, Elenge is the hal every day in the weke, There the lorde ne the lady lyketh not to sytte. Now hath ec'ue ryche a rule to eaten by him selfe In a privee parlor, for poore mens sake, Or in a chambre wyth a chimney, and leave the chief hal. In the larger houses, besides the solar or lord’s chamber, there was also the lady’s chamber or bower, the situation of which depended upon the plan of the house, but was near to the lord’s chamber, and connected with it by a door- way or short passage q . A good example of this in the early part of the following century occurs in Warkworth castle, the interior arrangements of which are remarkably perfect. In 0 Vol. i. p. 214. t Vol. i. p.258. king's chamber and the chamber of the ■> Thus in 1245, at Marlborough. “To queen.” Vol. L p. 20C. make an alley of two stories between the DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY FURNITURE. TABLES FROM MSS. IN THE BODLEUN LIBRARY OXFORD. ROMANCE OF ALEXANDER. BODL. »*. FURNITURE. 93 the Liberate Rolls there is frequent mention of the queen’s chamber as distinct from the king’s chamber. The prince’s chamber is also frequently mentioned, and the queen’s lower chamber. The apartments in which the attendants slept are specified as being in the turrets ; there were also other apartments for guests in the towers. Original furniture of this period is so extremely rare that we can form no idea in what manner the chambers were furnished, except- ing from inventories, and from the 0 m Chair in a chamber from the M9. of the illuminat ions in cotemporary man- R°™«. ». Ageyn ye evyn ye kyng gagt dyzt A bath for ye gentyll knyzt \ And in Syr Bevys of Hamptoun we are told that, In to chaumber she gan him take. And riche bathes she let him make b . In the romance of William and the Werwolf we are told, There were beddes busked for any burn riche, And two bathes were boun ' by a litel while d . Froissart also mentions that “ Among other places these men of Ghent destroyed at Marie a house be- longing to the earl of Flanders, containing the chamber where he was born, the font in which he had been baptized, and his cradle, which was of silver. They also beat to pieces and carried away the bathing tub wherein he had been washed.” i Davies’ Ancient Rites and Monu- ments of the Monastical Church of Dur- ham. 12mo. Lond. 1672. p. 130. * fo. 66, b. * MS. Cotton. Calig. A. fo. 6, b. b line 731. * Made ready. * fo. 47, a. " IRON-WORK. 103 IRON-WORK e . It is evident from existing remains, as well as from records and from the illuminations in manuscripts, that the iron-work of this period was of a very elaborate character, and per- haps the smith’s skill was mostly displayed in the ornamenting of the door, for not only were the large mas- sive hinges oftentimes worked in the most elaborate manner, but the locks, the bolts, and even the nails with which the door was studded, all de- serve notice. It is true that we lack the existing re- mains of doors in domestic work, but we are fully supplied with materials in ec- clesiastical architec- ture. The door of the church and the door of the mansion could not have possessed M^K£ 0,Ato “ nder any separate or distinct character ; moreover, we find the • For further information on this sub- work, Lock, Escutcheon, Scroll, and ject, see the articles in the Glossary of Metal-work. Also the splendid work Architecture, upou Door, Hinge, Iron- lately published by Mr. Digby Wyatt. 104 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. latter pourtrayed in the illuminated MS. as furnished with hinges precisely after the same manner as those we find on the church door to the present day f . The hinge itself practically, was not remarkable, as it was simply pierced through at the thicker end, and hung on an iron pivot fixed firmly in the lintel, such as may be found in any country gate of modern times; but the architect of that period was not content with the simple fixing of his door, he made his hinge subservient to his taste for decoration, and carried it over the surface of the door, bending it into the most tasteful forms and devices, such as we now see remaining, but care not to imitate. Neither from what we can judge of the few existing remains in museums and elsewhere, was the lock inferior in the display of workman- ship. Pierced and wrought into well-designed forms, it became a prominent addition to the door : and not the lock only, but the keys (the few specimens we have remain- ing) testify also to the exquisite design, and the practised hand of the workman. To render their doors stronger and more massive, they were usually studded with large iron nails, sometimes of three and four inches in length. The heads of these also were made the subjects of the artist’s skill, and many are the forms and patterns ; but of these our readers will find an account elsewhere *. The door of the hall of Merton college, Oxford, has very fine original iron-work, and though the interior of the hall has been spoiled, enough remains to shew that it was a fine example of the hall of the fourteenth century, and does not differ from the hall of a baronial mansion of the same period. 1 There is some remarkably fine iron- uncommon, work of the 14th century on the door of * Vide Glossary of Architecture, Arti- Lockinge Church, Berkshire, and in cle, Iron-work, fifth edition, p. 268. some parts of the country it is not I RON -WORK. 105 Although many windows of this period were glazed, yet many others, especially in the servants’ apartments and offices, continued to be protected only by canvas, as at Bishop’sAuckland, Durham, for the windows of the porter’s lodge, or by wooden shut- ters within, and iron "ratings called grilles on the out- side. These are frequently repre- sented in the illu- minations of co- temporary manu- scripts, and there are many good specimens remaining ; the windows of the lower story were often protected in this manner when the upper windows were glazed. There is a fine examp'e of a grille in one of the outbuildings at Yanwath, West- moreland. In the accounts of Rhudlan castle in Wales, where King Edward i. for some time resided, we find the follow- ing entry. “For six ells of canvas bought for the windows of the king’s chapel, Is. 9 Romaunt de la Rose, vol. ii. p. 372, edit. Paris, 1735. k Archaeo'ogical Journal, vo’. i. p. 244. CLOCKS. 107 It is probable that before this period even watches were in use. One supposed to have belonged to Robert Bruce was found by some workmen at Bruce castle in Fifeshire and in an old French account" 1 dated April 4th, 1480, an entry occurs of 10/. 10s. being paid to John of Paris a clock-maker, for a clock to be carried about wherever he went. But sun-dials for the exterior and hour-glasses for domestic purposes were in common use. LAMPS AND TORCHES. The chamber was lit up with lamps and torches. In Syr Eglamour of Artoys we read that in Christabel’s chamber Ther were lampus brennyng bryzt ", And the renowned hero Syr Bevys, we are told, Yede to bedde a night, With torges and with candel light °. In the illuminated paintings in manuscripts of this pe- riod lamps are sometimes represented in chamber scenes. As before stated the hall was lit up with torches p . In Syr 1 Archaeologia, vol. v. p. 419. m “ Interesting Papers relating to the History of France from the time of Louis xn. to that of Louis xvm.” It may be as well to notice here some facts connected with this subject. Tbe first clock of which we have any account was placed in 1288 in a tower near West- minster hall. Selden, Pref. to Hengham. Dart in his History of Canterbury Ca- thedral has given an extract from a MS. (Cotton. Galba, E. iv. 14,) by which it appears that 301. were paid for a new clock. Froissart mentions a famous clock which Philip the Hardy removed from Courtray to Dijon. Adam Sod- bury, elected abbot of Glastonbury in 1322, set up a great clock beautified with processions and shows. Stevens’ continuation to Dugdale’s Monasticon, vol. i. p. 449. See Beckmann’s Hist, of Inventions for additional facts. " MS. Cotton. Calig. A. ii. fo. 7, a. 0 line 2505. p MS. Reges. Brit. Mus. 15 E. vi. at fol. 18, b, a lamp is hung from the ceiling, over the bed. In MS. additional 10293, fo. 354, two large candlesticks are placed beside the bed. 10S DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Degore we read, Torches in the halle he did lyght i. These torclics were sometimes made of wax. In Richard Cceur de Lion mention is made Of torches maad with wax ful cleer r . At supper these were placed on the table on candlesticks of brass 8 , silver, and sometimes of gold. As early as the middle of the thirteenth century candles were made in France and hawked about the streets \ In the romance of Guigamar a chamber is described as being furnished with two handsome candelabra of pure gold ; Deus chandelabras de fin or, Le pire valent un tresor. These were supplied with wax candles or tapers, Desus ont deus cirges epris, De £eo sesteit il es mcrveilliez “. * IV. THE WARDROBE. The wardrobe is so constantly mentioned in all ac- counts of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, that ■> Sign. C. iiii. ' line 2618. * Among the goods of John Marina- duke, lord of Horden, 3 pair of candle- sticks are valued at only six-peucc. Wills and Inventories, pt. i. p. 16. ‘ Le Grand, tom. iii. p. 176. « MS. Harl. 978, fo. 117, b. Cande- labra of gold and silver are mentioned in a curious inventory of effects found in a room under the chapel (eu la chaum- bre desouz la chapelle) in the Tower of London, 19 Ed. n., 1325. MS. Cot- ton. A. ii. 105. T11E WARDROBE. 109 it was evidently an important part of the house ; it seems to have been usually on the ground floor ; in the smaller houses it was probably the lower room at the end of the hall under the solar or lord’s chamber; but in the large houses it was distinct from this, and in each of the royal palaces there were several wardrobes ; we find mention in the Liberate Rolls of the king’s wardrobe, the queen’s wardrobe, and the queen’s lower wardrobe, and the ward- robe of prince Edward. Thus in 1239, “The king to Walter de Burgh. We direct you to make a wardrobe and a privy chamber to the same wardrobe, at Brill, for the use of our queen. Westminster, Ap. 8.” “ The king to the bailiff of Woodstock. We command you to make a certain fire-place in our great wardrobe at Woodstock, and to cover the small chamber of the said wardrobe with shingle. Windsor, May 18'.” “The king to the sheriff of Wiltshire. We command you to cause the fire-place of our wardrobe at Clarendon to be pulled down, and a new one to be built ; and renovate and enlarge the privy chamber of the same, and make a certain wardrobe of the length of thirty feet before the aforesaid privy chamber. Clarendon, September 30.” Sometimes the wardrobe occupied both the upper and lower chamber in a part of the larger houses and palaces ; for instance, in 1247 “ The sheriff of Southampton is ordered to lengthen the queen’s wardrobe at Winchester to thirty feet within the walls, and to make two fire-places in that wardrobe, one in the upper story and one in the lower ; and to joist the same, and roof it with lead and crencllate it ; and to make two windows barred with iron in it, towards the little meadow. Winchester, July3 ,r .” In 1238, “H. de Pateshull, the king’s treasurer, is ordered to wainscote well the queen’s chamber, and the wardrobe under that chamber ; and to cause a window of white glass to be made and placed in the window barred with iron which is in the farthest chamber of the same wardrobe ; so that that chamber may not be so windy as it used to be. Westminster, Feb. 10*.” In 1253, “ The sheriff of Southampton is ordered to make in the king’s upper wardrobe in Winchester castle, where the king’s clothes are deposited, two cupboards (or armaries*), one on each side of the fire-place, with two x Vol. i. p. 190. r MS. llarl. 978. fo. 119. * line 1086. * armariola. 110 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. arches b , and a certain partition' of board across the same wardrobe. Guild- ford, Jan. 1.” From these extracts it is sufficiently clear that the ward- robe was of considerable extent, and without doubt it was occupied as its name implies for keeping the various arti- cles of dress and furniture. That considerable accommo- dation was required for this purpose is equally evident from numerous inventories of wardrobes of this period : among the most important of which is the Roll formerly in the Exchequer, now in the branch record office at Carlton ride, containing the accounts of the expences of the great wardrobe of King Edward the Third, 1344, 5; and of the delivery of furs, mercery, and other articles out of the said wardrobe, 1347, 49. This Roll has been printed at full length, with notes by Sir Harris Nicolas in the 31st volume of the Arclueologia. It affords much valuable information respecting the costume of the period. Many luxuries came into more general use during this century, probably in consequence of the frequent inter- course with France; amongst these feather beds may be mentioned, indeed furniture of all kinds became more common and of a better description. The Wills and In- ventories of the period furnish us with abundant evidence of this; the best collections of these documents are the “Durham Wills and Inventories,” and the “ Testamenta Eboracensia,” both published by the Surtees Society, and edited by their able secretary the Rev. James llaine. From the will of Alicia widow of John Henriot of Blyde, Nottinghamshire, 1347. “Item ; I bequeath to my daughter Agnes a chest, an alms’ box, a feather bed, and a mattress d .” b archeria. c interclusum, vol. i. p. 243. J Item, lego Agneti filiae me* unam cistam et unam elemosinariam et unutn lectum plumalem et unum matras. Test. Ebor., p. 46. THE WARDROBE. Ill From the will of Isabella wife of Sir William Fitz- William, lord of Elmley, 1348, ancestor of the present earl Fitz-William. “Item to my son John, a purple bed with carpets', and a mazer with a silver foot. To my daughter Joanna f , my carriage with harness, and an iron grey horse drawing it, a bed from India with carpets, a psalter, and a new book-case ; a third bed with a carpet, and a white quilt. To Agnes, daughter of my son Thomas, a carpet, a piece of canvas, a mattress, and two linen sheets.” From the will of Thomas Ilarpham, 1341. “ 1 bequeathe to my daughter Agnes an ark or chest which belonged to her mother, a coverlet of variegated work of which the ground is of green and cotton, a mattress, and two linen sheets, a ewer, the smaller of the two, and a basin, the smaller of the three From the will of Christiana Rous, widow of John Rous, 1342. “ I give and bequeathe to my sister Annicia a feather bed with a bolster, two linen sheets and a coverlet. To Mary a feather bed with a linen sheet and a carpet, ... a cloth of four ells, and a towel of three ells h . . .” Extract from the will of John lord Nevill, of Raby, lieutenant of the duchy of Aquitaine, &c. 138G. “Also to Ralph my son and heir, ij best beds of silk, vj beds for the knights Bannerets with curtains, xij beds with tapestry hangings at the head, one complete set of hall-hangings ‘ of green tapestry with my arms, and one set of blue tapestry, with little bulls 1 [worked upon it,] with the bed of the same * The word is tapetuni, which can hardly mean a carpet in the modern sense; it means a coverlid. 1 Item Johann* fili® me*, carrum meum cum harnes, et unum equum ni- grum griseum in illo tractante, unum lectum de Inde cum tapetis, unum psal- terium et unam bibliotecam novam, . . . tercium lectum cum tapeto, . . . et unum album quylt. . . . Item. Agneti filiae Thom* filii mei j tapetum j canevac’ j materaz ij linthiamiana. — Test. Ebor., pp. 50, 51. s Item, lego Agneti filiae me*, unam archam, quae fuit matris ejusdem Agne- tis, unum coverlet diversorum operum cujus chaump cst de viridi et coton, unum matras, et duo linthiamina, unum urceolum minorem de duobus, et unam patellam minorem de tribus. — Test. Ebor., p. 3. h Item, do etlego Annici* sorori me* unum lectum plumalem cum una cul- citra. Item duo lynthiamina et unum su- perlectile. Item do lego Mariot* Urry unum lectum plumalem cum uno lyn- thiatnine et uno tapeto, ...unam map- pam quatuor ulnarutn et unam mana- tergium trium ulnarum. — Test. Ebor., p. 5. 1 The word is aula, which means here the whole set of hangings for every side of the hall — My Hall occurs in other Wills for the hangings themselves. 1 Torellus ; there is considerable doubt about the translation of this word by bulls. The editor and the 8vo. ed. (1784) of Du Cange quotes the passage, and is inclined to think it means little beds ; it may perhaps mean wreaths or garlands, or it may be a misreading of Madox (who first printed the Will) for Lorellis, and if so it means little laurels, laurel branches. fourteenth century 112 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: V d0Zen dlihes ’ “J* dozen T *'j quart measures, iiij gallon mea- sures, xxuij pots, mj dozen spoons, viij chargers, (or lanre platters) vj basms and ewers one bowl with a silrer cover, and vj covered cups, of which one of gold and five of silver gilt, . . . and all my animals for ploughs, carts and wagons, at my manors ... To my son Thomas, twenty-four silver dishes, t e ve saucers, two basins, and two ewers, six silver cups, of which two with “dTod K? T T C ° Tered "° bIet 0f ^ ld ' one M of silk striped red and black, and three hundred marks in silver, or their value in ? oods J*, C f ! “ T ° ° rd " llllam - VeriI1 m J brother, one green bed powdered -th fa.cons, with the carpets of the same set, and twelve silver dishes.” I lie various articles preserved in the wardrobe when not in use were deposited in chests, and these were also used as articles of furniture in the other chambers; thev were often richly ornamented with sculptured panelling and some of these rich chests have come down to us ; they have often been preserved in the vestries of churches, but whether originally made for the church vestments is some- times doubtful. No difference of character can be drawn DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY INTERIOR OF GARDEROBE TOWER. AND SECTION OF THE SAME. LANGLEY CASTLE, NORTHUMBERLAND. CHESTS. 113 between a church chest and one for domestic use ; sacred ornaments were so often used in domestic work that these alone will not serve for a distinction ; we find the sacred monogram even on the andirons in baronial halls, where they never could have been intended for any ecclesiastical purpose. The rich Flanders chests, which were so freely imported at a later period, do not appear to have been in use so early as the fourteenth century. There is a very interesting old oak chest in the court of chancery at Durham. It appears to have been made during the time Richard Bury was bishop of Durham, (1333 — 1345) and is strongly bound with iron, which on the lid is ornamental. Within the lid the whole length is occupied with heraldic and other paintings of good cha- racter, the colours still vivid. THE GARDEROBES k , OR PRIVY CHAMBERS. Every person who is at all familiar with the records and accounts of this period must have noticed the very frequent mention of the privy chamber ; it occurs in every page and every account ; in the contract for building a house at Lapworth, p. 7, it is stipulated that there should be one of these conveniences to almost every room, and an examination of the existing remains of any house or castle of this period shews that such was the general custom. The manner in which this rule was complied with is often very curious and instructive, and the ingenuity displayed to accomplish it shews that the rule was considered as in- dispensable. In some cases one of the principal towers is given up almost entirely to this purpose, as in Langley k This word appears to have been ori- has been retained in English, the other ginally used in two senses, one of which in French. Q 114 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. castle, Northumberland, where there are twelve, four on each floor, with recessed arches in the wall four in a row, and three rows one over the other ; the floors and parti- tions being now destroyed they have a very singular ap- pearance ; besides these there are four or five others in dif- ferent parts of the house. In other cases a smaller turret is introduced either in the angle formed by a tow r er, or in the centre of one face of the building, and looking like a square stair-turret, as in the Wressell and Bolton castles, Yorkshire, with a series of small openings for windows to give air and light to the closets into which the turret is divided; leading to these are passages in the thickness of the wall from each room in the house, and these passages are also lighted by small loop-like openings, so that they are often mistaken for part of the military defences. In other cases when neither towers nor turrets could be con- veniently placed for the purpose, the privy chambers are boldly corbelled out from the face of the wall, as at Brough- ton castle, Oxfordshire. In the palace at Southwell, Not- tinghamshire, one of the round towers in the wall of en- ceinte is occupied in this manner with a series of closets diverging from a central pillar with a passage round just within the outer wall, arranged with an ingenious econ- omy of space. In many of the monasteries there are also very curious arrangements of this kind. In New college, Oxford, the original arrangement of timber work of the time of Wykeham still remains. Whenever there was a running stream of water in the moat, a portion of it was diverted through the pit of the garderobe, as at the bishop’s palace, Wells, Magdalen college, Oxford, Rag- land castle, and many other places. A few extracts from the Liberate Rolls may be useful to illustrate the subject more clearly. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY PLAN OF THE OARDF.ROBES. PALACE. SOUTHWELL. NOTTINGH A.MSHIRE THE GARDEN. 115 23rd II. nr. at Winchester, “A certain chamber for the use of the bishops, and a fireplace, and a certain privy chamber in the same “A wardrobe, and a privy chamber to the same wardrobe at Brill, for the use of our queen ra .” 30th. “A certain chamber at Guildford, for the use of Edward the king’s son, above, and the chamber of the king’s noble valets underneath, with fitting windows, and a privy chamber and a fireplace in each chamber n .” 34th. “And level the chamber of our seneschals, and make a certain stair towards the privy chamber of the same chamber at Clarendon 23rd. “The king to the constable of the tower of London. We order you to cause the drain of our privy chamber to be made iu the fashion of a hollow column, as our well-beloved servant John of Ely shall more fully tell thee p . Woodstock, Nov. 23.” 25th. “A privy-chamber of the length of twenty feet, with a deep pit.” Close roll. My lady’s “ bowre” was sometimes pleasantly situated on the ground floor* 1 , and led into a garden richly stored with flowers and delicious fruits. From the romance of William and the Werwolf we may glean a fesv hints illus- trative of a pleasure garden of this period. That unglad gorn than goth into a gardin everie, That was a perles place for ani price of erthe. And wynlie with heie wal was closed al a boute That previ pleyng place to prone the sothe Joyned wel justly to Melior’s chamber'. This charming “pleyng place” had a private entrance or postern gate, for William passed out THE GARDEN. Priuely be the posterne of that perles erber, That was to Meliors chaumber choisli a joyned s . 1 Vol. i. p. 1S9. as the hall; in the romance of Sir Triiten we are told that, ra p. 190. “ p. 208. ° p. 221. Bithin the boure and the halle, The way was uaru and lite, line 110. •* Vol. i. p. 189. i It was sometimes on the same floor r fol.- 11, a. • fol. 35, b. UG DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. The pleasure gardens so minutely and glowingly de- scribed in the Roman de la Rose, were not only stored with flowers and fruits, but were adorned with grottos of fantastic design, and gushing fountains added to the luxury of the scene. Par lieux y eut cleres fontaines, Sans barbelotes, et sans raines, Aquiles arbres faisorent umbre, Jene reste dire nombre. Des petis ruisseaus, que Deduis Y out fais, et par conduis. Si venoit leane aval faisant, Fountain from Ms of lhe d , Une noise doulce et plaisant '. Kose. in the Bodleian Library. The fountain was a luxury not often introduced into the English pleasure gardens". They were seldom supplied with anything superior to a well. Chaucer in his version of the Roman de la Rose uses the word “ well” as an equi- valent for a fountain. In the old romance of Ywaine and Gawin we have the following description of a well ; Ye well as under the fairest tre, Yat ever was in yis cuntre, By yat well hinges a bacyne. With a cheyne trewly to tell, Yat will riche in to ye well ’. The beauty and variety of the flowers in the medieval garden are thus extolled by the poet : Violette y fut moult belle, Et parvenche fresche et nouvelle ; Flours y out blanches et vermeilles. De jaunez en y ont inerveilles, Trop estoit cette terre comte, * MS. in Brit. Mus. Reges 19. B. xii. this period, as in one of the Roman de la fo. II, a. Rose in the Bodleian Library. “ Though they are occasionally intro- ’ MS. Cotton. Galha, E. ix. p. 2, b. Uuccd in the illuminations of MSS. of THE GARDEN. 117 Quel estoit piolete et painte De flowrs de divertes couleurs, Done moult estoit bonne les odors *. De had a gardin walled al with ston T . GARDEN OP THE XIVtb CENTURY. Prom the M3 of the Roman from ms. bo. p. 157. PROVISIONS AND DRINKS. 133 of the mead and metheglin, for which this period was so famous. The cooks of the middle ages had a method of clarifying honey by putting it into a pot with the whites of eggs and water, and boiling it. In the time of Edward hi. the refining of honey had become a mystery or trade of itself 0 . We may form some idea of the quantity con- sumed in the royal household from the fact that in the 11th of Edward iii. two hundred and sixty-five gallons of honey were purchased by order of the king’s council p , and in the year 1370 seven casks of honey were supplied for the castle of Windsor q . Cyder and beer appear to have been the beverages gene- rally in use during the fourteenth century. Various descrip- tions of grain were employed in the manufacture of beer ; barley, wheat, and oats, were used almost indiscriminately, and even sometimes mixed together. In the absence of hops the liquor was flavoured with spices. Hops were not grown in England at this period, but we find them men- tioned in the succeeding century. Gilbert Kymer in his Dietary r speaks of beer well hopped {bene lupulata). Of wines, that of Guienne was the most common, and those of Gascony and Bordeaux were in use among the nobility. Wine was usually sweetened with strong spices and stimu- lating aromatics. A few extracts illustrative of the viands prepared for the feasts of this period may not be altogether uninteresting. In Richard Coeur de Lion we read, They soden flesch, rost and brede, And to the super feste they yede. Plenty ther was off brede and wyn, Pyment, clarry, good and fyn ; 0 Barnes’ History, Edward in. ' MS. Sloane, No. 4, p. 166; see p Issue Roll, Excheq. 2 Edw. III. “ Household Expcuces of England in s Issue Roll, Exclieq. Easter, 44 the 13th and 16th centuries.” Edw. iii. 134 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Off cranes, and swaunes, and venysown, Partryches, plovers ond heroun, Off larkes, and small volatyle *. In the Squyr of Lowe Degre we have a still more tempt- ing bill of fare : And sone he sat hym on his knee, And servyd the kynge ryght royally, Wyth deynte metes that wer dere ; Wyth partrjche, pecoke and plovere Wyth byrdes in brede y bake The tele, the ducke, and the drake, The cocke, the curlewe, and the crane ; With sesauntes fayre thyr wer no wane. Bothe storks and snytes * there wer also. And venyson, freshe of bucke and do Our forefathers not only loved dainty dishes, but were connoisseurs in wine. In the same romance we read ; You shal have rumney and malmesyne, Both ypocrasse, and vernage wyne, Mount rose, and wyne of Greke, Both algrade, and respice eke, Antioche, and basturde, Pyment also, and garnarde, Wyne of Greke, and muscabell, Both clare, pyment, and Rochell \ Ipocrase was a wine much in use during the fourteenth century. It was sweetened and highly spiced with “ ginger, synamon, sugour, and turesoll.” A receipt for making it is given in the Forme of Cury y . Algrade, Bastarde and Granarde were Spanish wines, sweetened with honey and also highly spiced. It was the custom when the wine was passed round also to distribute spice to the company upon a plate called the spice-plate used for the purpose, and re- * lines 4219 to 4225. * Snipes. u lines 315 — 324. 1 line 753. J p. 161. THE BUTTERY. 135 peatedly mentioned in old inventories. In William and the Werwolf we read, Faun were spaceli 1 spices spended al a boute, Fulsumli at the ful to eche freke ther wine, And the wines ther with with hem best liked \ THE BUTTERY. Besides the kitchen there were two other offices neces- sary to the preparation of the dinner, namely the buttery and the pantry. These two, from the nature of the arti- cles and provisions which they afforded, were generally placed as near as possible to the hall, their usual position being behind the screens, one on each side, with some- times a passage or staircase between them leading to the kitchen b . To a great degree they were used for the purpose which their name implies, the one for the distribution of the bread c , the other of the wine d ; but they also afforded the cups and platters, the bowls and salt-cellar, besides which the table cloths and the various other cloths, towels and napkins, and the casks and vessels, and miscellaneous im- plements more or less of service during the meal, were kept in these two chambers. In ancient accounts we find them mentioned sometimes under the word celarium, or dispensarium, at others under the panetria and botellaria. The “ celarium ” included perhaps both the one and the other, and the “ celerarius,” or person to whose care these two chambers were confided, was an officer of no slight im- portance in the household. But at the same time, besides 1 quickly. * fo. 64. b In the Liberate Rolls (Guilford) “ to make a door in the gable of the hall there, between the pantry and buttery, by « Inch the king’skitchen may be entered.” Vide vol. i. p. 205. c From the French, pain, bread. d The French boutellerie (from bou- telle, a bottle) the officer, called the but- ler; the office, bullery or buttery. 136 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. the buttery, there was probably a “cellar,” or store-room, where large quantities of the beer and other beverages were kept, whence only a barrel or so at a time were brought into the buttery, where the drink was decanted or emptied into bowls and jugs aud made ready for the table. In the same manner, the larder was the store room be- longing to the cook, and the preserved meat was brought into the kitchen in such quantities as were required. A list of the articles found in the buttery may not. prove uninteresting, taken from the Finchale accounts during this century. “ In the celarium were two table-cloths, two napkins, two double towels. Also two dish-cloths, one mazer bowl with silver stand, and ten spoons'.” In a second inventory we find mention of “ casks, brewing vessels, a tub for the hogwash, a knife, a scrapie, a hand-mill, boult- ing implements, a basket, weights, sieves, and riddles f .” There can be no doubt that in this instance the word celarium is used to signify the buttery or pantry. In 1354 the same articles are enumerated in the room then called the dispensarium, evidently the same as the pantry. In 1397, in the same accounts the names of “ panir ct boutr are introduced immediately after the hall, and these names are applied to the same rooms ; the first ar- ticles are enumerated as in selario, probably a mistake of the scribe for cclario ; among the articles is “j towel- clath,” the rest are mostly the same as given above, and the celaria is evidently the same as the buttery. « In Celaria. ij : mappae, ij suivenapoe, ij manuteigia duplicata. Item vj niap- pae de cauabo j mazer cum pede ar- genteo, x coclearia. — Status Domus de Fynchall , A.D. 1311. 1 Item in Celario vj. magna dolea pro cerevisia, ij barelli . . . j melefatt iij tinae, j cuua pro potu porcorum, cum uno tan- cardo pro eisdem, j cultellus, j scra- pellus, j bultingarke, j area. . . j cuna in molendino, ij bulteclalhcs j berlepe, ij weghtes, ij cribra, ij ridelli. — Status Do- mus de Fynchall, A.D. 13b0. THE PANTRY. 137 In further illustration of the same subject we may add the following extracts from the inventory of the goods of the Hospital of St. Edmund at Gateshead in the county of Durham, in 1325*. “In the buttery four worn towels, one long hand-towel, three worn nap _ kins, seven silver spoons of which three are worn and broken, six casks, one barrel, one brass salt-cellar, two towels of coarse cloth for the young men, and two tables.” In the romance of Ipomydon we read ; Upp aroos Ipomydon And to the bottery he went anon. Having entered, lie toke the cuppe of the butelere, And drewe a lace of sylk full clere h . The valet of the king’s buttery in the reign of Edward hi. had a salary of one hundred shillings yearly 1 . THE PANTRY. The pantry was an office in which the bread, butter, cheese, &c., were kept, and was superintended by the panter or pannetier. It was his duty to receive the bread from the baker and arrange it on the table in the hall. Yenne comes ye pantere with loues thre k . The celerarius or butler was an important personage amongst the household. His duties are briefly and clearly explained in a record relating the customs of Evesham abbey *. “ The cellarius must know, and be able to pro- * In celeria, quatuor mappae debiles: unum longum manutergiuni ; tres save- napes debiles ; septem cochlearia argenti quorum tria fracta et debilia, sex cadi unum doleum, unum salsarium aeneum duae mappae de canabo pro gareionibu?, et duae mensoe. k MS. Hail. 2252. fo. 58. 1 Issue Roll, Excheq. 44 Ed. III. k Sloane MS. 1986. fo. 40, b. 1 Mon. Angl., tom.i. p. 147. edit. 1682. “ sciat et possit conventui necessaria mi- nistrare, scilicet panem, cervisiam, duo pulmenta, ignem salem, et quaedam alia_in consuetudinibus expressa.” T 133 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. vide necessaries for the convent, for instance, bread, beer, two kinds of condiment, firing and salt, and any other things usual.” And again in another record of the same abbey”*, we find that the celerarius should have the care of the whole abbey except as to the returns assigned to the office of the monks ; he shall administer what is neces- sary to the stranger, in all things for instance excepting those ivhich the cook ought of his office to find for reli- gious men. All the food of the abbey was evidently given out from this office “ de cellario ” the brothers, the chaplains, the servants, are all directed to obtain their rations" from the buttery. There was in general a sufficient quantity of bread, but in Lent the quantity is diminished, and oats for making gruel substituted. It is probable that in ordinary houses the butter was churned in the pantry, though in large establishments there was a separate dairy, attached to the farm-house or grange. The accompanying figure from the MS. of the romance of Alexander, (Bodl. 264,) shews that the churn of that day did not differ materially from that new in use. TIIE LARDER. The larder, as we said before, must often have been of considerable size, as it was used to keep provisions stored up for some length of time. For instance in the inventory of the larder at Fynchale, in the year 1311, we m Mon. Angl., tom. i. p. 119. darium rasum,” — “et de avena duode- n “ Ad unum, de fabis siccis preben- cim summas ad gruellum faciendum. THE LARDER. 130 find that it contained 0 “ the carcases of twenty oxen, and fifteen pigs, of herrings eight thousand, of dograves (a sea- fish peculiar to those parts) seven score, twenty pounds of almonds, thirty of rice, six barrels of lard, enough oatmeal to last till Easter, two quarters of salt.” There were also the various utensils for salting and keeping these provisions in p . We see by the above that it was customary to preserve or lard their meats, and thus we arrive at the origin of the word larder. In the grant to the monastery of Ilagburn (a.d. 1332) is mentioned the porcaria, or pigstye, and twenty pigs for making their “larder” with. But as we also often find mention of the utensils for salting, some meat was pickled with salt, though perhaps more generally, it was potted and preserved by lard. CARRIAGES. The art of building carriages had considerably improved in this century q , yet they were still rude and clumsy vehi- cles when compared with those of the present day. In the Luterell Psalter there is an interesting representation of a state chariot of the fourteenth ccnturv. It is a larire 0 “In Lardaria, de Carnibus bovinis ss carcos’. De bacon’ xv. De Alli- cibus viiij. m d. De dogdraves vij“ ; et de Amig dalis xx lb ., de Rise xxx lb ., de albo Sagiinine vj lagenx; de Gruell’ sufficientia usque Pascbam ; de Sale ij quarteria ; et utensilia ad dictam olfici- nam necessaria .” — Status Domus, A.D. 1354. R “ In Lardaria iiij tubbes pro pisci- bus insalsandis, iij magnx cunx pro sal- monibus insalsandis, j magnum alveum, j area cum ij cunis in . . . nar’ iij car- cosia bovina, iiij parvx, iij lagenx oley olivx, iiij lagenx albi sagiminis, Concedibus etiam pro nobis et succes* soribus nostris, quod omni tempore anni habeant in cominuni porcariam domus qux est extra portain, viginti porcos ad sumptus communus domus, pro eorum lardario faciendo.” — Dugdale’s Monasti- con, (edit. 1G73,) tom. ii. p. 395. i See vol. i. p. 1 22. 140 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. covered waggon drawn by five strong horses. It is in fact a wooden house on four wheels and is furnished with win- dows. The exterior decorations of the carriage are of the most costly description. In the front sits a noble, or royal personage, with a squirrel gambolling on his shoulder; a lady at the back is receiving a lap-dog from an attendant on horseback. The coachman or waggoner rides the wheel horse, and holds a long whip in his hand r . Horse litters or beres were also in use. They were hung on two wheels, with a pair of shafts back and front, each of which were lashed to a horse. These were employed for the conveyance of one person, and seldom used but on state occasions. We have several representations of royal litters in old manuscripts, from which it is evident that they were elegantly painted and supplied with cushions \ In the Squire of Low Degree we have the following descrip- tion of a medieval “ chare ” or chariot ; To morow ye shall yn huntyng fare ; And yede, my daughter yn a chare, Yt shal be coverd wyth velvette reed And clothes of fyne golde al aboute your hede With damaske whyte and asure blewe Well dyapered with lyllyes newe. This description, although found in romance, far from being exaggerated, scarcely equals the sumptuous vehicles in use during the fourteenth century. From ancient roll and wardrobe accounts we are able to obtain some curious facts relative to the cost and construction of these stately chariots. In the reign of Edward the Second we find that the sum of SI. 1S$. 3 d. was paid to Vanne Ballard, for two pieces of silk and gold tissue of fustian, and of flame- coloured silk ( samit ’ ardens) for making cushions for the r Vetusta Monnmenta, vol. vi. pi. xx. ■ MSS. HarL No. 4379, fol. 3. No. 4431, fob 155. DOMKSTIC AltCII ITKCTURK : VOUHTIiKNTH CKNTUUY. CARRIAGES. 141 chariots of the queen and the ladies of the court 1 . A magnificent carriage was built for the lady Eleanor, sister to Edward the Third. Master la Zouche of the great ward- robe received from the exchequer the enormous sum of one thousand pounds for money paid by him “ for making a chariot for the use of the lady Eleanor 11 .” When we remember that this sum was equal to 10,000/. at least of our money, we may form some notion of the luxury of the English court at that period. The state carriage represented in the illustrations of the Luterell Psalter is a very fine example, it is a covered waggon richly ornamented, drawn by five horses : a coach- man or waggoner in a hood, with a long whip, rides the wheel horse, and on the second horse is a driver with a short whip in his hand, and a couteau at his side pocket. In front of the waggon sits a noble, or royal personage, with a squirrel on his shoulders. Ladies are looking out of the windows of the roof, and at the back of the waggon a lady is receiving the lap-dogs from attendants on horse- back. All the ladies, as well as the nobleman, have coronets on their head. The variety of costume of the attendants and waggoners is pleasing. Carriages of a similar descrip- tion, with the windows in the covered roof, and rolled cur- tains, are used to this day in the Walloon part of Belgium, and on the southern frontier of France. The illuminations of the Luterell Psalter, which have been several times re- ferred to, afford an invaluable series of illustrations of the manners and customs of the fourteenth century. This beautiful manuscript has been fully described by the late Mr. Gage Rokewood, in the sixth volume of the Vetusta * Wardrobe accounts of 10 Ed. u. in Archaeologia, xxvi. 343. Piers Gave- ston, the minion of Edward ll. in 1313, “ deux charettes od tut le herneis.” Re- nter, Fcedcra, vol. iii. p. 392. u Issue Roll, Excheq. Easter, 6 Ed' ward in. 142 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Monumenta, and a series of engravings of the illuminations is there given. The details prove that the manuscript was executed for Sir Geoffrey Luterell of Irnham, in Lincoln- shire, and Agnes his wife, and therefore before 1340, the year in which she died, and probably some years previously. Another plate contains a selection of scenes of chivalry, with burlesques, among which is a tournament of ladies. A castle is seen defended by ladies against a host of knights: one lady on the highest tower, with a scarf flowing from her high pointed cap, is manfully blowing an immense trumpet, from which hangs a banner: while the others at their different posts are showering down roses on the be- siegers. Tournaments of ladies are frequently described in the romances and poems of the period. Such a festival, according to the Italian historians, actually took place at Treviso in the year 1214, and was probably neither the first nor the last of its kind. The Chateau d’Amour, or Castle of Roses, was a favourite subject with the artists of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The rose tower at Windsor has been already mentioned. In our description of the hall and the kitchen we have given engravings of the Luterell feast, and the preparations for it. Cooking in the open air, — the cook preparing the dishes for table, — servants carrying them up, — the family bagpiper, — then the feast itself. In this scene the room is hung with arras, worked throughout with the arms of Luterell ; Sir Geoffrey in the centre of the table, with his family, has the cup in his hand, which he has just received from one, who in long sleeves, with an embroidered towel hanging over his shoulder, is serving on the knee ; the two chaplains at table are clothed as Dominican friars, in white and black habits, and have the tonsure. Then follows a game at tables, closely resembling the modern backgammon table. CARRIAGES. 143 The remaining plates represent various scenes of hus- bandry, and sports and pastimes, which form excellent additional illustrations to Strutt’s valuable work on that subject. To return to the subject of the carriages of this period, from which we have been led into this digression ; we have several notices illustrative of this subject in documents of the age of the second Richard. Anne of Bohemia his queen granted in the year 1393 an annual stipend of forty shillings to Robert Westende, * purveyor of our chariots the grant is dated from the ‘Chastel de Wyndsor*.’ The chariots which it was the duty of Master Robert to supply were mere wag- gons for conveying her majesty’s wardrobe. The royal car- riage maker appears to have been one Roger Rouland, who in the 20th of Richard ii. received from the exchequer 400/. y for making a chariot for the queen Isabella. When out of repair the royal carriages were sent to John Norman, wheeler, of London, for we find in the first year of the reign of Henry iv. that a payment was made to him for “repairs and amendments of divers chariots, whyrles, and wheels,” done for Isabella the late queen 1 . The princess Philippa, daughter of Henry iv., had a rich chariot made for her use. Thomas Kent was paid 5/. for painting it, and John Gadyer, goldsmith, was paid 10/. for the pom- mels of the same carriage*. Yet these rich and expensive vehicles were sometimes used for the conveyance of the wardrobe; plate, furniture, and bedding, were carried in the same “chariot” with her majesty. Our engraving is an example of an uncovered chariot or waggon, in which there is seated a noble personage in front, although it serves to convey several huge casks. The term chariot was 1 Cottonian Charters in Brit. Mus. * Issue Roll, Excheq. Mich., 1 Hen xi. 71. iv. 1 Issue Roll, Excheq. Easter, 20 * Issue Roll, Excheq. Mich., 4 Hen. Rich. II. Iv. 144 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. applied even to common waggons. Froissart frequently refers to cliarettes in a way from which it is evident that he alludes to baggage vans b . Chariot, from the MS. of the Romance of Alexander, Bod I. 2d*. The large number of these chareites that were required will be evident from the following extracts. “ I must inform you, that the king of England and his rich lords were followed by carts laden with tents, pavillions, mills to grind their corn, and forges to make shoes for their horses. These carts were six thousand in number, each drawn by four good and strong horses which had been trans- ported from England. Upon the carts also were carried several small boats, skilfully made of boiled leather, and large enough to contain three men, so as to enable them to fish any lake or pond whatever might be its size. During Lent these boats were of great service to the lords and barons in supplying them with fish. The commonalty, however, were compelled to use whatever provisions they could get. The king had besides thirty falconers on horseback with their hawks, sixty couple of hounds, and as many greyhounds : so that every day he took the pleasure either of hunting or fishing.” “ When a French army was sent into Scotland, in the beginning of the reign of Richard II., the nobles complained much of the poverty and rude- ness of the country, which is thus described by Sir John Froissart ; ‘ Scotland is a very poor country, and the people generally envious of the good fortunes of others, and suspicious of losing anything themselves. Whenever the Eng- lish make inroads into Scotland, which they frequently do, they order their provisions to follow close at their backs, if they wish to live, for nothing is to b Archaeologia, xx. 4-13. The word is still in common use in France in the same sense. CARRIAGES. 145 be had in that country without the greatest difficulty. There is neither iron to shoe horses, nor leather to make harness ; all these things come ready made from Flanders, and should the supply fail, none are to be had in the country.” The figure of a labourer with a basket of vegetables on his back, from the MS. of the romance of Alexander shews an- other mode of conveyance for such pro- visions. Similar baskets are still in use in some parts of France. the Romance of Alexander. In the romance of the Earl of Tolous f® 041 - M1 > also chariots are alluded to as vehicles for the conveyance of stores ; Yerly when the day was clere, He had hys men all in frc, To buske and make them yare ; Somer horges c he let go before, And charyettys stuffed with store, VVele twelve myle and more d . Wheelbarrow. From the MS. Bodl. 261. The accompanying representations of a wheelbarrow and truck are taken from the MS. Bodl. 204, -§= and shew that the forms of these humble but useful ve- hicles have not been materially altered during the last five hun- dred years. Truce. From the MS. Bodl. 261 c Sumpter-horses. U H line 814. 146 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. ROADS. The condition of the public roads had not much im- proved in this century. Many were the perils which met the traveller on the highways and byways of old England. Not only were the roads precarious, full of ruts and bogs, and in some parts impassable when the floods were out ; but they were scoured by robbers and rapacious knights, to the terror of all honest traders. Legal enactments proved totally ineffectual in suppressing these dangerous gangs, and not only were kings and nobles waylaid and plundered with impunity, but ecclesiastics of high degree met with equally rough treatment at their hands. To guard against these assaults great men journeyed with armed retinues, and traders formed themselves into companies for mutual protection. An interesting document preserved among the miscellaneous petitions in the Tower, affords a curious illus- tration of the dangers of the road in the fourteenth century. It is addressed to the earl of Arundel by William Drake- lowe and Richard Honninglowe, merchants of Lichfield, who state that on Friday, the feast of Purification, in the 15th year of the reign of Edward hi., a.d. 1342, they sent their servants with two horses laden with fardels of spicery and mercery, worth forty pounds, to the market to be holden at Stafford on the following Saturday. The men had proceeded as far as Cannock wood when they encoun- tered Sir Robert de Rideware and two followers, by whom they were captured and taken to the priory of Lappeley. One of the men, however, contrived to escape. In the priory there were several friends and accomplices of Sir Robert de Rideware, as well knights as others, and among them Sir John de Oddyngeselesa ; here a division of the plunder was made, each taking a share of the spicery and ROADS. 147 mercery according to his degree and estate. On Saturday the whole company rode from Lappeley to the priory of Blythebury, where Rideware represented to the prioress that they were retainers of the king, sore travailed, and prayed house-room for his company. This would appear to have been refused, as they broke open the barns, helped themselves to the hay and oats, and stayed there all night, against the wish of the prioress. In the mean time the man who had escaped, having followed them at a distance, went to the king’s bailiff for the county, at Lichfield, and gave him to understand that the robbers, with their booty, were at Blythebury. The bailiff and some of the towns- folk proceeded thither, and finding the robbers, summoned them to surrender. They refused, but attacked the bailiff and his people, and wounded several of them ; but the malefactors were ultimately routed, and four of them were caught and decapitated. The bailiff took the stolen goods into his possession, and rode towards Lichfield. But Ride- ware having rallied his band, by a sudden onslaught re- covered his plunder. These conflicts appear to have oc- curred on the Sunday. The bailiff failing to obtain redress for the petitioners they went on the following Thursday to Stafford to shew their grievance, but they found the robbers posted at the gates, who would not suffer them to enter the town. In conclusion, the petitioners represent that they and many of the Lichfield folk are so menaced by the said robbers, that they dare not venture out of the town. Into all which matters they pray the earl to cause enquiry to be made e . Provisions, furniture, and clothing w r ere usually pur- chased by the inhabitants of the provinces at the fairs held annually in their respective parts, and the households of kings and barons were supplied with spicery, grocery, and e Archaeological Journal, vol. iv. p. 69. 148 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. napery at these meetings. In some parts the fair was the only medium of social intercourse enjoyed by the people. Gossips might pick up an occasional scrap of news, and learn something of the affairs of state from the strolling minstrel, always a welcome guest as much for his gossip as for his song, and men of the “North Kontry” might wonder as they heard for the first time of the glory of English arms on the plains of Poictiers and Cressy : for the minstrels, the pedlers, and the pilgrims, were the news- carriers of the age, and many a message of love and busi- ness was intrusted to their keeping. Journeys whether in the pursuit of commerce or plea- sure were performed on horseback. The priest had his mule, and the tradesman his hack. Froissart tells us that Sir Robert Tresilian, sent to London by Richard n. as a spy, left Bristol disguised as a tradesman on a wretched hack. All goods were still conveyed inland on the backs of horses, and the expence attending this mode of transit was enormous. The proceeds of the king’s revenue were conveyed in bags slung across the backs of horses. In the reign of Edward nr. Thomas de Wapplyngton received a sum equal to 100/. of our present money for expences incurred in the carriage of 3000 marks from Kingston upon Hull to London f . MILLS. Both windmills and watermills appear to have been used from a very early period, and as no mill could be established without a licence from the crown K , they were 1 Issue Roll, Exclieq. 41 Etl. lit. * “ Quod Prior Sanctae Kathcrinx ex- tra Lincoln possit de novo construere unum molendinum ventriticum in viridi Placea juxta portam ejusdem Priora- tus.” — Rot. Patent, 13 Edw. i. “ Quod Rogerus de Mortuomari possit erigere unum molendinum aquaticum in MILLS. 149 very valuable property. In many cases they seem to have been attached to the manor, and to have been transferred along with it, and in this way frequently became the pro- perty of the monks ; they were also frequently granted to monasteries, but by no means exclusively so; they were often the property of the lords of the manors, or of the crown. Watermills have frequently been continued on the same site from the Saxon period to the present time ; for instance in Oxford, the castle-mill and the king’s mill are mentioned in the Domesday survey, Holywell mill on the other hand was founded in the 13th century, and attached to St. John’s hospital, transferred to Magdalen college with the other property. In the Patent Rolls frequent instances occur of licences to establish mills, or to transfer them with the manor to which they belonged. At Fountain’s abbey, Yorkshire, the abbey mill still exists, and part of the build- ing is as old as the thirteenth century. Mills were so frequently the property of the monks to whom they had been granted by ancient charters, that in the fourteenth century this monopoly was felt to be a serious inconvenience, and handmills were brought into use for domestic purposes \ Their introduction however met with serious opposition from the monks, and violent quarrels arose between the people and the abbots of vari- ous monasteries. During the popular insurrections which occurred in this century, the insurgents did not forget to stipulate for the privilege of using handmills 1 . Portions of many mills are of great antiquity, but the villa de Kewenny infra dominium suum Library. Handmills are mentioned in de Denbigbe.” — Rot. Pat. 2 Edw. m. the assessment made at Colchester, 29th 3d H. hi. "And build three Mills of Ed. i. A pair is valued at 12. Rot. in the park (at Guildford) to wit, one Pari. i. p. 231. for hard corn, another for malt, and a 1 Rebelliones Villanorum temporibus, third for fulling.’’ Vol. i. p. 233. Ricardi Secundi MS. Cotton., in Brit. h See also one engraved in the first Mus. Claud. E. iv. vol. from MS. Arch. A. 154, Bodleian 150 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. ancient construction of the water-wheels has probably not in any instance come down to us ; we are therefore driven to the representations of them in illuminated manuscripts of the period, to see the exact form and plan of a mill of the fourteenth century. The accompanying illustration shews three wheels following each other, and all undershot Watermill, from the MS of the Romance of Alexander, in the Bodleian Library. Bod! J 44 ‘ ** ' 1 J A ' E.E.E . The hones. Chut'ch . F. F. F. ThaTowav. .7 Jo u /dr hiittsr of the original /‘ion . C». G. G. 77//' Gat as. THE ENGLISH TOWNS IN FRANCE. 155 times when a larger house was required two plots were thrown together, and the passage omitted ; and in some towns these narrow passages were not used at all. The principal streets were 24 feet wide b , the lanes 16 feet, and the passages only G feet. The advantages of these passages are, that there would be no dispute about party walls, and as the upper parts of the houses were usually of wood, in case of fire each house was detached from its neighbours, and the fire would be more readily extinguished. Near the centre of the town was a large market-place, at one corner of which was usually the church ; and it should be observed that the principal streets do not cross each other in the centre of the market-place, but run in a line with its four sides, passing out from each corner in a direct line to the extremity of the town, so that the traffic did not interfere with the central space, which was often planted with trees ; and in this space was the market-hall or weighing place, sometimes a building, in other cases a mere shed on a raised platform : and in an- other corner was usually a well. In southern climates the houses round the market-place are built on arcades or a series of groined vaults open on one side, with shops on the opposite one ; these covered ways are of the same width as the main streets, 24 feet, so that there is ample space for two carts or waggons to pass each other without inconve- nience, and the height is sufficient for this purpose, though they generally look low in proportion to the length and breadth ; the arches next the market-place are usually pointed, those across the roads, which may be called the arch ribs, are usually segmental, on account of the wide b These are the measurements of the smaller towns, but in the larger Montpazier, the most perfect and regu- towns, as Libourne, the principal streets lar of the English towns founded by are thirty feet wide, or, according to the Edward i. in Aquitaine or Guienne; measure then generally used, five toises, they apply equally to several others of the toise being six feet. 150 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. space and want of height. These covered ways afford shelter alike from the sun or the rain, and are a great convenience in the south of France and in Italy; they ap- pear to have been sometimes used in more northern cli- mates also, and it is probable that the piazza in Covent Garden is a traditional continuance of the same custom \ There is a fine example of nearly as late a date at Mont- auban, it is in the style of the Renaissance, and built of brick ; but the character of the medieval market-place is admirably preserved, including the covered ways round the sides, and the covered platform at one corner of the central space. The best example in England of these medieval towns on a regular plan is Winchelsea, which was founded by Edward the First on a new site in consequence of the en- croachment of the sea having almost destroyed the old town. But in the province of Guienne or Aquitaine, which was then part of the English dominions, they are very numerous, and are commonly known as the English towns'. In 1298 Edward i. wrote from Bordeaux to London, desiring the authorities there to send him out four persons competent to lay out the plans of towns. — “The most clever and able, and those who best know how to divide, order and arrange a new town in the manner that will be most beneficial for 11 s and for the merchants ; and who shall be ready and willing to go for that purpose, b It may however have been from the cloister of the convent that the idea was taken. c M. Felix de Verneilh has published a valuable series of papers on the subject of these towns in Didron’s Annales Archfi- ologiques, in which he labours to prove that, notwithstanding the popular name of “ Villes Anglaises,” these regular plans were not of English invention. He allows, however, that the plans of the English towns are more perfect and regular than the French ones, so that it is probable in this as in most other things, the French were the original inventors, but the English perfected the invention, and applied it to practical use. The earliest of the English Bastides is said to have been MontsCgur, founded in 1265. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY FRENCH EXAMPLE HOUSE AT S.YRIEX. NEAR LIMOGES. DEPARTMENT OF HAUTE VIENNE. THE ENGLISH TOWNS IN FRANCE. 157 wherever we may send them d .” These towns are also called “ Bastides,” (the name for them in the Provencal lan- guage,) “New Towns,” and “Free Towns,” Ville-neuve, or Ville-franche. Any one running his eye over the map of France will be surprised at the frequent occurrence of these names. These towns formed an essential part of the policy of Edward i., perhaps the most wise and far-sighted monarch that England has ever had ; he endowed them with special privileges to encourage inhabitants to flock to them, and in this he was very successful. They performed an im- portant part in the progress of civilization in Europe'. The inhabitants were all made free men, exempt from the power and jurisdiction of the neighbouring barons or bishops; their tenure was direct from the crown, and they were granted the important privilege of free trade. The charter' confirmed to the new town of Winch elsea is almost d “En 1298, Edward i. Scrivait en effet a la commune de Londres, de lui envoyer ‘ quatre prodeshommes des plus sachantz et plus suflisantz qui mieux sachent diviser, ordonner et arayer une novele vile au plus de profit de nous et des marcliatitz . . . pretz et appareilles d’aller outre pour cele besoigne la ou nous leur enjoindrons.’ ” Documens Franqais inedits, tom. i. p. ccxxi. ' See Sir James Stephens’ Lectures on the History of France, Lecture V. ; Guizot, Histoire de la Civilization, tom. v. 16' leqon; Hallam’s Middle Ages, chap. ii. * 26th of July, 7 Edward it. — (Charter Roll. 7 Edw. ii. No. 47.) Pro hominibus de Ilia et iVynchelse. “ Rex Archiepis- copis, &c., salutem. Inspeximus cartain quam Dominus Ricardus quondam rex Angliae progenitor nosier dedit homini- bus de Ria et de Wynchelse in iiaec verba; ‘ Ricardus, Dei gratid, Rex Angliae, Dux Normanniae, Aquitanise, comes Atide- gaviae, Archiepiscopis, Episcopis, Abba- tibus, Comitibus, Baronibus, Justiciariis Vicecomitibus praepositis, Baillivis, Cas- tellanis, et omnibus fidelibus suis totius terrae suae, Salutem. Sciatis, nos con- cessisse et praesenti carta nostra confir- masse, quod homines de Ria et de Wyn- chenesell’ sint liberi et quieti per totam terram nostram citra mare et ultra ab omni theolouio, et lestagio et tallagio, et passagio, et chiagio, et rivagio, et sponsa- gio, et omni Wrec, et de rocato, et de om- nibus consuetudinibus per totam terram nostram quocunque venerint. Concedi- mus etiain eis quod habent iuventiones in mari et terra, et quod sint quieti de omni- bus rebus suis, et de toto mercato suo sicut nostri liberi homines. Praecipimus etiam quod nullus eos vel res eorum disturbet super decern librarum forisfacturam, et 158 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. identical with those granted to the Bastides, and this be- ing in England belongs perhaps more strictly to the pre- sent work, though it is not quite so perfect a type as some of the towns in France, such as Montpazier, which is the most regular of all. At Winch elsea, from the irregular form of the ground to be built upon, situated on a ridge or neck of high land between the river and the sea, the plan of the town is not so perfectly symmetrical, but is sufficiently so to shew the intention, and as much so as it could well be made. A few extracts relating to the history of Winchelsea will serve to explain the matter more fully and more clearly to our readers. “Year by year it became more evident that the old town would be aban- doned, and at length, in 1287, the great inundation happened which totally destroyed old IVinchelsea, and obliged all such of the inhabitants as escaped to quit it. In the records of Eye it is thus recorded : ‘ mcc lxxxvii. in vigilia Sanctse Agatha; virginis quarto die Febrii submersa fuit villa de Winchelsea et ownes terra; inter Clivesden usque ad le Vochere de Hythe.’” It is thus described by Leland in his Itinerary, vol. vi. fol. 58, which altogether affords a striking picture of the unsettled state of the times. “ The olde Toune of Wiuchelsey of a vi. or 7 yeres together felle to a very soore and manifest Ruine, be reason of olde Rages of the Se, and totally in the tyme of the aforesayde vi. or 7 yeares. In the space of these aforesayde yeres the people of W T inchclsey made sute to Kyng Edward the first for Remedy and a New Plot to set them a Toun on. Whereupon A.D. 1277, the King sent thither John Kirkeby Bishop of Ely and Treasorer of England, and vewid a Plot to make the new Toune of Win- chelsey on, the which was at that time a ground wher conies partily did quod sint quieti de syris et de hondre- dis et si quis versus illos placitare volue- rit non respondeant neque placitent aliter quam Barones de Hastingiis, et de quin- que portubus placitant et in tempore llenrici patris nostri placitare solebant. Pro hiis etiam liberialibus inveuient ad plenarium servitium nostrum duas naves ad perficiendum numerum viginti na- vium de Hastingiis.’ Haec autem om- nia supra scripta concedimus,” &c., &c. The charter of King John, granting the above privileges, and in the same words, is also confirmed by Edward II. . WINCHELSEA. 159 rcsortc. Sir John Tregosc a Knight was the chief owner of it, and one Maurice, and Bataille Abbay. The King compoundid with them : and so was there vii. score and tonne Acres limittid to the New Toune, whereof parte is in the King Mede withoute the Toune, and parte in Ilangging of the Hille. Then in the tyme of the yere aforesayde the King set to his Help in be- ginning and waulling New Winchelesey, and the Inhabitants of Olde Win- chelesey tooke by a litle and a litle and builded at the New Toune. So that withyn the vi. or vii yere afore expressid the New Towne was metely well furnishid and dayly after for a few yeres encreasid. But or xx yeres were expired from the beginning of the Building of New Winchelesey it was twise enterid by Enemies, first by Erenchemen, that did much hurt in the Toune and secundarily by the Spaniards that enterid by night at Fareley aboute the midle way betwixt Winchelesey and Ilastinges. At this Invasion the Towne of Winchelesey was sore spoyled, and scant syns came ynto the pristine state of Welth. For the commune voyce is that at that tyme wer xx Aldremen yn the Toune Marchauntes of good Substaunce. In the Toune as withyn the walles be 2 Paroche Chirches and there were 2 Colleges of Freres.” The exact sites of the streets and places, together with the names of the first owners, are fully set out in a return made in the 20th Edward I., and yet remaining among the minister’s accounts at Carlton Ride. The roll commences — “ These are the places set out, enfranchised , and on which a rent has been put in the new town of Winchelsea which is now just built, by the Mayor and 24 Jurats and by Sir John de Kirkeby Bishop of Ely, on the part of our Lord the King, commissioned to set out, enfranchise and set a rent on the same places who say according to the form of their commission that our Lord the King held of the Land which belonged to Sir John Tregoz on the Hill where the new town is founded as appears by the extent made by Sir Stephen lc Peucestre and Gregory de Rokesle, &c. &c.” The roll then goes on to give the names of every owner, the quantity of his holding and the free rent he was to pay, arranged in divisions of eight streets or ways, and thirty- nine quarters s . “And the said Mayor and jurats say that in the 16th year of the reign of King Edward, about the feast of St. James the Apostle (25 July, 1288) Sir J. de Kyrkeby, then Bishop of Ely, gave seizen to the commonalty of Win- chelsea of all the lands and tenements in these rolls, in the presence of the * The first highway or street com- 5, the fourth 6, the fifth 4, the sixth 5, prised 5 quarters, the second 6, the third the seventh 4, the eighth 4. 160 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Sheriff of Sussex and other nobles, as well as knights, and many others of the said county on the part of our Lord the King, repromitting (guaranteeing) the said commonalty absolute and quiet possession, free from payment of the said rents from the feast above named for seven years succeeding ; by reason of which repromission, from the building and rental of the town to the present time nothing has been paid ; upon which repromission the will of the King is in all things to be performed. And for greater (certainty) the Mayor and Jurats with the assent of the whole commonalty aforesaid, have caused to be affixed to the present roll the seal of the said commonalty. Given at Win- chelsca the Saturday next before the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel in the 20th year of our Lord King Edward, 1292.’* The ideas of those who formed the plan of Winchelsea were much more grand than the result justified. They evidently contemplated and prepared for a large and im- portant sea-port town ; and they probably had good reason to expect this, though from circumstances which they could not foresee it was never finished, and has now become a mere country village. The distance from the Land gate to the New gate is nearly a mile, and the space enclosed within the walls cannot be much less than a hundred acres. On the west side, when not protected by the natural form of the ground, there is a very deep ditch or moat, with a mound; on the other sides the natural cliff is a sufficient protection ; there is no appearance of any stone walls having been built, but three gates remain. The most perfect of these is the Strand gate, which is a square structure or gate- house, with a round tower at each corner, having well- moulded strings, but the upper part mutilated ; the arches are segmental and not pointed, and there are remains of a barrel vault with plain arch ribs ; on one side is also a piece of panelling over the head of a small doorway to the stair- case which led into the upper chamber, now destroyed. The material is the rag-stone of the country, and the style early Decorated, agreeing perfectly with the church, and with the time of Edward i. The Land gate is a plain square structure of rag-stone WINCHELSEA. 1G1 with round-headed segmental arches similar to the other, but without any towers. The New gate is still plainer, and less perfect ; all three are very nearly of the same period ; though the New gate maybe a little later, there is scarcely a perceptible change of character. The church and churchyard occupy one of the quarters, which is two acres and a half in extent, and this appears to be the size of most of the others, but in part of the large space included within the walls the divisions have either never been marked out or have been obliterated. The town hall is situated opposite to the church, and is the mutilated remnant of a building of the original period, with some sunk panels in the front, in one of which is a helmet and shield with supporters, but too much broken to be made out. On the gable at one end is an original panelled chimney, which has been a fine one, but the upper part is gone. There are arches in the wall of the lower story, but it is not now vaulted, and the doorway to a cellar under it, but this has also been destroyed. The chancel and aisles of a very fine large church are tolerably perfect, the tran- septs are in ruins, probably never finished, and the nave appears never to have been built. The rich series of tombs let into the side walls of the chancel aisles are celebrated among the most splendid of this rich period of Edward i. ; one of them has been beautifully engraved in Mr. Blore’s work on Monuments. The figures in the north aisle ap- pear to have been brought from the old town, they are in the costume of the time of Henry hi., a knight, a lady, and a priest, and are of Purbeck marble, with the slabs on which they lie, the rest of the tombs and canopies being of Caen stone. Those in the south aisle are of rather later character, the figures of the same age as the canopies, and are probably the tombs of two of the merchant princes who had settled in the new town. Y 1G2 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. The remains of old houses are very slight, consisting only of a well-moulded doorway, and a gable-end in one part, towards the New gate, and the lower part of a few small houses near the Land gate. But there are a great num- ber of fine vaulted cellars, agreeing with the architectural character of Edward the First’s time : some of them are under houses, others under what are now fields or gardens. One of these cellars is 50 feet long by 18 wide and 12 high, and most of the others are of similar dimensions. They appear to have been generally built in pairs, at one corner of the square or quarter, and then a considerable interval between these and another pair ; this would seem to shew that the quarters were not built all over, but included gardens between the houses : though as many of these cellars have been destroyed, there is not sufficient evidence to prove this. Those which remain are all alike, each having a plain barrel vault of rag-stone, with arch ribs, similar to the small vault or crypt under the altar platform of the church. The portions which remain of two old houses are valuable as shewing the original arrangement ; the lower story is of rag-stone, very plain work, the vault of the cellar and con- sequently the floor of the room is three or four feet above the level of the ground, the entrance to the house is up a flight of stone steps, placed sideways to the street, and under this is the entrance to the cellar ; by the side of the steps is the window of the cellar, and over that the window of the lower story ; the upper story is of wood covered with tiles ; and this appears to have been the original arrange- ment, though the upper part has been renewed. Another house near the church appears to have been of two stories, of stone, but it is so much mutilated that little can be told of its original appearance. The existence of this large number of fine vaulted cellars WINCHKLSEA. 1G3 has led to the inference that Winchelsea was the chief port for the importation of the French wines, for which its situa- tion, immediately opposite to Boulogne, rendered it very convenient, and that these vaults were the equivalent in the time of Edward i. to the London docks of the present day. It is said that there was a cellar of this description under every house in Winchelsea, and the existing remains seem to make this very probable. It may however be doubted whether these vaults really amount to anything more than the usual custom of the period in all tow'ns to vault over the lower story, the floor of which was generally a few feet below the surface. There is good reason to believe that many such vaulted chambers still exist in London, though they have now become cellars, and the same is the case in many other towns. The house long known as Gerrard’s Hall was a good example : and in the town of Chepstow r there is a single vaulted room of this kind, with good ribs and bosses of the time of Edward hi., though the smart modern shop front would little lead one to expect such an inte- rior h . The new town was twice sacked in the early part of the fourteenth century, before it was half finished, and probably before the fortifications were sufficiently completed to resist a sudden attack. The town appears never to have recovered from the effects of these repeated misfortunes : the ravages of the sea were in a fair way of being remedied, but the ravages of war, in which a great part of the principal in- habitants were slain, could not be so easily recovered from*. h The only old house in Chester ear- lier than the time of Elizabeth has a vaulted chamber or cellar of this de- scription under it, and at Shrewsbury there is also a single house of this cha- racter remaining. 1 The thirty-nine quarters or squares, exclusive of the sites of the two churches, into which the new town was divided, varied in quantity. The majority were from li ac. to 2. a. and 2£ a. each, but some towards the south were 3 a. and 3i a. Notwithstanding the loss of fences they may yet be traced with tolerable 1G4 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. The town of Kingston upon Hull was founded k by King Edward i. on his return from Scotland through Yorkshire, after the battle of Dunbar, in which he had defeated the Scottish king John Balliol, and deprived him of his crown. It may be seen in Hollar’s map of the town as it was before 1G40, that the ground-plan coincides very nearly with that of the Bastides in France '. The historians state that Edward was on a visit to the Lord Wakes of Baynard castle, at Cottingham, in this neighbourhood, and while staying there, being' engaged one day in the amusements of the chase, he was led in the pursuit of a hare to the hamlet of Wyke, situated on a point of land where the small river Hull runs into the Humber, which forms the site of the present town of Hull m . “ The king, who was a prince of excellent understanding and judgment, had no sooner come up and seen the place, than the ardour after the chace entirely forsook him. He was charmed with the scene before him, and viewed with delight the advantageous situation of the hitherto neglected accuracy. A glance at the map will enable us to follow them. The first quarter at Cook’s Green, (N.E. corner,) thence the quarters extended westward along the north side of the town. Having reached the north-west point they went back again, and began at the east, and thence again to the west, and so worked back from east to west. The following is an entry from the diary of Mr. Wesley, Winchelsea being the place where he preached his last sermon in the open air, Oct. 7, 1790. “ I went over to that poor skeleton of ancient Winchelsea. It is beautifully situated on the top of a steep hill, and was regularly built in broad streets, crossing each other, and encompassing a very large square, in the midst of which was a church now in ruins.” k A.D. 1267, 51st Henry m. Rot. Pat. m. 23 : “ Pro Archiepiscopo Ebor’ de portu suo de Hull de prisis vinorum suorum ibidem.” This does not seem to agree with the popular account, as it shews Hull to have been a seaport be- longing to the archbishop of York in the time of Henry in. 1 Making allowance for the irregular form of the ground on the bank of the river, the outline of which is necessarily followed in some degree. “ The exact similarity of this situation to that of Libourne in Aquitaine, the site of which is also said to have been se- lected by Edward himself, seems to give great probability to the story in both instances. KINGSTON UPON HULL. 1G5 and obscure corner. lie foresaw it might become sub- servient, both to render the kingdom more secure against foreign invasion, and at the same time greatly to augment its commerce. He quickly conceived a thought worthy of himself, which was to erect a fortified town, and make a safe and commodious harbour. He called the shepherds and enquired of them how deep the river Hull was ? To what height the tides flowed? and who was the owner of the soil? Of all which having fully informed himself, he returned exceedingly well pleased to Cottingham, from whence he sent for the abbot of Meaux, (who he had heard was lord of the soil,) and in exchange for some lands of considerably more worth in Lincolnshire, he obtained pos- session of the ground he so much prized n .” He then is- sued a proclamation offering freedom, with great privileges and immunities, to all persons who would build and in- habit there. He also caused a manor-hall to be erected for himself, and honoured the town with the name of King’s town or Kingston, by which it is still called in all public or legal writings. In the twenty-seventh year of his reign, a.d. 1299, the harbour was finished, and the town by a royal charter constituted a free borough °. The privileges granted to the infant town soon brought a large influx of people, and in a few years it abounded with shipping, merchants, and tradesmen, draining by de- grees all the neighbouring towns, and becoming almost immediately a place of importance. In 1302 a gaol was built p , roads were made through the marshes to Hessle, Anlaby, Beverley, Cottingham, and Holderness, which are probably the same that remain to this day. In 1312 the n De la Pryme’s MSS. collected out of the town records, printed by 'l'ickell, p. 10. • A translation of the charter is printed by Tickell, p. 11. p “ De Gaola construenda in villa de Kingston super Hull.” Rot. Pat. 30*. £. 1. m. 15. 166 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. large and stately church of the Holy Trinity was built. Edward n., who w r as then at York, contributed liberally to the work ; the choir and tower belong to this period, and are a noble example of the early Decorated style, though the material is brick. In 1319 q the paving of the streets was begun, a grant being obtained from the king, enabling the bailiffs of the town to lay a toll for the term of seven years on all commodities sold in the market, in order to defray the expenses, and this toll proved sufficiently pro- ductive for the purpose. In 1322 r the town was fortified with a ditch and wall of stone, with strong castles and towers. The expenses of this work were defrayed by a toll for three years of one penny in the pound, on all goods brought in or carried out of the place \ Leland gives the following account of this town. “ The Towne of Kingeston was in the Tyme of Edward the 3. but a meane fischar Towne and longid as a Membre to Hasille Village 2. or 3. Mille of Upper on Humber. The first great encreasing of the Towne was by passing for fisch into Ireland from whens they had the hole trade of Stoke fisch into England, and partly other Fisch. In Richard the 2 Dayes the Town waxed very rich : and Michael Dela Pole Marchaunt of Ilulle, and Prentyce, as sum say to one Rotenhering of the same Town, cam into so high favour for Wit Actyvite, and Riches, that he was made Counte of Southfolk whereupon he got of King Richard the 2 nd many Grauntes and Privileges to the Towne. And yn his Tyme the Towne was wonderfully augmeutid yn building, and was en- closid with Diches and the Waul begon, and yn continuance ended and made all of brike, as most Part of the Houses of the Towne at that tyme was. In the Walle be 4 principal gates of Brike. The North Gate having 4 Wardes, bytwixt the which and Beverle Gate be 12 Towers of Brike. And yn one of them a Postern. There be 5 Tours of Brike and a Postern in one s A.D. 1300, Rot. Pat. 28 E. 1. Pa- vagi um pro villa de Kingeston super Hull: this shews that the paving rate must have been collected before this time. A similar entry occurs in 1307, Rot. Pat. 35°. E. 1. m. 32, but rates may have been collected some years before the paving was actually begun, as the word paviameutum does not occur un- til Rot. Pat. 11°. Edw. ii. m. 23: “ Pa- viamentum pro villa de Kingston super Hull.” r Rot. Pat. 15°. Edw. n. m. 21. “ Muragium pro villa de Kingston super Hull.” • For further particulars see Tickell’s History of Hull, 4‘°. 1796. 1 t! rt s to so SO' it ai ill in ** sSi Hi fs i t It THE FREE TOWNS. 1G7 of them, as I remember bytwixt Beverle Gate and Miton Gate. Ther be 3 Toures of Brike betwixt Miton Gate and Ilasille Gate of 3 Wardes. And from thens to the mouth of the Havin mouth be 5 Tours of Brike to the which the Ilumber SE cummith and in one of these is a Postern to the Shore. And because that the Waul from Hasilgate to this postern lyeth strait as a lyne, there is much Cabylle Making and Wynding of Ilempe for smaul Cordes. From the mouth of Ilulle Ryver upper ynto the Haven there is no Waulle but every Marchaunt hath his staires even to the North Gate. Suburbes in the out part of the Town be none. Michael de la Pole builded a goodly House of Brike again the west end of S. Maries Chirch like a palace with goodly Orchard and Gardein at large enclosid with Brike. Michael de la Pole builded also 3 Houses besides in the Town whereof every one hath a Toure of Brike 2 of them be in the Hart of the Town. The 3 is upon Hulle Ripe in the Haven side. There be 2 Churchis yn the Toun the Trinite and S. Maries and nother of them by the name of an Hedde Paroch Chirche. The Trinite Chirch most made of Brike is the larger a gret deale and the fairer.” THE FREE TOWNS. The important privileges granted to these free towns were a source of continual jealousy to the neighbouring barons * and bishops, who frequently attempted to deprive the citizens of the rights they had acquired under the royal charters, and sometimes succeeded in doing so for a time. It was usual at this period for other towns to have an acknowledged lord, who usually resided in some neighbouring castle, and exercised all the rights of sovereignty over his vassals ; he was wont to grant a some- what greater degree of freedom to the inhabitants of his town or towns than to the serfs on his lands, who were * In 1263 the viscounts of Gourdon and Turenne obtained a promise from St. Louis of France, that he would not found any new town in their territories. “ Non faciemus bastidas aliquas de novo infra fines terrae quam habet idem vice- comes.” Gourques, Die Communes en Perigord, p. 30. In 1278, in the assembly of the states of Guienne held at Bordeaux, the nobles protested against the injury done to their right by the foundation of these new towns. For further information on the subject see an able paper by M. Rabanis in the “ Compte rendue des travaux de la Com- mission des Monuments et Documents historiques et des Batimens civils du D6partement de la Gironde,” 1847. 108 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. little more than slaves attached to the soil, and transferred with it much in the same way as the cattle with which it was stocked. But in these free towns, as we have seen, the burgesses held their tenure direct from the crown, and were entirely independent of the neighbouring lord, who was in conse- quence frequently seeking a pretext to quarrel with and at- tack the town. This rendered it necessary for means of defence to be provided, and (as the walls were generally left to be built by the citizens when they had become suf- ficiently numerous and wealthy to be able to do so) the most ready fortress for temporary use in case of an in- cursion of the lord and his vassals, or of a band of robbers, was the church. Into this place of security all their most valuable property was carried in case of alarm. From this cause we still find a great number of churches in various parts of France that have evidently been fortified, in many cases the fortifications remain, with the machicoulis perfect u . The establishing or encouraging of free towns was con- sidered by the sovereigns as the best mode of checking the power of the nobles ; thus in the latter part of the thir- teenth century, Alphonso of Poitiers, brother of St. Louis, king of France, by his marriage with the heiress of the * There are a few instances in Eng- land of church towers having been forti- fied, and these are not confined to the border countries ; in some cases a regular licence was obtained from the crown to fortify the church tower, as we have be- fore had occasion to mention. There is a very remarkable example of this kind at Etampes in France; the church is of the thirteenth century, of a very singular ground-plan, following the line of the streets by which it is insulated ; on the ground-floor are chapels, the windows of which are so high front the ground that the congregation could not easily be mo- lested ; over these chapels are guard- rooms for the soldiers, with loop-holes ; in some parts of the building the plan seems to have been altered during the progress of the work, so as to give it additional strength, and more of the character of a fortress. Possibly a war may have broken out or have been expected before the church was finished, or an incursion feared from the lord of the neighbour- ing castle of Quinettc. The cathedral of Dol in Brittany is also strongly for- tified. TIIE FREE TOWNS. 109 counts of Toulouse, became nominally the sovereign of that province, and part of Guienne, but found the petty nobles of the country quite independent of him, and to curb their power he founded a number of free towns, as Yille- franche de Rovergne, Yilleneure d’Agen, and several smaller places. He followed the same policy also in Peri- gord. These were in the immediate vicinity of the Eng- lish province of Guienne or Aquitaine, and Edward i., as duke of Aquitaine, even before he came to the throne, was indefatigable in his exertions to found towns of this description : the number founded by him is indeed ex- traordinary. The mode of proceeding in these cases was to obtain a piece of land suitable for the purpose either by purchase or exchange, from some abbey or other proprietor; the streets w r ere then marked out by engineers sent by the king for this purpose, and the people were invited and tempted to come and build there by selling or leasing to them the building plots on advantageous terms, and promising im- portant privileges to those who would settle and build in the new town. By these means each new town was soon filled with inhabitants without much expense to the king. On the other hand, the neighbouring nobles or bishops often employed every means in their power to hinder the people from congregating there. Thus at the foundation of Villefranche de Rovergne, the bishop of Rodez excom- municated all those who built houses in it, for fear of injury to his own city. Nevertheless the new town flourished and is still a thriving town, and preserves its regular plan intact, while the neighbouring irregular, ill-built town of Rodez bears evident marks of decay. In like manner when Li- bourne w j as founded by Edward i. x , the bishops of St.Emi- 1 See Saint Emilion, son histoire 1841. Previously to this period St. Emi- et ses monumens, par J. Guadet, 8vo. lion appears to have been the only Z 170 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. lion did all in their power to impede its progress, but it continued to flourish in spite of them, and to this day preserves its regular, wide, and open streets, and well-built houses, though it has lost most of its trade through the jealousy of Bordeaux, while St. Emilion which had existed long before and was then an important town, well for- tified, in a strong position, with two castles and several churches, has now dwindled to little more than a village, supported only by its excellent wine, the natural product of the soil, and presenting the appearance of desolation in a very remarkable degree ; scarce a house appears to have been built since the fifteenth century, whilst remains of its former wealth, and grandeur, meet the traveller at every turn y . Libourne was one of the most important and flourish- ing of the English towns founded or rebuilt by Edward i. Situated on the river Dordogne, near the highest point to which the tide ascends, and at the junction of the small river Isle, it was admirably placed for trade, especially in wine, and accordingly it rose rapidly into importance, and before the end of the fourteenth century began to excite the jealousy and alarm of the citizens of Bordeaux. A charter was granted to it in 1270 by Edward then Prince of place of any importance in this neigh- bourhood. The chief founder of Libourne under Edward I., was Roger de Ley- burn, of Leyburn in Yorkshire, who gave it his own name. In like manner the free town of Craon, was named after Amaury de Craon, and several other towns were named after other English officers at this period, who assisted in carrying out the wise designs of Ed- ward l. No less than fifty towns were founded by the English in France within the same number of years, and the best proof of the success of the plan is in the strong hold which the English held in the affections of the people of this part of France, and in the fact that most of these towns are still existing, and in a flourishing state. r Its monolithic church is dug out of the side of a hill of solid stone, in three aisles, lighted from the end only, with the tower and spire built at the top of the hill, and the rock is so cut as to give it at a distance the appearance of a large cathedral, but at present it is in a sadly decayed and neglected state. MEDIEVAL TOWNS. — LIBOURNK. 171 Wales, a copy of which is preserved in the archives of the town*. The fortifications were begun in 1281, as appears from one of the Gascon rolls in the Tower of London a * There are still some remains of these fortifications, which were repaired in 1341, as appears from another roll of that date, granting them stone and sand for the purpose b . The charter was renewed by Edward in. in 1341 c , it being again stipulated that its tenure should be direct from the crown of England, and in the same year their privilege of freedom from the custoin-house of Bordeaux was con- firmed d . Two years afterwards we find another royal or- dinance forbidding any person to build a fortress within the district belonging to the town 6 . In 1355 it was ex- pressly provided that the inhabitants might have free trade with England, and that Englishmen might purchase wine at Libourne f , and they were granted exemption from cer- tain duties. In the same rolls there are a number of entries relating to the leases and rents of houses and quays in Libourne. In 128G we find a royal ordinance respect- ing a dispute between the burgesses and the knights of the neighbouring preceptory of St. John of Jerusalem con- cerning the Grange of Pomayrals. There continue to be * The original of the deed cannot be found in the Tower of London, which throws some doubt oil its authenticity. * Rot. Vase. 9 Edw. i.,tn. 9, 26. “De villa de Leyburne fortificanda,” (teste Rege 13 Maii). Carter’s Catalogue, i. 12. b Rot. Vase. 15 Edw. in. m. 22, 34. “Pro Majore, Juratis, et Communitate villae de Leybourne habendi lapides et sabulum pro reparacione niurorum” etc. Teste Rege apud Turrim de London 22 Junii. e Rot. Vase. 15 Edw. m. m. 25, 26. “ Pro burgensibus de Leybourne habendi privilegia sua, et de annexando eandem villam Coronas Angliae.” Teste Rege apud Langele 8 die Junii. d Rot. Vase. 15 Edw. in. m. 24, 31. “Pro Majore et Juratis villae de Ley- bourne quod ipsi si n t libere a solutione costumae apud Burdegalam.” Teste Rege apud Langele 28 Junii. * Rot. Vase. 17 Edw. in. m. 9, 17. “ Pro Communitate villae de Liburnia, quod nullus Nobilis vel ignobilis possit construere domum fortem infra distric- tum ejusdem villae.” Teste Rege apud Westminster 4 die Octobris. f Rot. Vase. 29 Edw. in. m. 12, 20 —24. 172 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. numerous entries in the rolls relating to various minor matters at Libourne e down to the 12th of Henry vi., 1434, but the above are sufficient to shew the constant and close connection between these English towns in France and the crown of England. In the same district the towns of Sauveterre k , Mon- segur, Molieres, La Linde, and Sainte-Foy, are all built on the same regular plan, the walls forming a parallelogram, and having a central market-place sur- rounded by arcades. The city of Bazas is on a similar plan, but is more ancient, and the streets are less regular ; it is supposed by some of the French antiquaries ‘ to have been the model followed by Edward I., but without any good evidence that this was the case. In 1272 Lucas de Terny obtained land on which to build the town of Beau- mont, on behalf of the king of England, and only twelve miles to the north of this Montpazier was founded in 1284 in a desert place near a forest, on land which be- longed to P. de Contant, baron of Biron, and which he assigned to the seneschal, John de Grailly, on the 7th of January in that year, on his promise to make a proper recompense for it k . * For further particulars respecting the history of Libourne, which is more interesting than the generality of local histories, see Histoire de Libourne par 11. Guinodie, 3 vols. 8vo. Bordeaux, 1815. h Sauveterre was commenced in 1280, hut was violently opposed by the neigh- bouring proprietors, who even inter- rupted the works by force, and they were obliged to be suspended for a con- siderable time, and it was not until 1285 that they could be continued peaceably, nor were the demands of the nobles finally settled until 1289. 1 See A. Ducourneatt, Guienue liisto- rique et monumentale, introduction, p. 1*9. k See “ Des communes en Pfirigourd par M. le vicomte de Gourgue,” p. 28. A singular anecdote is related of the two neighbouring towns of Montpazier and Villefranche during the civil wars of the Huguenots. One fine night the in- habitants of Montpazier sallied forth to surprise and pillage the town of Ville- franche, which they found undefended, the inhabitants of the latter being oc- cupied at the same time in pillaging Montpazier which had also beeu left undefended. FKEK TOWNS. 173 In the early part of the fourteenth century the king of England ceased to found new Bastides, but annexed to the crown the greater part of the towns of the Agenais and of Perigord : towards the middle of the century the policy of the crown was changed, and they were given back to the principal Gascon lords of the English party The important influence of the Free Towns on the pro- gress of civilization has been before alluded to, but a few- more words upon the subject may perhaps be interesting to our readers. Historians are not agreed as to the origin of these privileges : some are of opinion that they are de- rived from the Roman municipia, and in some instances this appears to be established. Savigny, in his History of Roman Law in the Middle Ages, and Raynouard, in his Histoire du Droit Municipal, have traced the continu- ance of municipal institutions, in several French cities, from the age of the Roman empire to the twelfth century, when the formal charters of communities first appear. It is not necessary to conclude that every city in which the curia or the defensor subsisted during the imperial government, retained those institutions throughout the dominion of the Franks. It appears that the functions of “ defensor civitatis ,” that is to say, the protection of the city against arbitrary acts of the provincial governors, and the exercise of jurisdiction within its boundaries, fre- quently devolved upon the bishop. It is impossible not to recognise the efficacy of episcopal government in sustain- ing municipal rights during the first dynasty. The bi- shops were a link, or rather a shield, between the bar- barians who respected them, and the people whom they 1 Rot Vase. 22 Edward nr., 1348. trandi de Durefort Bastidas et loca de “ De concessione facta rege Gaillardo Moutepaziero et de Villafranca in eodeni de Durefort de Moleriiset deBellemonte dicecesi cum alto et basso jurisdictu.” dicecaesis Sarlatensis, et Raymoudi Ber- 174 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. protected, and to whose race they, for a long time, com- monly belonged. But the bishop was legally, and some- times actually elected, as the defensor had been, by the people at large. This indeed ceased to be the case before the reign of Charlemagne; and the crown, or in the progress of the feudal system its chief vassals, usurped the power of nomi- nation, though the formality of election was not abolished. Certain it is that from the analogy to the defensor, and from the still closer analogy to the feudal vassal, after royal grants of jurisdiction and immunity became usual, not less than by the respect due to his station, the bi- shop became as much the civil governor of his city as the count was of the rural district. This was a great revolution in the internal history of cities, and one which generally led to the discontinuance of their popular institutions ; so that after the reign of Charlemagne, if not earlier, we may perhaps consider a municipality choosing its own officers as an exception, though not a very unfrequent one, to the general usage. But instances of this are more commonly found to the south of the Loire, where Roman laws pre- vailed, and the feudal spirit was less vigorous than in the northern provinces. It is evident that if extensive privileges of internal gov- ernment had been preserved in the north of France, there could have been no need for that great movement towards the close of the eleventh century, which ended in establish- ing civic freedom ; much less could the contemporary his- torians have spoken of this as a new era in the state of France. The bishops were now almost sovereign in their cities, the episcopal, the municipal, the feudal titles, con- spired to enhance their power ; and from being the pro- tectors of the people, from the glorious office of “ defensorcs MEDIEVAL TOWNS. — THE GUILDS. 175 civitatis they had, in many places at least, become odious by their own exactions m . Another class of towns are supposed to have had their origin in the old Teutonic institution of guilds or frater- nities by voluntary compact, to relieve each other in poverty or to protect each other from injury. Two essential cha- racteristics belonged to them, the common banquet and the common purse : they had also in many instances a religious, sometimes a secret ceremonial to knit more firmly the bond of fidelity. They became as usual sus- picious to governments, as several capitularies of Charle- magne prove ; but they spoke both to the heart and to the reason in a voice which no government could silence. They readily became connected with the exercise of trades, with the training of apprentices, with the traditional rules of art. We find them in all Teutonic and Scandi- navian countries ; they are frequently mentioned in our Anglo-Saxon documents, and are the basis of those cor- porations which the Norman kings recognised or founded. The guild was of course in its primary character a personal association ; it was in the state, but not the state ; it be- longed to the city without embracing all the citizens ; its purposes were the good of the fellows alone. But when their good was inseparable from that of their little country, their walls and churches, the principle of voluntary asso- ciation was readily extended ; and from the private guild, possessing already the vital spirit of faithfulness and bro- therly love, sprung the sworn community, the body of citizens, bound by a voluntary but perpetual obligation to guard each other’s rights against the thefts of the weak, or m This subject is abundantly discussed lisation en France, le<;on 47, and Hal- by M. Thierry, in his Lettres sur l’His- lam’s Middle Ages, chapter ii. toire de France. See also Guizot, Civi- 17G DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. the tyranny of the powerful n . The most remarkable proof of this progress from a merchant guild to a corporation, is exhibited in the local history of Paris. It is extremely probable that London itself had a similar origin, at least no trace of the Roman institutions can be found in its early history, and the very name of the Guildhall for the principal place of meeting of the citizens, a name which reaches back to a very high antiquity, seems to indicate the origin of their privileges. It is clear that there were many free towns or burghs in England in the Saxon times, and that the citizens of these towns were freemen. The tenure of their property was also in many cases direct from the crown, as is shewn by the Doomsday Survey, and the tenure of property had at all times a very important influence on the freedom and independence of the holders. In the fourteenth century the independence of the towns and the freedom of the burgesses were generally under- stood and acknowledged, though a large part of the pea- santry were in a state of villenage, or slavery. Many towns are believed to have declined considerably in the tenth and eleventh centuries, the population having been more spread over the country and grouped around the castles and abbeys. But in the course of time, as we have seen, these groups of habitations in many instances became towns themselves, and the number of chartered towns esta- blished in the thirteenth century again collected the greater part of the population in masses, and as many of the bur- gesses belonged to a higher class, and their resources were augmented by industry and commerce, their public build- ings and private houses increased also in importance. The word Guild or Gild is now become obsolete in its original sense, and is only known by its continuing to de- “ Hallam’s Middle Ages, chapter ii. de France, and Guizot Histoire de la See also Thierry, Lettres sur l’Histoire Civilisation en France, 17* le^on. MEDIEVAL TOWNS. TIIE GUILDS. 177 nominate the halls or places of meeting in which these fraternities used to assemble on public occasions. Its de- rivation from the Saxon word gildan, to pay or contribute, implies that these institutions were based upon mutual contributions. Before the Conquest we find mention of guilds, or voluntary associations, sometimes religious, some- times secular, in some cases for mutual defence against in- jury, in others for mutual relief in poverty. They seem to have been of three classes, municipal, commercial, and re- ligious or charitable. The former in process of time be- came incorporated by royal charters, and charged with the local government of the towns in which they were esta- blished ; the second, connected with trades, led to the formation of those companies for the protection of par- ticular branches of it, of which many still exist in different places, especially in London, the Weavers’ company being perhaps the most ancient of them ; each of these companies, as is well known, still has its hall, the legitimate successor of those of the middle ages. The religious guilds 0 also had their halls, and of these there was one in almost every parish and village, the hall being generally a timber building near the church, some- times over the lich-gate, at the entrance of the churchyard. These fraternities increased so rapidly in the time of Edward hi., that legislative measures became necessary to regulate and restrain them ; and certified returns were required to be made of their rules, and of the extent of their possessions. Stowe, in his Annals of London p , speak- ing of the church of St. Magnus, says, “in this church, (as ° Some curious and interesting par. ticulars relating to the history of the religious or charitable guilds of the mid- dle ages have been collected by George Eld, Esq., of Coventry, which it is to be hoped he will speedily be induced to publish. He shews their resemblance in many respects to the modern benefit clubs, and burial clubs, and assurance companies, and that many of their rules might be revived with advantage. p Strype's Stowe, B. ii. p. 175. 178 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. most other churches had theirs,) was a famous Gild of our Lady de Salve Regina, an account whereof was brought unto the king, upon an Act of Parliament in King Ed- ward hi. his reign and he gives the statutes of this guild. Stowe mentions many others, often two in the same church. Each brotherhood seems to have had its burying place, its chantry chapel, and its chaplain. There was at least one gild in every church in the city of London, and often two. Blomefield, in his History of Norfolk q , makes mention of two guilds at Oxburgh in that county r . These guilds, he says, “Gave annual charity stipends to poor persons, found beds and entertain- ment for poor people that were strangers, and had people to keep and tend the said beds, and did other works of charity.” . . . “ The house on the south side of the church at Oxburgh belonged to one of the guilds, and is called in old writings the Guild-hall ; and on the east side was another that belonged to that of Corpus Christi, the ceilings being painted with the portraiture of our Saviour, the five wounds, &c., as may be observed to this day.” He also gives an account of the festival of the guild of the Holy Cross, at Abingdon. Dugdale, in his History of "Warwickshire 5 , and Thoresby, in his History of Leeds, mention many of these guilds, and almost all county his- tories contain notices of them ; they were not confined to populous towns, but prevailed also in remote villages ; nor were they confined to the lower orders, they obtained the sanction and co-operation of the wealthy and the noble. s Vol. iii. p. 494. r There is in the Brit. Mas. the ori- ginal guild-roll or book of a guild or fra- ternity located in York, but containing the names of numerous persons in the county of rank and opulence. An ex- cellent way of the rich contributing to the wants and comforts of the poor. The book goes back to the twelfth century. The original guild-book of the chapelry ofWolviston co. Durham in the fifteenth century is extant. Weeklyhelp wasgiven to those who needed it. Funeral ex- penses were paid. The fraternity had sheep and lambs as a common stock (to be sold when there was need of money) going upon the unenclosed ground within the chapelry. • Dngdale’s Warwickshire, pp. 334, 484, 079. MEDIEVAL TOWNS. — GUILD IIALLS. 179 At Coventry the united guilds of the Iloly Trinity, our Lady, and St. John Baptist, commonly called the Trinity guild, was one of the most important in the kingdom. It was specially patronized by Edward ill., by his mother, and his son, the Black Prince ; and it numbered amongst its brethren three successive sovereigns of the house of Lancaster l . The houses of the guilds appear to have been sometimes distinct from, and sometimes identical with, the common hall, or town-hall, (hotel de ville.) In many large towns the market-halls were by this time also large and important buildings, 'lhe houses of the guilds in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries have been mentioned in the first vo- lume, especially the remarkable house of St. Mary’s guild at Lincoln. Few of these interesting structures have how- ever been spared to us in England. At Colchesttr the town-hall of the twelfth century remained until very re- cently. At Winchelsea the town-hall is of the beginning of the fourteenth century, but in a very mutilated state. At Weymouth there are also considerable remains of the old town-hall of this period. The Guild-hall in London is a well-known example of the fifteenth century, though much disguised by modern alterations ; this is the common hall of the citizens, but in addition to this, each separate trade, or guild, or company, has its separate hall, as Goldsmiths’ hall, Fishmongers’ hall, Stationers’ hall, &c. &c. Some remains of the Car- * The following extracts from the Patent Rolls relating to Guild halls, may be useful. 18 Edw. hi. Rot. Pat. — “ De audiend’ et terminand’ pro Epo’ Sar’ concern’ curiam suam in Gilhalda sua Civitat’ Sarum” &c. 11 Ric. ii. Rot. Pat. — “Pro Gilda Beats Maris in Ecclesia S. Clementis de Germethropp.” 1 1 Ric. ii. Rot. Pat. — “ De Gilda Bea- ts Maris et Sancti Johannis Baplisti de Lichfield erigenda." 21 Ric. ii. — “P ro Cantar’ beats Maris super Pontem vills de Wakefield.” 180 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. penters’ hall of the fifteenth century have escaped the great fire, they have been described in the Journal of the British Archaeological Association. The Guesten hall at Worcester, though much mutilated and filled up by modern partitions, is a fine hall of the fourteenth century, with good Decorated windows, and a rich open timber roof. An excellent design for its re- storation was published a few years since by the late Mr. Harvey Eginton, architect u . The halls of St. Mary’s guild at Coventry, and St. Bo- tolph’s guild at Boston, belong to the fifteenth century. The halls of the inns of court, such as the Middle Temple hall, Lincoln’s Iun hall, &c., belong to another class, differing more in degree than in kind from the guild-halls of the middle ages. The same may be said of the college halls of Oxford and Cambridge, though these perhaps are more closely allied to the monastic refectories, and few of them at present remaining are older than the fifteenth century. The halls of our public schools, as Winchester and Westminster, are closely allied to these ; that of Winchester is of the end of the fourteenth century, but in style and character belongs rather to the fifteenth. On the continent of Europe buildings of this class are very numerous, and often very magnificent, and though the greater part are of the fifteenth and sixteenth centu- ries, there are still many of the thirteenth and fourteenth. The Low countries being then the chief seat of trade and commerce, it is there that we find, as we might naturally expect, the finest examples ; perhaps the finest of all are the market-halls or cloth-halls of Ypres, which are of the early part of the fourteenth century, and afford one of the “ The untimely death of this clever Keiix, at the expense of the late excellent and promising architect cut short the Canon Digby. design ; his drawing was engraved by Le HOMKSTIC ARCIIITKOTURK : KOURTKKNTH CKNTURY TOWN HALLS. 181 finest piles of building of any class that exists in Europe of that period. The Hotel de Ville in the little town of St. Antonin in Languedoc, is a remarkably elegant little structure of the beginning of the thirteenth century. One of the most cherished privileges of the chartered towns was the right of erecting a tower or belfry, then usually considered as a mark of nobility ; accordingly we always find a tower attached to every ancient hotel de ville ; which also contained the bell for summoning the citizens in case of danger, for sounding the curfew, and various other purposes. In many towns both of France and Italy the more important houses have still their towers remaining, as at Cahors, the house called the “ Palais du Pape,” and at Cordes two houses of the four- teenth century have towers. The town-hall was frequently over one of the gateways of the town, as at Lincoln to this day, where however the structure is of the fifteenth century. The tower and belfry of the town was not always con- nected with the town-hall ; at Ghent there is a fine one of the fourteenth century, altogether detached, though near it is a hall of the same period, which appears to have been either a guild-hall or a market-hall. At Tournay is an- other fine detached belfry tower of the thirteenth or four- teenth century. The privilege of having and using a belfry was one of the distinctions of a free town. When Philip the 6th of France deprived the town of Laon of its privileges in 1331, he ordered the bells to be sold, and forbad that the tower should be called the belfry for the future. In many of our small towns there are town-halls or mar- ket-houses of timber, which have an appearance of great antiquity, some of them arc probably really medieval, but the greater part are not earlier than the time of Elizabeth 182 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. or James i. A very careful examination is necessary to ascer- tain their age, as they are often void of any architectural character. That of Weobley in Herefordshire is one which appears to be ancient, and as there are several timber houses of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in this in- teresting old town, it is probable that the market-house, which resembles them, is also of early date. Similar ex- amples remain at Hereford, Ross, Leominster, and Ledbury in the same county. These buildings are all constructed on the same plan, a large oblong room supported on wooden pillars, so that there is an open space beneath which is used for a market. It is probable that the same custom prevailed for a long period, and many similar structures remain in France. That of Ross is clearly not ancient, and is traditionally said to have been built by the “ Man of Ross.” That of Leominster has the date of 1033 upon it, and the details agree with that date. The room used as a national school-room in the same town is a hall of the fourteenth century, with a good plain open timber roof of the same period ; the side windows are single lights foliated, the end window of three lights, but very plain. In Leicester there is still standing a Guildhall, part of which is undoubtedly of a date as early as the middle of the fourteenth century ; there is a county hall called “ the castle,” similar to the old building at Oakham. The foundation walls of the latter are part of the original fabric, and one of the win- dows is clearly of the transition period x . The town-hall at Ashburton in Devonshire is a very curious and early building, constructed entirely of timber. The king’s hall at Winchester has been mentioned in the first volume ; there are probably other examples of these halls being retained as the law courts or halls of justice. 1 We are indebted for this information to a correspondent of “Notes and Quetics.” THE GREAT HALL. 183 Westminster hall is probably the finest that remains ; the original structure was of the twelfth century, and part of the original walls still exist, but cased over and concealed, and the present design with its magnificent roof belongs to the end of the fourteenth century. In France there are many buildings of this class, as the “Palais de Justice” in Paris, to which the glorious “ Sancte Chapelle ” is attached ; this is of the thirteenth century. Of the same period is the hall of the palace of Poitiers, with some alterations of the fourteenth and fifteenth ; this is remarkable for having an open timber roof, a very uncommon feature in France. In the larger abbeys there was frecpiently more than one large hall ; besides the refectory of the monks there was also another hall for the use of the soldiers belonging to the abbey, as the “ Salle des Chevaliers ” in the abbey of Mont St. Michel, the “ Salle des Gardes ” in the abbey of St. Etienne at Caen ; the former is of the twelfth or thir- teenth century, the latter was a fine example of the four- teenth, but has been sadly mutilated. So thoroughly had the hall or “great house-place,” now become identified with domestic architecture, that it was, at this period, introduced into towns and cities, and the wealthy merchants of the metropolis in constructing their mansions, not only built a hall but a “ parlour ; ” and it is to the 14th century that the introduction of the latter apartment must be attributed. Thus in a lease of Pack- man’s wharf, Thames street, made in the year 1354-5, the lessee, Richard Wyllesdon, covenants to build “ in warde ” a chief dwelling place above stairs, viz., a hall forty feet in length, and twenty-four feet wide ; and a parlour, kitchen, and buttery, as to such a hall should belong; taking care that there should be cellars seven feet in height beneath the said hall, parlour, kitchen, and buttery. Warehouses 184 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. and wooden tenements were to be built towards the street, and the latter to be of three stories ; the first twelve feet in height, the second ten, and the third seven ; the mate- rials to be employed were Maidstone stone, and timber of heart-of-oak y . It will be observed that the houses of Lon- don streets were now beginning to rise to a third story. From this time forwards it is usual to find parlours and halls named in the conveyances of London dwellings. It was in this century, too, that large buildings called inns were first established in the capital ; at all events it is about this time they are first named in deeds. Yet it may be doubted whether they afforded any better accommoda- tion to guests than a common sleeping room, which, for the males, was in all probability the hall floor ; females, except when on pilgrimage, must have rarely frequented such establishments. It is much to be doubted if Chau- cer’s pilgrims found much better quarters In Soutliwerk at that gentil hostelrie, That highte the Tabard, faste bj the Belle. At any rate it is proved by a careful examination of contem- porary records, that the hall and stables w'ere the dormi- tories of the servants and retainers of nobles and prelates while sojourning at their town residences. In short, any one who may take the trouble to look over the printed wills and inventories of this date cannot fail to perceive how very valuable beds were esteemed, and that it is very unlikely there were many beds or bed-rooms either in town or country houses. As a proof of this it may be mentioned, y “ Also the seyd Ric’. Wyllesdon schalle wythynne the seyd terme of x. yer do byld up on the seyd soyle in warde a chefe dwellyng place a bove stay’ that ys to wyte a halle of xl. fote of lengythe and xxiiij. fote of brede. A parlour kychyne and boterye ns to syclie a halle schulde long «••••• suffi- ciently forseyng that as welle undyr the seyd walle parlour and kecliyne botery and alle the seyd Chambr’ be selered undernethe the grunde vij. fotein heygli’." FLA* OF CRYP1 SHEWING WINDOWS Sc. GROINING ABOVE CAPITALS. Chamfer tv tii e Cartier ct Pier of Stairs. A £ £ jFmamvnts of mvuhhua found mtndr wallet ills ion.r 1.4 -, ,-uIf* JPIlAW & XNBTAXJL6 t>IEIBURA3R3Di?- 1KAIX (5MTPT HOUSES IN TOWNS. 185 that on the suppression of the order of the Temple in 1309, a survey was taken of their houses, from which it appears that at their chief mansion, the new Temple in London, the brethren all slept in a common dormitory, the master only having separate lodgings ; a state of things scarcely reconcileable with the statements of those writers, among whom Sir Walter Scott is pre-eminent, who attribute such wealth and luxury to the order. The fact is, however, that it has been too much and too long the custom, to view the manners and habits of remote times through a medium highly tinged with the results and conveniences of modern life, and, therefore, they have been seen under a false aspect; it is only by looking carefully into the dry schedules of the household effects of our remote ancestors, and taking the number of their pots and pans, their beds and tables, and other domestic goods, that we can be enabled to judge how meanly they were lodged, and how far from luxurious their daily mode of life must necessarily have been. Thus we see in London, as in other towns of this period, the lower story of the house was usually half under ground, and almost invariably vaulted over, and this when the super- structure was of wood. It was indeed the most common arrangement to have the lower story only of stone, and vaulted, and the upper part of wood. These lower apart- ments served for store-rooms, or warehouses for valuable goods, or for cellars only, according to circumstances. In the decayed town of Winchelsea many of these vaulted chambers of the fourteenth century remain perfect, although the timber houses which were originally built upon them have entirely disappeared, or have been rebuilt. There arc many traces of these vaulted chambers also in London. The fine room of this period, lately destroyed, and commonly known by the name of Gerrard’s Hall, was in fact a mer- chant’s warehouse of this kind, and not strictly speaking b b 186 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. a hall, that is to say, it was never the hall or living room of the house. It had no fire-place in it, and no place for a hearth in the centre, and the manner in which the ori- ginal staircase descended into it clearly shewed that it was always half underground. It was an excellent example of the lower story of a large merchant’s house of this period, but the hall was over this, and was apparently of timber, with the gable ends only of stone ; these w T ere partly standing in May, 1852. The room called the hall would more properly have been called the cellar, and though a fine room for that purpose, scarcely finer than the cellar of the bishop’s palace at Norwich, and other examples both English and French. It was evidently the lower story or cellar of the house of a wealthy merchant of the time of Edward I. It was an oblong room vaulted in two parallel divisions, with a range of arches between them, carried on rather slender round pillars, with moulded capitals and bases of early Decorated work. The shell of the vault was of small ashlar work of hard chalk, with ribs on the groins and longitudinal ; the ribs had hollow chamfers, but no bosses. Its dimensions were 42 feet long by 21 wide. The entrance was by a flight of stone steps in one corner, carried upon a half-arch, part of the original work. At the opposite end of the hall was a small doorway opening into a passage in the thickness of the wall, in which there had been a staircase. THE GENERAL ASPECT. It is an evident impossibility to lay down any rules as to the general appearance of a town of this century, inas- much as it varied according to its wealth and prosperity, or its situation ; still there are certain received ideas, gathered partly from the few existing remains which we possess. DOMESTIC architecture: fourteenth century. IMAOINARY VIEW OF CONSTANTINOPLE FROM THE LUTERELL PSALTER. MEDIEVAL TOWNS. 187 partly from ancient descriptions, and partly from the artist’s pencil of the time. Of these perhaps the latter is the most valuable, and the view of Constantinople in the Luterell Psalter is a most perfect and interesting example. Because the artist has written “Constantinus nobilis” over his drawing, it by no means follows that it was a correct view of that city ; it was rather what he chose to imagine it to be; and he probably took for his model his own, or some neighbouring town which he had seen. The first and most important points to bear in mind are, that in those disturbed times the town was fortified, that it was entirely surrounded by a strong stone wall, with battle- ments and towers, its loopholes and contrivances for de- fence, that it could only be entered by passing over its drawbridge, and beneath its vast gate. Of this the artist has given us an excellent illustration ; he has attempted to mark the very layers of stone, nor has he omitted over each gate to shew to us the existence of an impending portcullis. Having once entered the gate we pass along the principal street, and arrive at the market-place in the centre of the town. This arrangement we find still existing in nearly all towns on the continent, where they are provided with their fortifications, and where many of the ancient arrangements and customs are far more completely preserved than in England. The houses on each side of the street were rarely more than three stories high, generally only two ; the lower one appropriated to the exposure and sale of goods ; the upper for the dwelling room, excepting in cases where the owners were not merchants, and the lower story was either walled up, or used as a cellar or stables ; and the dwelling room above approached by an external staircase. There is also another point which is a great characteristic of ancient structures, namely, the overhanging of the upper story over 188 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. the lower one, and though not invariably the case, as is sometimes imagined, still it was ordinarily the custom, and afforded a far more picturesque appearance than that of the usual modern street architecture. It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to observe, that it was only amongst the most wealthy that the upper story was ever built of any thing but wood, in fact the lower story was often of the same material. Over the second story was the high pitched gable, oftentimes with its elaborately carved barge-board, and the point ending in an ornamental finial, — architec- tural beauties which become more and more rare every day, as they give way to the modern square house, with its long plain parapet. In this gable was generally a window, and the general use of the room to which it gave light was that of a granary, or store room ; this is confirmed by our sometimes finding the existence of the cranes which were used to draw up the pro- visions to be stowed away. Little more remains to be said of the house ; the rings that we sometimes find were for hanging poles with awnings attached, which were spread out, much in the same way as onr modern shop blinds, or sometimes spread across the street, to keep off the bright light and heat of the sun ; they are very commonly found in the south of France, and other hot climates. In front of each house was generally suspended the sign, and the artist has made them very important features in his picture. The view of Venice, of which we have given an en- graving at p. 26, supplies some curious details which the view of Constantinople does not afford. The view of the butcher’s shop, with the meat hung on the outside, and fastened with the cross sticks precisely in the same manner in which we commonly see it to this day ; the little shop adjoining the butcher, with two ladies purchasing some of the articles exposed for sale ; the old woman also vending DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. * MEDIEVAL TOWNS. 189 provisions beneath one of the ornamental pillars; the gables of the house, the chimneys, and the paving of the square, all bear a certain interest, and tend to shew the minute- ness of the artist. This view we must bear in mind is not an imaginary but an actual view of St. Mark’s Place at Venice, with the cathedral of St. Mark, and the doge’s palace in the back-ground, and the water flowing round, with a portion of the bridge over the stream on the right, the well-known figure of the winged lion of St. Mark, and another of St. George on the pillars erected in 1172. It is evident from the description given by Philip de Commines of his entry into Venice in 1495 that the houses of that period were painted on the exterior 2 ; he says, “Les maisons sont fut grandes et haultes, et de bonne pierre, et les an- ciennes loutes peintes; les autres faietes depuis cent aus, toutes out le de- vant de inarbre blanc, qui leur vient d’Istrie, a cent mils de la, et encore mainete grant piece de porphire et de sarpenture sur le devant.” This special mention of the old houses only being painted, and the more recent ones ornamented with marble and porphyry, seems to shew that the custom of painting the exteriors had gone out of fashion in the fifteenth cen- tury. It is also remarkable that he mentions the painted houses as built of good stone. The public sewers or drainage of towns in the middle ages were much attended to as conducive to the health and welfare of the town. We find the subject very frequently mentioned in the Patent Rolls. It was evidently not left to the town, but the government took the means to ensure the good management of this most necessary matter. The covered ways or cloisters have become so much identified with monasteries as to be even synonymous with them, yet there is reason to believe that this was not always * See chap, i, pp. 25 to 28. 190 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. so ; they were employed to a considerable extent in houses and castles also, but being generally of wood they have in most cases disappeared. In many old towns in France there still are covered ways, arcades, piazzas, or cloisters, not only round the market-place, but along the principal streets, as at Dol in Brittany; this arrangement is believed to have been common in England also. The rows at Ches- ter belong to the same class, though the existing structures are not earlier than the time of Elizabeth. GATE-HOUSES \ The gatehouses or gateway-towers form a very important feature of the Domestic Architecture of the middle ages, and some of those of the fourteenth century are remarkably fine. They may be divided into several classes, as 1, the gateway- towers of towns, 2, of castles, 3, of abbeys, 4, the gate- houses of country mansions. These several classes appear at first sight very distinct from each other ; but in point of fact there is very little distinction between them, and the architectural character of one would often suit equally well for either of the others. The gateway-towers of towns of course belong to the fortifications, and are generally an important part of them, but they were also used for civic purposes ; thus the town- hall at Lincoln to this day is the large room over the prin- cipal gateway between the upper and lower town. * So many of the town gate-houses in England have been cleared away as ob- structions to the streets within the last Half century, that we have comparatively few good specimens remaining. In France they are far more abundant, and in more perfect preservation, in many cases the whole of the fortifications and gateway-towers are perfect, perhaps Car- cassone is the most remarkable example of this; the whole system of fortifica- tion of the fourteenth century remains intact. The gateway-towers on the bridge at Cahors belong also to this period. At La Souteraine there is a curious example of what may be called a sham gateway-tower, the ex- ternal face only being built with a nar- row strip behind it, sufficient as a sta- tion for archers. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY FRENCH EXAMPLES. GATE-IIOUSES. 191 In many cases the room over the gateway was converted into a chapel, as the west gate at Winchester, where it con- tinues to be used as the parish church of St. Swithun. At Bristol, Warwick, and many other places, the same custom is continued, they are however generally of the fifteenth century. The gatehouses of Winchelsea have been already mentioned as belonging to the fourteenth, but they are poor specimens : those of York are too celebrated and too well known to require any description here. The gate-houses of castles belong in general rather to military than domestic architecture, but in these as in other parts they are often so much intermingled that it is difficult to draw the line. The gate-houses are generally an addi- tion of the Edwardian period, and much more habitable than the Norman keeps. For instance at Brougham castle, Westmoreland, the windows of the gate-house are quite of a domestic character, and the principal room was evidently intended to be commonly inhabited. In Prudhoe castle, Northumberland, the room over the gateway was the chapel, and this seems to have been a frequent custom in the larger houses, as mentioned in a previous chapter in describing the chapel. The abbey gate-houses are much the finest and richest specimens of this class that remain to us, and many of them are very magnificent structures. The gate-house of St. Au- gustine’s monastery at Canterbury is one of the richest pieces of work of this period that any country can boast of. The abbey gate-house at Bury St. Edmund’s is another wonder- fully fine example, and combines in a remarkable manner a richly ornate character with an ingenious system for de- fence ; it is at the same time an ornamented structure and a strong fortress ; this peculiar character is accounted for by the circumstances under which it was built ; the abbey had been attacked and pillaged by the townsmen, and as 192 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. a punishment a heavy fine was inflicted upon them, which was expended in building this very remarkable gateway. Easeby abbey gateway, Yorkshire, is a very remarkable example. It has one great pointed arch of two orders, the third and inner order being semicircular. Above this is a string, then a two-light window, with good early tracery, and above this, in the apex of a steep gable, another two-light window, the whole very simple and beautiful, and early in the style. Kirkham abbey gateway is much more elaborately de- corated with carving and panelling, and coats of arms. St. Ethelbert’s gate-house at Norwich, which still forms the entrance to the close, was built in the time of Edward the First, and is a very beautiful example of this period, ornamented with a rich series of foliated niches, with their crocheted canopies, and in the gable a good specimen of the flint and stone work, for which the eastern counties are celebrated, arranged in geometrical patterns. For the benefit of those who are not acquainted with this flint and stone work, it may be useful to mention that the patterns are first cut in the surface of the stone, and then the hollows filled with split flints, beautifully fitted in, the effect of which is to bring out the white pattern on a black ground. The gate-houses belonging to country houses are for the most part of the fifteenth century ; this is often the case when the house itself is of an earlier period, probably owing to the gate-house being the most exposed to attack, and therefore more frequently damaged and rebuilt. But as every manor-house was enclosed by a mote, usually with either a wall or a fence of some kind within the mote, there can be no doubt that there always was a gate-house, which served the purpose both of a porter’s lodge, and of a guard-chamber. INTERIOR OP THE TREASURY. MERTON COLLEGE, OXFORD DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. GROUND PLAN OP THE TREASURY. MERTON COLLEGE. OXFORD THE TREASURY. MERTON COLLEGE. OXFORD COLLEGES. 193 COLLEGES. The colleges of Oxford and Cambridge have very few buildings so early as the fourteenth century; but the trea- sury of Merton college, Oxford, belongs to the time of Edward the First, and is a very valuable example of a pe- culiar class of buildings, being built entirely of stone, with vaults to the lower rooms and passages, and a stone roof to the upper chamber; there is no wood employed in any part of the structure, and it is consequently fire proof. The hall of this college is of the time of Edward n., but has been much altered; it retains the original doorway under a porch approached by a flight of steps, and the wooden door with very rich iron-work. The library of this college was built by Bishop Rede about the middle of the fourteenth century, and retains the original single-light windows, with trefoiled heads, several of which have also their original painted glass of the same time, but the roof was altered by the insertion of dormer windows, and the library refitted in the time of James i. The entire buildings of Winchester college, and of New college, Oxford, are of the end of this century, although in the Perpendicular style generally belonging to the fifteenth; they were built by William of Wykeham, their munificent founder, between 1 3S0 and 1390, and although belonging more to the monastic than the strictly domestic character, they yet afford valuable examples of the style of building of their period ; the hall, the kitchen, the towers, and the chambers, differ very little from what would be found in a nobleman’s or gentleman’s mansion of similar extent. The kitchen of New college remains in a very genuine state, with its original open timber roof ; the hall has been modernized in- ternally, but the cellars under it, with the staircase leading 194 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. from it to the buttery hatch, is very perfect. The privy chambers are also very perfect and curious, built chiefly of timber, and upstairs, with a large pit in place of a lower story. The bursar’s tower, or treasury, adjoining to the hall, is also very perfect and interesting ; it is four stories high, and each room has a stone vault with a tile pavement, the arrangement of which is original, and in the upper rooms the tiles are ornamented with encaustic patterns, exactly similar to those found in churches ; in the centre is a stone hearth for the brazier. The hospitals or almshouses of England would form a valuable series of illustrations of Domestic Architecture of a particular kind, from the “God’s House” at Southamp- ton of the twelfth century, and the “ Maison de Dieu” at Dover, down to the numerous almshouses of the time of Elizabeth and James i., including such establishments as the hospital at Ewelme, Oxfordshire ; St. Cross, Winches- ter j Cheetham’s Hospital, Manchester, &c. But they would alone afford materials enough for a separate work. CHAPTER VII. EXISTING REMAINS. § 1. NORTHUMBERLAND AND DURHAM. It must be remembered that in this part of the country, from the disturbed state of the marches even until after the union of the two crowns, the progress of improvement was much slower than in the more peaceful parts of the island, and dwellings of a very primitive character were general, long after all remembrance of them had ceased in the south of England ; therefore we find that until very modern times Northumbrian houses were either turf huts, mere temporary habitations, which the inhabitants could desert without care, and without loss, or a fortified building which afforded pro- tection to the inhabitants and their property. This is strik- ingly exemplified in the extensive parish of Elsdon, which extends upwards of twenty miles in length from the Scotch border, and contains 74,915 acres; there is not a single house, which is one hundred years old, nor is any such re- membered, except the rectory, which is a fortified tower, and the tower of Otterburn, which was lately rased to the ground, and one or two other little towers. We find in the parish the remains of British earthworks, Roman stations, and Roman houses, but with these two exceptions there is not a stone or a ruin to tell of the inhabitants who suc- ceeded them ; but this is fully explained when we find that in 1552 the border watch, which was established by the warden for the safety of the county, formed a line against 196 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Scotland which excluded the parish of Elsdon. The ad- joining parish of Rothbury is similar; there we have the machicolated rectory, and two or three little towers ; and we learn from the ministers’ accounts after the dissolution of the monasteries, that thousands of acres of the border mountains, which are now of great value as sheep walks, were at that period totally unproductive and valueless, as sheep could not be depastured where they were certain to be driven away; and we find that shortly before the abbot of Newminster built a little tower for the protection of his farms at Rothly and llitton. In early periods the dwellings may be thus classed ; first, the castle of the baron ; second, the religious esta- blishment; third, the tower of the small landowner; fourth, the houses of yeomen and farmers ; fifth, the cottages of labourers, and the great mass of the people. 1. The castles of Northumberland have few character- istics different from those in other parts of the kingdom ; they vary much in extent, and are almost invariably built on the south banks of rivers, so as to place the stream be- tween the owners and their natural enemies, the Scotch ; the most ancient have an extensive court-yard called a barm-kin, surrounded by a wall of great thickness, with a keep on an eminence in the centre ; such are llarbottle, Mitford, &c., in the early Norman style”. * There is in the Brit. Mus. a list of the castles and towers in Northumberland, circa 1460, with the names of their re- spective owners. This list has been printed by Mr. Hodgson, (Hist. Nor- thumb., vol. v. pt. 3. p. 26.) Thirty- seven castles are enumerated, and seventy-eight towers. The castles are Newcastle, Tynmouth, Ogle, Morpeth , Milford, Warkworth, "Slntunfet, Horton near the sea, EshlTE, Duustanburgh, Bamburgh, Berwick, Twysill, Ileton, Norham, I far he upon Tweed, JfortJC, Kihal, Chllltnctbam, Edlyngham, Old Callaley, llarbottle, Aydon, Langley, Thirlwall, Bleulieusop, Prudhow, Hor- ton in Glendale, SlBt)nburnt,//ai r £ NORTHUMBERLAND, — CORBRIDGE. 207 tained by very exact records of the building of a chapel here in the time of Edward n. It is worthy of notice also as a late instance of the use of single lancet windows, though this is not very uncommon even at a later period, when convenience called for their use. CORBRIDGE, NORTHUMBERLAND. On the south side of the churchyard is a small Pele tower of the time of Edward the First or Second, which was probably the parsonage house, from its situation, more especially as there is another tower in the village. The walls and battlements of the parsonage are nearly perfect, the timber-work and roof only being destroyed. It is a small square low building, and seems quite entire ; other buildings have been attached to it at some period, but these were not part of the original plan, and have been since destroyed. The ground room is vaulted with a plain barrel vault, and has a single loop-light only, the doorway has a plain pointed arch. There is a straight staircase in the thickness of the wall, leading from the doorway to the first floor, and another flight over it to the upper room ; in a recess at the top of the first flight is a water-drain, and in another recess in the thickness of the wall at the foot of the upper staircase is a garderobe. The windows are small single-light trefoil-headed ; and there is a fire-place in the north wall, square, and flush with the face of the wall, but the edges moulded. The first floor appears to have been a single room, nineteen feet long by thirteen wide, and about eight feet high, separated from the upper room by a wooden floor only. The upper floor seems to have been divided into two or three small rooms, and in one corner was apparently the private oratory, or reading closet of the priest, with a sloping desk for a book in a shallow niche near the angle, and a small window in 208 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. the other wall, just where it could throw light on the book. There is no fire-place in the upper story. The battlements are good, and the angle turrets well corbelled out on very bold machicolations, which give this little building, plain as it is, a very picturesque character. DURHAM, RABY CASTLE. ' This is a very fine pile of building still, though the greater part has been sadly modernized. The exterior has been comparatively little altered, but the interior so much that it is difficult to make out the original arrangement. The entrance is through a fine gate-house, with flanking towers ; the buildings surround a court-yard of irregular form, and the principal door of the house opens from the court-yard into the room under the great hall, the floor of which is supported on arcades, the pillars have been restored in marble, and the vaulting appears also to have been tampered with; nevertheless the effect of this en- trance is very good. The great hall, or the baron’s hall as it is called, is still a fine room, though its proportions have been much altered, and not improved ; it has an open timber roof in imitation of Elizabethan work. The win- dows are of late Decorated or early Perpendicular work, of the time of Richard n. The solar behind the dais, or the lord’s chamber, has been thrown into the hall, and a great bow window thrown out at the end. The floor of the hall has been raised three or four feet, so that it is turned into a long wide gallery rather than a hall. At the lower end the music gallery remains, being of stone, with a rich cornice, and the heads of two doorways remain, of the shouldered arch, or Carnarvon form, but deprived of half their height, and blocked up as much as possible. Behind this stone screen is now a waste space not used at all, which appears to have contained the pantry and buttery, PLAN OF PART OF THE LOWER STORY. RABY CASTLE. DURHAM. PLAN OF PART OF THE PRINCIPAL FLOOR RABY CASTLE. DURHAM. DURHAM, RABY CASTLE. 209 with a passage between them, and a straight flight of steps down to the kitchen, which is on the ground floor, and a distinct building, forming one of the towers of the castle. This kitchen is the most perfect thing left in the house, and a very fine example, of massive character, with a stone vault, and a louvre in the form of a lantern rising from the stone roof, and forming a conspicuous object. The kitchen is square below, and octagonal above ; there is a passage all round in the thickness of the wall, level with the sills of the windows, with steps leading down the slop- ing sill into the kitchen, but high from the ground ; these steps and passages appear to have been partly for the pur- pose of defence, but the passage also led to two garde- robes in the thickness of the wall. The chapel is on the first floor, and seems to have been originally on a level with the baron’s hall, with a short passage from one to the other; it stands at right angles to the hall, and over an entrance, but this is said to be modern, and the floor of the chapel had at one period been cut away in order to make a more handsome entrance. It has, however, been carefully restored in the Decorated style. The other parts of the castle have been too much altered for their original use to be now recognised, but another wing of the castle appears to have been for sol- diers, and quite distinct from the family mansion above described. There are passages and staircases in the walls leading from the kitchen in every direction, and under it is a fine vaulted cellar, with a central pillar. bishop’s AUCKLAND PALACE, DURHAM. The greater part of this house has been either rebuilt, or so much altered in modern times, that it has lost all ori- ginal character. The chapel, however, was restored (not 210 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. rebuilt) by Bishop Cosin, who gave it windows and a clerestory of not over good workmanship in imitation of the Decorated style ; it has two aisles ; the arches are good, resting on clustered pillars, with moulded capitals. The kitchen is original and very large, but spoiled by a modern flat ceiling, cutting off’ half of its proper height ; it retains only one of the old fire-places f . § 2 . — CUMBERLAND AND WESTMORELAND. The general description which we have given of the houses of Northumberland applies almost equally well to those of Cumberland and Westmoreland. The same un- settled state, and harassing border warfare, rendered the same precautions necessary. Perhaps the Peels or Pele towers have more frequently had other buildings attached to them at an early period ; and in some districts the stone was more easily worked, and consequently more ornament was introduced, as at Carlisle. As a general rule it may be observed that the style of architecture in these northern counties is considerably behind the more central parts of England ; to what extent allowance should be made for this it is not easy to say, but in general from thirty to forty years seems to be about the period. Their distance from the centre of civilization is sufficient to account for this ; old fashions always linger in remote districts, and old men continue to build in the style which was the fashion in their youth. Thus parts of Alnwick and Prudhoe castles appear considerably older than they really are, and the same may be observed in several other instances. 1 See Mr. Raine's account of Auck- lars respecting both the chapel and the land Castle, which contains many cu- castle, rious and valuable architectural particu- DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. CARVED WOODEN CEILING IN NAWORTE CASTLE, CUMBERLAND CUMBERLAND, NA WORTH. 211 NAWORTH CASTLE, CUMBERLAND. The castle of Naworth is beautifully situated on the banks of a small stream, which forms a deep ravine, and runs on to Llanercost priory, about half a mile distant. The front, in which is the entrance, consists of a long range of buildings, flanked at each end by a stately and massive tower, that on the west being called the Chancellor’s tower, and that on the east lord William Howard’s tower (called by Walter Scott “Belted Will”) from the circumstance of his using it as his place of study, and in the upper room, which was his library, his books are still kept in their chests. Adjoining this room is a small oratory. The library has a very remarkable wooden roof of low pitch. The timbers are exceedingly strong and massive, but both principals, wall-plate, and rafters are beautifully moulded with characteristic fourteenth-century mouldings, and with extremely well executed foliage of the same date at the in- tersections ; but it is to be regretted that the bosses, which must have been of the same character, and have added greatly to its rich effect, have been lost or destroyed. The panels between are filled with tracery of various design, and considerable variety. It is, however, evident that the roof was not originally intended for its present situation, as it does not fit the cornice of the room, and it has doubt- less been brought from some other place. It has there- fore been suggested that it was probably brought from the castle of Kirk Oswald by lord William when he came into possession of that property. The castle was in a great degree rebuilt by him in the time of Elizabeth, and the interior has been again almost rebuilt since the great fire in 184 .., which destroyed all the wood-work, but left the stone walls little injured. These 212 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. appear to be partly of the fourteenth century. The walls of “Belted Will’s tower” are of the same period. The hall has been much altered, and is now of very disproportionate length, which injures the effect of what would otherwise be a fine hall : the partition between the dais and the solar has been removed, so that the latter is now thrown into the hall, which not only makes it too long, but makes the bay window appear out of its place. The screen and minstrels’ gallery at the lower end have been destroyed ; the passage must have been very wide, as shewn by the windows ; the entrance from the screens to the kitchen is in its original place, and the kitchen itself seems to have been well re- stored. The entrance to the hall is at one end of the screens as usual, from an external stone staircase, or flight of steps in the court-yard. The exterior of the castle, with its gate-house, is very fine and picturesque, but this be- longs rather to military than domestic architecture. STAIRCASE, CARLISLE CASTLE, CUMBERLAND. The beautiful fragment here given is almost the only re- maining vestige of what appears to have been the royal residence. Edward i. seems to have been partial to Car- lisle, and frequently resided here, as we find seven of his visits recorded between 1293 and 1307, the time of his death. lie celebrated his last birthday here, and from hence, on the 28th of June that year, he departed for Scotland, which he was never to reach, in such shattered health that he was only able to travel a few miles, and having with the greatest difficulty reached Burgh on the Sands on the 5th of July, he was unable to proceed farther, and the day but one following he died, exhorting his suc- cessors to prosecute the conquest of Scotland, which he had begun. During these years considerable works had been DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY STAIRCASE, BELONGING TO A CHAPEL, (NOW DESTROYED. ) CARLISLE CASTLE, CUMBERLAND CUMBERLAND, — DACRE CASTLE. 213 going on in the castle, for in 1302 Bishop Ilatton, who was governor, expended the sum of 275/. 4s. 11 d., while his receipts from the crown were only 270/. 2s. It is fair therefore, to conclude, as Edward made this his frequent residence, both as a convenient station in his Scottish wars, and also for the pleasure of hunting in the forest of Ingle- wood, that the present building was erected by him at this time, and particularly as we find that in 1344 the great hall, which was a part of the building, wanted repairs, as it must shew that it could scarcely have been erected at a later period. The staircase here engraved formed the prin- cipal means of communication between the chief apart- ments on the different stories ; these were a great hall, a chapel, which seem to have been groined, and sleeping rooms g . The hall was taken down, and a magazine erected on its site in 1827 ; and in 1835, in order to save the ex- pense of repairs, the rest of the building shared the same fate, the chapel being converted into officers’ barracks and mess room, and no part of the tower left standing, except the shell of the staircase, the jambs of a large arch, and a few other fragments. Many of the corbels and other ornamental parts were removed to the cathedral, where they now lie. This building, which was in after years one of the prisons of Mary queen of Scots, was from that circumstance known as Queen Mary’s tower. DACRE CASTLE, CUMBERLAND. The village of Dacre lies about four miles south-west of Penrith, and two miles from Ullswater, on the side of a steep hill, at the foot of which runs a tributary of the Eamont. * A description of tbe various apartments now destroyed is given in Jefferson’s History of Carlisle. 214 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. The castle is situated near the church, a little way out of the village, and fronting down the hill. It consists at present of a single tower, but there is a small quadrangular piece of ground at the back, which is enclosed by a moat, which has most likely been occupied by other buildings. The plan of the castle is quadrangular, having a turret at each angle, those at the east and west being parallel to the sides of the building, while those at the north and south angles are set on diagonally. This arrangement gives the building a singular appearance. It consists of three stories, the entrance to all three of which was by a newel staircase in the west tower, the present entrance to the second story being comparatively modern. The lower story is entered by a short passage from the foot of the staircase, it is barrel vaulted, and divided into two rooms lighted by small windows at the front and back, and having fire-places; the walls are extremely thick, being more than 8 feet. The second room communicates with the next story by a flight of steps in the wall. The second story is entered by a pointed doorway, leading from a landing-place on the stairs ; this room seems to have been the general living room, and to have served both for hall and kitchen, as there is a large open fire-place and oven still remaining. The entrance from the staircase is at the western angle, and between this and the fire-place is a small bed-room 8 ft. G in. by 7 ft., entirely in the thickness of the wall. The turret at the western angle is occupied by a small room lighted by a narrow opening ; in the eastern one, which is much larger and well lighted, is a bed- room. The use of the southern turret was to serve as closets, with their drains, to the different stories, and is occupied as such through its whole height. The western turret contains the staircase, with landings to the different stories. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY PLAN OF THE MIDDLE STORY. PLAN OF THE BASEMENT STORY, DACRE CASTLE. CUMBERLAND. F. F. Fireplaces. G ) Sluts leading to and from H. f tto-j Basement Story. I. Original entrance both to tne upper and lower stories. J. Modern entrance. A Water dram. B Oven C. Pantry. D. Recess for a bed. E Bed-room . DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY CUMBERLAND, DACRE CASTLE. 215 This room is at present divided into two, and is now lighted by only two windows, that on the north-west side from the thickness of the wall it stands in, is in a very deep recess ; near it is also another recess, in which a bed or seat might be placed. On the north-east side is the staircase down to the lower story, and at the same place is the present entrance, which has been cut through the wall, when other alterations were made in the sixteenth century. The most interesting object in the room is the water- drain 11 , which is placed on the side of the room ; it is tre- foil headed, with very early Decorated mouldings, and a label terminating in heads. The basin is a multifoil, and there is a shelf. The whole is exactly similar to the piscinas in churches of the time of Edward ir. The upper story, which is rather larger than the one below, and is known by the name of the “ King’s Cham- ber,” is lighted by a window on each side, and has a fire- place on the north-west side. The north and eastern turrets are occupied by bed-rooms, the entrance to the latter being by a flight of steps in the window jamb, this turret having three bed-rooms, one over the other. The windows in this room, like all the rest, have been modernized, but the rear- arches still retain their original mouldings, a keel, with a hollow on each side, on the angle, shewing clearly both their date, and also that the present windows occupy the places of the original ones. The closet in the south turret deserves examination. The exterior of the building has been almost entirely altered in the seventeenth century; the windows have been replaced by square-headed ones, an entrance to the second story, and an external flight of steps has been made, and almost every trace of its original design obliterated ; but the interior of the lower story, the water-drain in the next, h See p. 45. 216 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. and the window arches in the upper story, all clearly point out that its date is early in the fourteenth century. From the arms sculptured on the front of the building, it is evi- dent that these alterations must have been made by Thomas lord Dacre, who was in 1674 created earl of Sussex, and, as the earl’s coronet appears over the arms, the alterations must have been subsequent to that time. The history seems involved in obscurity. Camden merely says, “ Near its (the Eamont’s) bank upon the little river Dacor, is Dacre castle, noted in later ages for giving title to the family of the Barons de Dacre, and mentioned by Bede for having a monastery in his time, as also by Malmsbury for being the place where Constantine, king of the Scots, and Eugenius, king of Cumberland, put them- selves and their kingdom under the protection of King Athelstan.” And in Gibbon’s note, “ Here is a castle stand- ing, which formerly has been a magnificent building, and a seat of the family.” In this family it continued until the reign of Henry vii., when it passed to the Eynes, and is at present the property of — Ilassel, Esq., of Dalemain. YANWATH, WESTMORELAND. Yanwath hall, Westmoreland, is of two very distinct pe- riods, the original structure is believed to have been built by John de Sutton, who married Margaret the heiress of the family of De Somerie in 1322. The heirs of this union became Barons Dudley, and in the reign of Henry vm., Thomas, the eldest son by the second wife of Edmund lord Dudley, settled at Yanwath, and married Sarah, the daughter and coheiress of Sir Lancelot Threlkcld of Yan- wath, an ancient family of Cumberland and Westmoreland. From the architectural character there can be little doubt that the house was in a great degree rebuilt and enlarged at DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. KITCHEN DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY WESTMORELAND, YANWATII. 217 this period ; and the wealth of this Thomas lord Dudley, points him out as the most likely person to have incurred this expense. Yanwath hall lies between two and three miles south of Penrith, and is situated on the Westmoreland side of the river Eamont, a few miles after it has left the lake of Ulls- water. A wooded bank at the back of the house, slopes precipitously to the river, and the tower commands an ex- tensive view over the surrounding country. The Lancaster and Carlisle railway passes close to the house. The house forms three sides of a quadrangle, the fourth having none of the original buildings remaining. A large square tower occupies the south-east angle, and a small battlemented watch-tower at the opposite angle overlooks the river. The south side of the quadrangle is occupied by the dwelling house, consisting chiefly of a hall and kitchen, with other rooms. The east and north sides are now chiefly used as stables, but have probably been originally used for other purposes, and appear from the doorways and other details to be of the same date as the tower, though with various later alterations. The tower consists of three stories, the original entrance to which is, as is usual with these border towers, at one angle, and leading by a newel staircase to all the stories, and to the roof; the original date of the tower is the four- teenth century, though with many alterations of the six- teenth. The lower story remains almost in its original state ; the walls are extremely thick, and the room is barrel- vaulted, lighted at each end by a small window widely splayed internally, one of which is original. It has no ex- ternal entrance. The next story consists only of a single room, the Elizabethan ceiling of which deserves atten- tion, but its original character has been entirely oblite- rated. The only entrance to it originally was by the newel, f f 218 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. but in the alterations in the sixteenth century a flight of stone steps was carried up from the hall. It is lighted on the south, west, and north aisles by square transomed five- light windows inserted in the sixteenth century, and has a cornice and wainscoting of the same period with the arms of Edw. vi. sculptured over the fire-place. A door at the south-west angle leads into a small bed-room, which still contains a bedstead. The upper story is likewise now only a single room, but it has ou the west side one of the original windows, now blocked up; this is ogee-headed, of a single light, and has very good mouldings. Near this, in a small closet, is an oblique projecting drain. There are remains of painting of the sixteenth century on the wall. The tower is battlemented, and has a small watch-turret at each angle; these have each a flight of steps leading to the battlements, and a small room below. The chimney is octagonal, rising from a square, with lateral open- ings for the smoke. The roof is leaded, and there are water-spouts projecting from and ornamented with the mouldings of the cor- nice, which have a very good effect. The hall, which occupies the chief part of the building, which adjoins to the east side of the tower, was originally of large dimensions, but a small parlour has now been taken out of it, and the timber roof concealed by a plaster ceiling. It seems to have been either rebuilt or consi- derably modified in the fifteenth century, as the windows and roof are of the period. The bay window of this date on the south side, which originally marked the dais, is Spout on the tower. Yanwath Hall. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. WESTMORELAND, — YANWATH. 219 now made to light the parlour; it is a good specimen of a plain bay-window of the period, with some peculiarity in the tracery. The roof is of four bays, with arched braces, and well moulded. The original open fire-place still re- mains. At the end of the hall is a passage leading through into the court-yard; the doorway is round-headed, with mouldings of a decorated character, though peculiar, which makes it difficult to say whether it is genuine fourteenth- century work, or an imitation at the time when the altera- tions were made. The door itself is very good, being panelled in tracery in the upper part, and the lower having the linen pattern. There is a small window (now blocked) over the door of early character. On the opposite side of the court-yard is a square win- dow retaining still its original iron grating, and does not appear to have been ever glazed. The walls did till lately, or do yet retain traces of painting. At the north-east angle, where the buildings of the same date as the tower still remain, the thick wall is carried up above the roof, and battlemented on both sides, so as to leave just room for a warder to walk to and fro. This communicates by a staircase with the room beneath, and overlooks the river below, and at the same time guards the back entrance to the court-yard. In Nicholson and Burns’s Westmoreland and Cumberland, it is stated that “ over the gate hath been a chapel ; ” the room with the grated win- dow before mentioned is also traditionally said to have been a chapel, but as these buildings are now used as stables, it is not possible to say whether there has ever been a chapel here or not. 220 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. BROUGHAM CASTLE, WESTMORELAND. The keeps or donjons of the Norman castles were built iu such a solid and imperishable manner, that they have still remained when the rest of the edifice has been swept away, and when in later times it has been deemed necessary to remodel or rebuild the rest, the keep has still been re- tained, and merely altered to suit the requirements of an age less rude than that in which it was built. This, which is far from an uncommon circumstance, is the case at Brougham, the present remains consisting of a Norman keep surrounded by buildings of a later period. The keep, which is of the usual Norman form, square, with slightly projecting turrets (if they may be so called) at the angles, has some of its original windows, &c., re- maining, which are of plain character. The exterior does not exhibit much alteration except at the upper part, and at the south-east angle, where a space has been corbelled out to allow the formation of a small oratory, but in the interior there is scarcely any part of the original design visible. The lower story has been groined, the ribs springing from corbels in the form of heads, and the vault has been supported by a small central pillar, the base of which still remains. The entrance to the upper rooms was by a staircase in the north-east angle, which communicated with passages in the wall, and in the upper part this passage, which is well built and very curious, communicates with the small ora- tory in the south-east angle before mentioned. This is a very small room, but is beautifully groined, has a window to the east, and contains a piscina, &c., and has had an opening from the principal apartment. The style of this little chapel, as well as of the whole of the interior, is that of the time of Edw. i. GATEHOUSE, BROUGHAM CASTLE, WESTMORELAND. WESTMORELAND, BROUGHAM CASTLE. 221 On the north side of the keep is a very curious arrange- ment, namely, two distinct gateway towers, which are con- nected by an intervening building. The inner tower abuts on the north-west angle of the keep, and the outer one on the north-east. These gateway towers are shewn in the accompanying engraving ; the outer one has diagonal tur- rets at the outer angles. On the top of the building, and over the gateway, are three corbels, which seem to have been intended for machicolations, and the same occur in the additions to the keep. Over the archway is a stone which formerly belonged to the building, and which has been built into the wall at the time of the late repairs. On this stone are the words ti)US matJC rocjcr. This is supposed to refer to Roger de Clifford, who died in the reign of Edw. i., and who made great altera- tions and additions to the castle ; indeed, to him may be at- tributed the principal part of the buildings now remaining, the keep being the only Norman work at present existing. The court-yard is enclosed with a wall, at the south-west angle of which is a tower, from which a covered passage in the thickness of the wall leads to the offices on the south side of the court-yard. On this side also is the chapel, which is in ruins; it has lost its roof and floor, but its piscina and sedilia still remain ; the former is quatrefoiled, under a pointed arch ; the latter have three pointed arches, trefoiled, with the spandrels filled with shallow sunk trefoils. The east window, except the jambs and part of the sill, is destroyed, but one of the side windows remains perfect. It is trefoil-headed, and widely splayed inside. There was a room under the chapel, and the corbels of the floor still remain ; the rest of the south side appears to have been occupied with offices, and the hall seems to have been on the east side, but the outer walls alone are left, so that it is difficult to make out the plan of this part. 222 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Brougham castle is situated at the confluence of the Lovvther with the Eamont, about miles from Penrith, on the Appleby road, and forms a fine object from the bridge. On the opposite side of the river is the old castle mill, and which taken in combination with the castle forms a highly picturesque scene. BROUGHAM HALL. This house is situated about half a mile from the castle, in a splendid situation, on the brow of a hill, commanding one of the finest views in England. It has for the most part been rebuilt, but still retains some ancient portions ; one wall is of the twelfth century, another of the fourteenth, and the entrance gate-house is of the time of Edward i., with some good corbel-heads and battlements. We are indebted to William Brougham, Esq., for the following in- teresting account of his family, and their seats. The earliest mention I find of Brougham is in the Itinerary of Antoninus. In the 5th Journey. “Iter v. a Londinis Luguvallium ad Yallium, M (i.e. London to Carlisle). After noting the different Stations on the Roman road to Bowes, the Itinerary proceeds ; Lavatris (Bowes.) Vertcris M.P. xm. . . (Brough.) Brocavo M.P. xx. . . . (Brougham.) Luguvallio M.P. xxii. . (Carlisle.) Camden in his Britannia, (ed. 1600, p. 689,) describing the road from Appleby to Penrith, says ; “Fertur hinc Ituua (River Eden) non procul ab Ilowgill via verb militaris recta in occasum iEquinoctialem ducit per 'Whinfield at Brovoniacum xx miliaribus Italicis xvn Anglicis a Verteris ut posuit Antoninus, locatuin, cui etiam Brocovum, uti Broconiacum in notitiarum libro nominatur, qui nume- rum defcnsorum hie sua habuisse stativa docet. Hujus oedificia, et dignita- GATEWAY. BROUGHAM HALL, WESTMORELAND WESTMORELAND, — BROUGHAM HALL. 223 tem licet absumpscrit Vetustas, nomen tamen fere inviolatum superest, Brougham enim vocamus.” It appears very clear that Horsley’s derivation of the name in his Britannia ltomana, namely, that Burgham, the old name, is derived from two Saxon words. Burgh a castle, and ham a town or hamlet, is wrong ; the oldest spelling we have in any authentic record is in the Pipe Roll, 22 Hen. n., of the fine of 80 marks imposed upon Udard de Broham ; the same spelling being used in his licence to go to the Holy Land, and in the name of his son Gilbert in the Oblata Roll, 2nd John ; and Broham is manifestly the Latin word Brocovum. The name Burgham does not occur in any record till after this date, although it appears in a deed of the time of King John, and again in 2 R. II., and several others. Thus the name is strictly Roman and not Saxon ; and was taken from the first of the family having settled at the site of the Roman station. How Broham, or Bruham, got converted into Burgham I cannot explain. The altars, monumental stones, and other remains found close to the present court-yard, only nearer the chapel, prove that the station was on that spot, and not, as has been stated by some antiquaries, at the castle. That the family lived there before the Conquest is proved by the fact of the earliest recorded tenure having been by drengage, a tenure by military service, but differing from knight's service, inas- much as those only held their lands by Drengage who had possessed them before the Conquest, and were continued in them by the Con- queror, after submitting to him. Spelman, after giving his authority for this, proceeds thus; “ Sunt igitur Drenches, Vassalli quidem militares vel (ut nostri forenses loquuntur) Tenentes per servitium militare. Ex Dictis autem notaudum est, eos omnes, eorumve antecessores, qui e Drengorum classe crant, vel per Drengagium tenuere, sua incoluisse patrimonia, Ante advent um Normanno- rum 1 .” Drengs and Theins, were tenants in capite, and did knight’s ser- vice in the king’s army, according to the quantity of their lands. If they did not go in person, they sent knights and men at arms to do the service, or they made fine with the king “ut remaneant, “ ne transfretent,” or “quia non abieruut cum rege.” This fine or scu- tage (servitium scuti) was always by tenants in capite paid directly to the kiug, through the sheriff of the county ; whereas, if the tenant * Spel. Gloss., p. 186, ed. 1661. 224 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. held of a superior lord or baron, the fine was paid to him and not to the king k . Hence, when we find in the Oblata Boll of the 2nd of King John, now in the Tower of London, M. 5, the name of Gilbert de Broham, among the Drengi of Westmoreland, who made fine with King John, that they might not go with him into Normandy, it proves not only that Gilbert held in capite, but that in the time of John he continued to hold his estate by the same service of Drengage as his ancestors had done before the Conquest, and that they had consequently been in possession before the Conquest. The record in question contains seventeen names, described as “Decern et Septem Drengi de Westmorland;” they are all distin- guished persons, as Walter de Harcla, ancestor of Harcla created earl of Carlisle 15 Ed. n. ; Tailboys, baron of Kendal; John de Morville, brother of Hugh, baron of Westmorland, one of the four knights who slew Thomas a Beckett. It is a remarkable fact, that of the seventeen Drengi mentioned in this record, Gilbert de Broham is the only one now represented in the male line; all the others are extinct, or have passed by females into totally different families. This Gilbert in the 4th of John granted to ltobert de Yipont, by the concurrence, and probably by force of the king, his lands in the forest of Whinfell, half the town of Burgham, the advowson of the rectory, the castle mill, the single tower, which then formed the whole of the castle, and which now exists, although altered soon afterwards either by Yipont or his immediate successor, John de Yipont, who married Sibilla Ferrers, but he (Gilbert) retained the whole of the manor, which has continued in his descendants to the present day; and it is a singular fact, that the castle, although thus severed from the rest of the estate, stands within the manor of Brougham. The consideration for which Gilbert conveyed away so much of his estate, was that the remainder should be freed from the service of Drengage to him and his successors for ever. The deed by which this was effected was enrolled in Chancery, and is now deposited in the Kolls chapel. A portion of the estate is held by the tenure of cornage, supposed by many to have been a com rent, because in modern times it is com- muted for a small payment in money. The real service was, however, that of blowing a horn to give notice of the arrival of the enemy, in k Madox, Hist, of the Exchequer, i. 659 — 675. WESTMORELAND, — BROUGHAM HALL. 225 that country generally the Scotch *. This was a signal for lighting up Penrith beacon, which communicated by a line of similar siguals with Appleby, and so into Yorkshire on one side, and into Lancashire ou the other, and thus roused all the neighbouring barons. The original horn by which this service was performed is now pre- served at Brougham. The earliest existing part of the house at Brougham is the wall, in which is a Norman arch and recess; part of the zig-zag ornament has been restored, and the columns repaired, but the whole of the cable- moulding is in its original state. Next to this in date is the old gateway, especially the mouldings on the north end of it ; the whole is in its original state, except that some of the battlements have been replaced, having been brought down some years ago in a great snow storm, owing to the weight of ivy. The oak gates, 6 inches thick, are original, as also the crook and band hinges. The knocker is modern, i.e. 1600, being engraved upon it. In the first year of Edward n. licences were granted to Willelmus de Dacre and Ricardus de Brim, to crencllate their houses, both described as situated at Dummaloch in the marches of Cumberland, (Dummaloch in Marchibus). There seems good reason to believe that these two houses are Dacre castle and Brougham hall, which are within a few miles of each other, and both near to a hill still called Dummaloch. Brougham castle at that period belonged to the Cliffords. § 3 . — YORKSHIRE, LANCASHIRE, AND CHESHIRE. Yorkshire is more celebrated for the ruins of its mag- nificent abbeys than for its houses : nevertheless it contains many fine and valuable remains, in general strongly fortified, but not always. At Markenfield hall, for instance, the for- tifications are comparatively slight, compared to those of 1 This tenure makes it probable that ing country, whereas Brougham castle Brougham hall was the original seat of is built in a hollow on the hank of a the family, its situation commanding a river to defend an important pass, very extensive view over the neighbour- G g 226 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Bolton, Middleham, or Wressle. The city of York still re- tains some houses, or portions of houses, of the fourteenth century, though much has been destroyed of late years. They are chiefly of wood, and the overhanging upper stories are carried upon spurs which have been richly carved, espe- cially those on each side the doorway \ The gate-houses, or bars as they are locally called, are chiefly of the fourteenth century. Monk bar is the best ; it has good corner tur- rets, and stone figures on the parapets, as at Alnwick and Naworth : this seems to have been a common fashion in the north of England. The houses of Lancashire and Cheshire are chiefly of timber. It is believed that amongst them are several re- mains as early as the fourteenth century; but the only one we have been able to find which has any character clearly of that period is Baggily hall, Cheshire. The hall at Smithill’s, near Bolton, Lancashire, bears a very close re- semblance to it, but is a later imitation of it. The greater part of the fine and very picturesque houses of these coun- ties are of the Elizabethan period, though they often have very much the look of the fourteenth century ; the use of pierced quatrefoils and trefoils in timber work, was con- tinued to a very late period both externally and internally. This kind of what may be called reticulated work is some- times of the fifteenth century, much more frequently of the sixteenth. Dalton tower, Lancashire, belongs rather to the class of the more northern Pele-towers. 1 This peculiarity brings to mind the local character which may be observed in a very remarkable manner in travel- ling from one town to another on the continent, where, even at the distance of a few miles, all the houses in one town have quite a different character from those in the other. It would seem that the builders of houses did not travel or collect new ideas so much as the eccle- siastical architects. YORKSHIRE, BOLTON CASTLE. 227 BOLTON CASTLE-*. “ Richard, Lord Scrope, was Chancelor of England in Richard the 2 Dayes. This Richard made out of the Grownd the Castle of Bolton of 4 greate stronge Towres and of good lodgings. It was a making xviii. Yeres, and the Chargys of the Buyldinge came by Yere to 1000 Marks k . Bolton village and Castell is 4 miles from Middleham. The Castle standeth on a Roke Syde ; and all the substaunce of the Lodgyngs in it be includyd in 4 principall Towres, Yt was an IS Yeres in buildynge, and the Expends of every Yere came to 1000 marks. It was finished or King Richard the 2 dyed. One thinge I muche noted in the Haulle of Bolton, how chimneys were conveyed by Tunnells made on the syds of the Wauls betwixt the lights in the Haull ; and by this meanes, and by no Covers ', is the smoke of the Harth in the llawle wonder strangly convayed. Most parte of the Tymber that was occupied in buyldinge of this Castell was fett out of the Forest of Engleby in Cumberland, and Richard Lord Scrope for conveyance of it, had layde by the way dy vers drawghts of oxen to carry it from place to place till it came to Bolton. Theire is a very faiyre Cloke at Bolton cum motu solis ct lunrn, and othar Conclusyons. Ther is a Parke waullyd withe Stone at Bolton ra .” We have here quoted the whole of what Leland says of Bolton, because one passage may perhaps throw light upon another. The one relating to the chimneys has been very frequently quoted, and supposed to prove that chimneys were not in use before this time, but a more careful exami- nation of the passage, and a comparison of it with the existing remains, shew that this is altogether a mistake. We know that chimneys were in common use from the twelfth century downwards, and Leland does not speak of the chimneys themselves as new things, but only that they were made on the sides of the walls betwixt the windows of the hall, and that the smoke was wonder strangely conveyed from the Ilarth, which was of course in the centre of the 1 A licence to crenellate this castle was granted in the 21st Edw. i., to Robert de Percy, but the work does not appear to have been gone on with at that time, or it has been subsequently rebuilt. There are two views of this castle in the fourth volume of Britton’s Archi- tectural Antiquities. k Leland’s Itin., vol. viii. fol. 53. 1 Probably a misprint for lovers, or louvres. “ vol. viii. fol. 66. b. 228 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. liall. The walls of this hall are standing, and there are no chimneys or fire-places to it, either between the windows or any where else; the wood- work or lath and plaster work has all been destroyed ; we see by the passage relating to the clock, that some ingenious hand was employed at Bolton, and it seems probable that he had introduced some curi- ous contrivance for conveying the smoke from the central hearth, probably in a kind of pipes or chimneys of lath and plaster, with a hood suspended over the fire, these pipes being carried to the wall between the windows, and now destroyed. The occasional use of lath and plaster for fire-places and chimneys has been shewn in our first volume, and yet Leland might well consider it as a wonder strange contrivance. This seems the most likely mode of reconcil- ing Lcland’s usually accurate description with the existing remains, and the known practice of the period. In other respects Leland’s description is accurate as usual ; of the four large square towers at the corners three remain per- fect, the fourth has fallen down from neglect; the rest of the walls are nearly perfect ; the buildings enclosing a quadrangle, or court-yard, and parts of them, are inhabited by cottagers, who have been allowed to take out some of the old mullioned windows, and put in modern cottage casements in their places, which give a very neglected and poverty stricken appearance to those parts of the castle. It is altogether, perhaps, the most perfect house of its period remaining in England, and it is much to be re- gretted that the poverty of the proprietor would not allow a little more care to be bestowed upon it. Besides the great hall in the north part there is a smaller hall, or ban- queting room, in the south front, the kitchen and offices of which remain almost perfect; near the fire-place is a sink, or water-drain, of plain character, but original, and the leaden pipe which conveyed water to this, and which was also YORKSHIRE, — BOLTON CASTLE. 229 original, was sold a few years since for seven shillings, by order of the steward for the benefit of the estate. Many antiquaries would cheerfully have given three times the sum to have preserved it. The only entrance to this house, or castle, is at the east end, through a well-protected gate- way, and it is said that each of the small doors leading from the court-yard into the buildings was protected by a portcullis, so that if an enemy did force an entrance into the court-yard he would not be much advanced, and would be exposed to a murderous cross fire from all the four sides. This unusual precaution may have been considered neces- sary from the circumstance of there being no moat, which probably the steepness of the hill rendered impracticable. The chapel is outside the walls, now the parish church ; it is close to the north side of the castle, and protected by it on one side, and by the steep rock at the back on the other. There was probably a small oratory within the walls, but there is no appearance of any other chapel, the room now so called was evidently the great hall. Possibly, however, there was a chapel at one end of the hall, as mentioned at Maxstoke and in other instances, though it cannot now be traced. The ground rooms throughout the castle were vaulted with plain barrel vaults running transversely to the length of the building ; in some parts the two lower stories are vaulted, this is the case in the tower, and in some other parts also ; the upper rooms had wooden floors, and the roofs were nearly flat. Besides the four large square towers there is a small square tower, or turret, in the centre of the north front, and another in the centre of the south front ; the latter is filled entirely with garderobes, one on each floor, which have passages leading to them from each of the rooms ; these passages are formed in the thickness of the walls, and are lighted by loopholes. The ground room of 230 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. the north tower is the dungeon, with a barrel vault, the only entrance being by a trap door from a similar room over it, which has loopholes only ; above this is a guard room, with a fire-place and windows. The eastern half of the upper stories in both fronts is divided into small chambers, each of which is provided with a fire-place, and with a garde- robe, or has a passage leading to one. The western half in both fronts is a hall, the larger and more important one being in the north front. This hall occupies the same height as the two upper stories in the eastern part, and was open to the roof, which was nearly flat ; it has on each side three tall windows of a single light, divided by a transom, with foliated heads and hood-moulds, of late Decorated character; at the west end of the hall are two small win- dows under the range of the others, evidently to give light to the passage or entry behind the screen at each end. The entrance is by a good-sized newel staircase at the inner angle of the tower, and the staircase also led to the offices, which were partly in the tower, and partly in the west front, in which, from a large chimney remaining, was probably the kitchen. The arrangement of the smaller hall, or banquet- ing room, in the south front, is precisely the same, except that the two western windows are elongated by lowering the sills, instead of having separate windows to the screens, as in the larger hall ; on this side the kitchen and offices are more perfect. Several of the smaller doorways have the “ shouldered arches n ” of the Carnarvon form ; through- out this castle there are no seats in the sills of the windows, an unusual circumstance. We have been thus minute in our description of Holton castle because it was clearly a baronial residence, and not merely a military fortress, and ° This name has been proposed by the convenient name. It is commonly called duchess of Northumberland for this pe- the square-htaded trefoil arch, but this culiar form, which has long wanted a is a cluntsy inode of describing it. YORKSHIRE, — MIDDLEHAM CASTLE, MARKENFIELD HALL. 231 it is one of the most perfect houses of the period that we have remaining, having suffered from poverty and neglect only, and not from violence, llaby castle, which is of about the same period, has been so much altered to suit modern convenience that it is not so easy to make out the original arrangement. MIDDLEHAM CASTLE, YORKSHIRE 0 . This is a curious and interesting ruin, consisting of a large Norman keep, enclosed within a Decorated castle ; it has evidently been destroyed or much damaged by gun- powder, and has not suffered from neglect only, like the neighbouring castle of Bolton. The keep has square corner turrets, with very little projection, and other turrets of bolder projection in the centre of two of the sides, also a barbican and entrance gate-tower connected with the ori- ginal work. The Decorated castle surrounds this keep so closely as to leave only a narrow bailey, or court-yard, little more than a passage, between the keep and the inner walls of the buildings which surround it. The Decorated part of the castle is in a still more ruinous state than the Norman keep ; no arrangements can be made out except the entrance gate-house, which is more perfect ; there is a groined vault over the passage, with clumsy ribs, the arches are segmental, the windows are either trefoil- headed, or of the Carnarvon form, and some are square. Middleham is said to have been built by the Randolphs, and sold to the great earl of Warwick. MARKENPIELD HALL, YORKSHIRE. This very interesting house is about two miles west of Ripon. It was originally the seat of a family who derived ° There are two engravings of this castle in Britton’s Architectural Antiquities, vol. iv. 232 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. their name from the place, and one of whose descendants was still living there in the time of Leland 0 . In plan it closely resembles Aydon castle, and is in a tolerably perfect condition. The principal rooms are, as in the style of the present century, up stairs. The windows are square-headed, of two lights, with a transom ; Mr. Twopeny remarks, they were evidently made so “ from necessity ; the floor above, or the roof, not allowing space for an arch. Where there is space the windows are arched.” The square-headed windows have precisely the same mouldings as those which are arched, and are evidently of the same period. A large irregular court formed partly by the house and partly by stables, and other out-buildings surrounded by a moat com- pletes the plan. There is a good Decorated arched win- dow of three lights, which belongs to the chapel looking to the moat. The merlons of the embattled parapet are crenellated with moulded copings. The turret stair is a good example of the date, and still retains its original pyramidal roof or cap. The hall is lighted by four De- corated windows, with pointed arches ; two towards the court-yard, and two towards the moat. Taken altogether, Markenfield hall bears a greater re- semblance to the generality of south country than northern manor-houses. The introduction of large Decorated win- dows of two, and one of three lights, the latter towards the moat, is not characteristic of a dwelling house, built with a studious view to defence. In respect of plan, Markenfield has some likeness to the mansion at Wood- land Mere, Wiltshire, which is partly of this century ; in 0 It approaches, in parts, to the date of Belsay. Leland in his Itinerary observes, “ Markenfelde dwellith at Markenfelde, and his manor place berithe his name.” He noticed also in Ripon minister, “two tombes withe ymages of the Markenfelds and theyr wyves.” — Itinerary, vol. viii. folios 68 a, 69 a. The house is now the property of the Lord Grantley, having been purchased by his ancestor Sir Fletcher Norton. 234 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. lower rooms. At the east end of this hall, behind the dais, is the solar; it has a Decorated fire-place, and a window with a seat in the sill ; it appears to have been originally of the same height as the hall and chapel, but divided also into two stories in the fifteenth century ; from this room is a doorway to the garderobe, which is of considerable size, of two stories, with the pit under it, and is lighted by loopholes only. The space under the solar is divided into two rooms by an original wall, and these two rooms have vaults, with plain ribs and corbels, part of the original work. The hall and chapel are both finished externally by a good battlement, with oillets. The other buildings are of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and the later kit- chen blocks up one of the original windows. Considerable alterations were made at these periods. YOUKSIUKE, SFOFFOllTH. A few miles from Harrogate, are the ruins of the an- cient seat of the Percys at SpofForth. The licence to crenel- late or fortify this mansion was obtained in the second year of Edward n., a.d. 1309. The plan is the usual one of the period, a parallelogram, forty-five yards long from north to south, and seventeen broad; the hall in the centre. This castle has suffered severely in the civil wars ; soon after it was built it was defaced by the earl of Warwick and lord Montacute after the battle of Towton, in which the earl of Northumberland and his brother Sir Richard Percy were slain, fighting against Edward iv. After this it was repaired, and was finally dismantled in the time of the Commonwealth. The ruins evidently belong to three periods : the lower room under the hall is of transition Norman work of the end of the twelfth century; the win- dows are square externally, but have trefoil heads inter- PLAN OF THE UPPER STORY MARKENF1ELD HALL, YORKSHIRE GROUND PLAN. MARKENEIELD HALL, YORKSHIRE. LANCASHIRE ■DALTON CASTLE. 235 nally. At each end is a plain round-headed Norman door- way, the one at the south end, and a window, now open into another building, which has been added in the four- teenth century : this building contains the kitchen, and a vaulted chamber or cellar between it and the hall ; over this cellar is the solar, in the south-west corner of which is a good garderobe. The hall was evidently rebuilt at the same time that the kitchen and other apartments were added, but was again destroyed and again rebuilt in the fifteenth century. The whole of the buildings now remaining have formed only one side of a quadrangle, the other three sides of which have been destroyed, but may still be traced by the frag- ments that remain. LANCASHIRE, DALTON CASTLE. The building called Dalton castle stands at the top of the street of that small town, and is stated to have been built by an abbot of Furness to serve as a court-house. It is a curious example of civil if not strictly domestic archi- tecture. It is of oblong form and of two stories, the lower containing very small and few apertures for light, and pro- bably intended to serve as a prison. It has two doorways, one of which has an arch, nearly, if not quite, circular. The upper story has at one end a four-light window, with a segmental arch, and good two-light windows in the sides. These have flowing Decorated tracery very well worked. The building finishes in a plain massive parapet, at each angle of which is a small seated figure of a knight in the costume of the reign of Edward the Third. The roof is nearly, if not quite, fl it. 23 G DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. CHESHIRE, BAGGILY HAI.L. This is believed to be the most ancient of the timber houses of Lancashire and Cheshire, and the remains of it are in a very dilapidated state. The only part of the old house now remaining is the hall, and this has been shortened by a modern erection at the end where the dais was, but the opposite end, with the doorways to the offices, and the framing of the roof, and great part of the sides, are perfect, and form an interesting relic of the timber-work of the fourteenth century, which was long imitated, often so closely that it is difficult to distinguish the later work from the original. The roof is carried upon wooden arches and pillars, standing a few feet from the side walls, with the space be- tween filled up with open trefoils ; the end wall is also composed of open timber framing in trefoils and quatre- foils, the interstices filled with plaster. The windows are plain, square, with wooden mullions, and the openings not now foliated, but the mouldings are of the Decorated style, and the doorway has a good bold moulding over it, cut in oak. Only one arch remains perfect, this is the one nearest the servants’ end of the hall, and under which the front of the screen was placed, the minstrels’ gallery having filled up the space from this to the end wall. Baggily hall is situated about three miles from Stock- port, in Cheshire, but on the borders of Lancashire. It is thus mentioned in a ballad printed in Percy’s lleliques, entitled “ Scottish Feilde,” in two fitts, containing a very circumstantial narrative of the battle of Flodden, fought Sept. 9, 1513, at which the author, who was a native of Cheshire, seems to have been present. At Bagily that bearne llis hilling place had; DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY INTERIOR OF THE HALL, BAGGILLY HALL, CHESHIRE DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. TART OP THE ARCHBISHOP'S PALACE. AT SOUTHV7ELL. NOTTINGHAMSHIRE CHESHIRE, BAGGILY HALL. 237 And his ancestors of old time Have yearded ' there longc, Before William Conquerour This country did inhabitt. The village of Baggily, or Baguleigh, had belonged to the ancient family of Legh for two centuries before the battle of Flodden. § 4. DERBY, NOTTINGHAM, AND LINCOLN. The only specimen of the Domestic buildings of the four- teenth century which has been noticed in Derbyshire is the hall and back gate-house of Haddon. In Nottinghamshire we have the early parts of the palace at Southwell, a small part of the castle at Newark, and a gate-house at Worksop. At Staunton, an inscription on a tombstone in the church states that the rector, who died in 134G, built the rectory house. The appearance of the present building seems to indicate that it is original, the walls being extremely thick, the roof massive and low, the windows original and pointed r . PALACE OF THE ARCHBISHOPS OF YORK AT SOUTHWELL, NOTTS. These interesting ruins evidently belong to two distinct periods; the walls and buttresses, and the lower parts of the chimneys, are of the fourteenth century ; the windows are all insertions of the fifteenth; the fire-places, and in most instances the upper parts of the chimneys, also belong to the later period ; there are a considerable number of these chimneys, the one engraved is believed to be original, in the lower part the roll moulding is evidently Decorated ' Yearded, i. e., buried, earthed, at Bannockbourn, says, “ Nae man wot earded. It is common to pronounce where they yearded him.” “earth” in some parts of England r For this notice we are indebted to “yearth,” particularly in the north. — Charles Wykeham Martin, Esq., of Pitscottie, speaking of James in. slain Leeds castle, Kent. 238 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. work. The garden wall is battlemented, and has turrets at intervals, calculated for defence. In one of these turrets, at the south-east corner of the garden, the most distant from the house, is a series of garderobes or closets very cleverly arranged to make the most of the space. A good bold roll-moulding is carried as a string along the walls, shewing them to belong to the original period. It appears from Dugdale that it was built by Archbishop Thoresby about 1300, and much altered by Cardinal Wolsey. A por- tion of the ruins has been fitted up as a modern house, and its ancient character destroyed, but a considerable part remains as a picturesque ruin. LINCOLNSHIRE. In Lincolnshire the remains of this period are more numerous and important, although that county is not very rich in Domestic work : in the city of Lincoln the gate- houses of the close were erected by the dean and chapter in the early part of this century, immediately after the grants from Edward i. and n. for enlarging their bounda- ries, and for enclosing and fortifying them. The Chequer or exchequer-gate, with its shops in the side passage, and the Potter-gate remain ; several residentiary houses were erected at the same period, and are partially remain- ing, though much altered and disfigured ; in one of these is the beautiful sideboard of which we have given an en- graving. The Cantilupe chantry-honse in the minster-yard was built soon afterwards. Utfington castle is of very similar character to Norborough, in Northamptonshire ; at Keyme, near Sleaford, is a stone tower of this century. Somerton castle, described and engraved in our first volume, is of the time of Edward i., and belongs as much to this century as to the last; it was probably not com- DOMKSTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY CHANTRY HOUSE. IN THE MINSTER YARD. LINCOLN. LINCOLN, — CANTILUPE CIIANTRY HOUSE. 239 pleted until after 1300. It bears considerable resemblance to Woodcroft. CANTILUPE CHANTRY HOUSE, LINCOLN. Close to the entrance into the Bishop’s palace, on the south side of the minster yard, stands the Cantilupe chantry house. This was formerly the residence of the clergy who celebrated at the altar of St. Nicholas in the cathedral; where Nicholas lord Cantilupe founded a chantry, with an endowment for the maintenance of three priests, in the year 1355. An enlargement of this foundation was made by the lady Joanna, widow of Lord Cantilupe, for a warden and seven chaplains: this was done in 13GG. The house, or college, as it used to be called l , was probably erected at the latter period, by the lady Cantilupe u . The walls are substantially built of squared stone, and remain entire, forming two fronts, or ranges of building, one facing the south, in length about 53 feet, the other, to- wards the east, only 40 feet. The outside was of a plain character, excepting only the north end. Here was the principal entrance, of which the arched door-case remains entire, though blocked up, and the ancient door was de- stroyed not many years since. It was neatly formed of strong oak planks, rivetted with bolts, and had a little wicket in the middle. In the centre is an oriel, or pro- jecting window, of very uncommoai form, which gives light to an upper chamber, and a view of the south porch of the minster. Unfortunately this curious window was muti- lated about two centuries ago, when a square wooden frame was inserted in place of the two mullions, and the tracery, which originally completed the design. The lower part is * Leland says it was corruptly called buried in the south ais-le of the pres- Hegcm College. I tin., vol. viii. p. 3. bytery, where the altar of St. Nicholas u The founder and his lady were stood, under the eastern window. 240 DOMESTIC A11CI1 ITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. supported by grotesque beads of stone, projecting very boldly; and the top is finished by a graduated coping, with a small embattled cornice. On each side of the window is a large shield of arms ; that on the dexter side bearing the arms of the Cantilupe family, the other those of Zouche. In the gable above the window is a niche, in which is a small figure of Christ seated, about two feet high. The right hand seems to have been held up, as in the act of benediction, but is broken off, as the left hand is also. On the head is the crown of thorns, and the breast is exposed to shew the wound in the right side. The gable end shews the original pitch of the roof, which was covered with lead, and rose to about two-fifths of the breadth of the building. The coping-stones of the gable ends are very neatly wrought with over-lapping joints, and at the top is a foliated finial. The sides of the roofs had no gutters or parapets, but only dripping-eaves. The ancient windows of the south and east sides have all been either blocked up or destroyed, but many of them may still be discovered. Those in the lower rooms were of a square form, four feet high in the clear, and scarcely three feet wide, divided into two lights by a plain mullion. They had no hood-moulds, or other ornaments, but all the angles were chamfered. The upper chambers had also windows with two lights each ; but these were more than a foot higher than those in the lower story, and had neat tracery at the top. All the windows were grated with iron bars. The inside of the house has been so much altered that nothing of its ancient style can be traced. The south range contained a hall and parlour, as is stated in the survey of 1649. There are cellars under this part of the house ; and, from the greater height of the western gable, it seems that there was another story extending over some part of that side of the building, though it has all been taken down excepting the gable. LINCOLN, — RECESS IN TITE PRIORY. 241 RECESS IN THE PRIORY, LINCOLN. This curious recess remains in a house now called “ The Priory,” in the close of Lincoln cathedral. It never was a convent or religious house, but only one of the mansions built by the dean and chapter for the use of the canons in residence. It stands within an angle formed by the close walls, which were built and fortified with towers, gates, and battlements, by licence from King Edward i., in the early part of the fourteenth century. The north side of the house is formed by a strong tower, three stories high ; formerly covered by a flat roof of lead, with embattled pa- rapets. The hall and other buildings adjoined to the south side of the tower, as we find by a survey made in 1049, by commissioners appointed by Parliament, after the cathedral had been dissolved, and the property of the chapter con- fiscated. The premises were held at that time by Edward Whichcott, Esq. “ The front of the said house, with the east side or range of building, con- sisteth of a faire hall, 40 feet long and 22 broad, with a buttery and cellar at the lower end of the said hall This agrees very nearly with the present buildings, although the hall and other apartments appear to have been taken down and rebuilt a short time after this survey upon the old site. The ground floor of the tower was used for a cellar and butterv ; and this recess at the lower end of the hall served as a side-board or table for holding cups, dishes, and other utensils for the dining- tables. An arched door adjoins to it, opening into the tower, and the hooks for the hinges of the buttery-hatch, or half door, remain in the stone jambs of this door- way. The walls being now covered with plaster, we can- not examine the front of the recess so exactly as could be wished, but nothing seems to have been altered or muti- T Extracted from the original in the registry of the dean and chapter. 242 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. lated, and the ornamental tracery is very perfect, only clogged with repeated washes of lime and yellow ochre. An arched recess, with a stone table within it, for a similar purpose to this, remains in the ruins of the bishop’s palace x . PARSONAGE HOU9E, MARKET DEEPING, LINCOLNSHIRE. In its perfect state this must have been a very interesting specimen of the Domestic architecture of the middle of the fourteenth century, or rather earlier. At the present time the hall alone, repre- sented in the annexed engraving, re- mains ; but this, though tolerably per- fect, is very much disguised by modern partitions, dividing it into separate apartments, both above and below. In its arrangement and proportions this hall exactly corresponds with the one at Northborough, distant scarcely two miles, having two square-headed win- dows filled with peculiar and beautiful tracery on each side. Of these, two only remain, the other two have dis- appeared. A passage at the back of the screen, at the end of the room, with a door at each end, the one opening to the front and the other to the back, and a door at the upper end, opening into a small projecting building, corresponding with the one described at Nor- borough, and which like that contained no doubt the stair of communication with the upper rooms. The screen has long disappeared; but this projecting building was only taken down a few years back, when considerable alter- ations and additions were made to adapt the house to the Window. Mirket Dcepmft. * This is represented in the Lincoln volume published by the Archseological Institute. LINCOLNSHIRE, MARKET DEEPING. 243 requirements of a modern residence. As far however as was practicable, whatever remained of genuine old work was preserved, and such fragments of traceried windows as were met with were placed in the new walls. The wall at the end of the hall next the offices was then taken down, and the doors of communication with the kitchen and butteries consequently no longer exist. One peculiar value of this example consists in its retain- ing its original roof, whilst that at Northborough has en- tirely disappeared, thus furnishing a tolerably certain ex- hibition of what the latter must have been in its perfect state. It is to be feared that there is no documentary evidence to assist in making out the history of this place, but the local tradition is that it was an appendage to the abbey at Crowland, and that at the dissolution of that monastery it was assigned as the parsonage house, being close to the church, for which purpose it continues to be used at the present time. § 5. STAFFORD, LEICESTER, AND RUTLAND. In the counties of Stafford, Leicester, and Rutland scarcely any domestic buildings of this period have been noticed ; some portions of the ruins of Tutbury and Dudley castles, in Staffordshire, may belong to this century. Of the royal palace, or rather manor-house, at Lichfield, there are no remains. In the 10th of Edward hi. a licence was granted to the bishop of Lincoln to crenellate his manor- house at Lyddington in Rutlandshire; part of this mansion was converted into a hospital in 1G02, by William Cecil, lord Burleigh, and some portions of the old buildings still exist. At Ketton, Rutland, a Decorated house (rather large for the period) was pulled down in 1830; it retained several 244 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. good single windows, some buttresses, and other features ; it had been applied to farm uses for some time before it was pulled down. § 0. — WARWICKSHIRE, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, AND HUNTINGDONSHIRE. In Warwickshire we have Maxstoke castle, and portions of Kenilworth and Warwick castles. KENILWORTH CASTLE. Kenilworth castle is of three distinct periods ; the Nor- man square keep has windows inserted in the time of Elizabeth ; there is also a smaller round tower of the Nor- man period, and part of the walls of enclosure also belong to it. These are the work of Geoffrey de Clinton in the time of Henry 11 . Of the great works recorded to have been carried on here in the thirteenth century, about the 24th of Henry m., very little now remains: they appear to have been of wood. The ruins of the great hall y and some other buildings at the west end of the inner court, still called Lancaster’s buildings, are rather of the Per- pendicular than the Decorated style, but they are of the fourteenth century, rather late in the reign of Edward hi., part of the work of John of Gaunt, who came into pos- session of it by his marriage with Blanche the heiress of the duke of Lancaster. The gate-house is a fine specimen of the Elizabethan style, and there are various alterations and insertions of the same time, made by Robert Dudley, carl of Leicester. WARWICK CASTLE. Warwick castle, though of early foundation, was almost entirely rebuilt in the fourteenth century by Thomas Beau- i There is a good engraving of the tnral Antiquities, vol. iv., with two other ruins of the hull in Britton's Architect- general views, and a plan. WARWICK CASTLE. 245 champ, earl of Warwick, about the 45th of Edward hi., and his successor Richard. The greater part of the pre- sent fabric belongs to this period, but the state apartments and the hall have been so much altered for the purposes of modern convenience, that they have lost nearly all original character. The substructure, however, remains perfect under the whole extent of the castle, with its series of vaults, divided by modern partitions : they seem to have been originally, as now, the servants’ apartments, the kitchen having been in one part of them, though not the same as that now in use : a considerable part seems to have been open as a kind of vestibule, or lower hall, pro- bably for the guards, as there are several plain fire-places in the wall. The vaults are groined, and have plain mas- sive ribs springing from short octagonal pillars, for the most part without any moulding or ornament of any kind, but a few of the pillars have moulded capitals, which are of rude clumsy mouldings, agreeing very well with the end of Edward hi., or beginning of Richard n. The few original windows are single lights, and there is a trefoil-headed doorway, which might have belonged to an earlier period, but they seeni to be all part of the same work. The chapel is on a level with the state apartments, and near the hall, it has been restored, but seems to have been part of the same work with the rest. One of the corner towers, called Caesar’s tower z , is very perfect, and very fine; in the substructure is the dungeon or prison ; the machicoulis round this tower, near the top, are very perfect, and very good, still carrying the covered passage or alure for the use of the soldiers in case of attack, which is so commonly wanting in English castles, that the real use of machicolations is seldom understood, they are in ' There is a good view of this tower, and another general view of the castle in liiitton's Arch. Autiq., vol. iv. 24G DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. general a series of corbels for the purpose of carrying a gal- lery of this kind, which was often of wood. The windows of this tower have pointed heads slightly ogeed, and tre- foiled. Another tower, called Guy’s tower, is of later character, having square-headed windows, but may be of the time of Richard n., as it is said to be part of the work of Richard Beauchamp. The entrance gate-house and the barbican are very perfect, with double gates and double portcullis, one of which is still in use every night, and has a wicket in it. MAXSTOKE CASTLE, WARWICKSHIRE. This is a fine example of a fortified house of about the middle of the fourteenth century ; the outer walls, with the four corner towers and the gate-house, are quite perfect, with the moat, and a bridge over it, which appear also to be original. The space within the walls consists of a court- yard, with the present dwelling-house in one corner, chiefly of timber-work, rebuilt in the seventeenth century, and re- mains of other half-timber buildings, which have been de- stroyed by fire. From the number of chimneys in the outer wall, and the absence of any marks of partition walls of stone, it is probable that a great part of the habitable buildings were originally of timber. A portion of the pre- sent house is however original, and the arrangement of the hall, chapel, and kitchen is preserved. The hall is on the first floor, with low rooms under it, one of which is vaulted, and is connected by a doorway with the ground room, in one of the corner towers ; this room has a good groined vault, with ribs meeting in the centre, the upper rooms are modernized. At the opposite end of the hall is the chapel, which has been the whole height of the house, separated from both the hall and the room under it, either by screens with shutters, or by partitions with openings in them ; this WARWICKSHIRE, — MAXSTOKE. 247 part is now modern, and the chapel itself divided by a floor, but the original arrangement can be clearly made out ; and the large west window of the chapel remains perfect, with late Decorated tracery. The kitchen is on the opposite side of the chapel, so that the passage from the kitchen to the hall must have been through the chapel ; and as the kitchen is on the ground floor, there was a low flight of steps of very gradual and easy ascent, leading across the west end of the chapel to the hall, and the sill of the win- dow, instead of being horizontal as usual, is sloping to re- ceive these steps, which passed close within it. The fire- places of the kitchen remain nearly perfect. There is an- other passage from the kitchen in the opposite direction, carried in the thickness of the wall to another corner tower; these towers are octagonal, and have good battlements and chimneys. The gate-house is very perfect and a fine example, the entrance passage has a good groined vault, with ribs and bosses ; the wooden doors are of the fifteenth century, richly carved, and partly covered with thin plates of iron a . The w r alls of the gate-honse and the corner turrets are per- fect, the only modern parts being the wooden floors by which it is divided into stories. The groove of the port- cullis shews that these plated doors were not the only protection. This house is called a castle, and is well cal- culated for defence, but it was evidently built for a dwelling-house, and not merely for a military fortress, although externally it has a very formidable castellated appearance b , and some of the ruined buildings in the * These gates were erected by Hum- who was one of the coheiresses of Thomas phrey, earl of Stafford, afterwards duke of Woodstock, duke of Gloucester. The of Buckingham, in the time of Henry iv. Stafford knot, and the burning nave also Among the ornaments upon them are his occur. arms, his own coat impaled with that of b There is a view of the exterior in his wife, a Nevil, and supported by two the Beauties of England, vol. xv. p. 316. antelopes, assumed in right of his mother, 248 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. court are said to have been casernes, or barracks for sol- diers ; it probably served both purposes. This fine struc- ture was chiefly erected by William De Clinton, earl of Huntingdon in the reign of Edward iii. c , and continued to be the chief seat of the family of Clinton until the reign of Henry iv., when it passed in exchange for certain manors in Northamptonshire, to Humphrey, earl of Stafford, after- wards duke of Buckingham. From the Staffords it passed to the Comptons, and of them it was purchased in the reign of Elizabeth, by the lord keeper, Egerton, by whom it was again sold to Thomas Dilke, esq., in whose family it still remains. At Coventry are several wooden windows with Decorated tracery, built into the walls of an inn, evidently removed from some other building, and almost unique in England. There are two or three other windows and other small portions of houses which may be of this century ; but the buildings of Coventry are chiefly of later date. St. Mary’s hall is a very fine example of a guild-hall of the fifteenth century. There are also two almshouses and a number of very good timber buildings of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. At Caludon, near Coventry, and formerly considered as a member of that city, are the remains of a manor-house, consisting of little more than a large fragment of the wall of one side of the hall, this was apparently large and lofty, raised above the ground on a low story ; two of the hall windows remain, they have ogee heads, are two lights wide, and have plain transoms. Of the lower story three windows remain, with semicircular heads, two lights wide, and with plain transoms ; all of Decorated date. In the 33rd of Edward i. John de Segrave obtained licence to crcnellate this house, and surround it with a moat. It was * The licence to crcnellate it was granted in the 19th Edward lit. NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, WOODCROFT. 249 in this house that Thomas Mowbray, duke of Norfolk, was lodged previous to the intended combat between himself and the duke of Hereford in the time of Richard ir. At Temple Balsall the hall of the Templars still exists though enclosed in later brick-work. It is of considerable size, of timber, divided into nave and aisles by massive wooden pillars. Northamptonshire, so justly celebrated for its fine churches, is rich also in domestic remains : of the fourteenth century we have Norborough, Woodcroft, Barnack, and Long- thorpe. In Huntingdon no remains of this period have been observed. NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, WOODCROFT. Woodcroft manor-house stands in the parish of Etton d , and county of Northampton, nearly a mile distant from the church, and about six miles from Peterborough. It has been already mentioned in our first volume, but the im- portance of this interesting example seems to require some further account of it ; and the style belongs rather to the fourteenth than the thirteenth century. It was evidently erected late in the reign of Edw. i. or early in that of Edw. ii., and in its appearance is very unlike any house in existence in this country of the same period. The probable history of the place is as follows. Herbert and Roger de Wodecroft held property in d Bridges thus describes this house; and stone windows and staircases within “In the parish of Eton is Woodcroft the house, and a round bastion towards house, an old manor-place, and from the north end, are of remarkable and the remains of antiquity, apparently in ancient workmanship. Over the porch former times a place of strength. It is or gateway is a chamber formerly the surrounded with a large water, except on chapel : in the wall is a bason for holy the western side, where the draw-bridge water, a long stone seat, and a large is supposed to have been. The doors window, now in part filled up, and made and long passages through the gateway, smaller. The walls are about four feet with two large atches and seats of stone, thick.” k k 250 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Wodecroft in the time of Edw. i. and n., and Lawrence de Preston held the fourth part of a knight’s fee of the abbot of Peterborough and Wodecroft, in the 26th year of Edw. i. About this time John de Calceto, a native of the district of Caux, in Normandy, was abbot of Peterborough, and appears to have been a great patron of building, as he is recorded to have erected the beautiful infirmary church at Peterborough, and no doubt the entrance gate to the bishop’s palace also, which is evidently of the same date, and has some peculiarities of style which give it a very foreign appearance. The reasonable inference to be drawn from these facts as regards Woodcroft manor-house is, that it was erected cither by one of the Wodecrofts, or by Preston under the guidance of Abbot de Calceto or some architect brought with him from Normandy, and this sup- position, if correct, will account for its foreign character above alluded to. It may here be remarked, that what remains of the par- sonage house at Market Deeping in the same neighbour- hood partakes the same character; but unfortunately it has recently undergone such extensive alterations that little of the original work remains. Woodcroft house in its perfect state consisted in all probability of a cpiadrangle surrounded by a moat, enclosing an area of about 1 1 0 feet square. This moat is wide and tolerably perfect, except on the entrance side, where a portion has been filled up to form an approach to the remains of the building, now used as a farm-house. These remains consist of a parallelogram of about 100 feet long by 24 wide, originally terminated at each end by a gable, with an attached circular tower, about 15 feet di- ameter, (of these only one remains, the foundations of the other were removed a few years back). In the centre of the parallelogram rises a square tower, under which is the arched entrance into the interior, and at the back a square NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, WOODCROFT. 251 projection, containing a staircase; with the exception of the side walls of the square tower, there are no remaining sub- divisions of the internal space. It appears to have been divided into two stories, a basement lighted by small square-headed windows, and a principal story apparently open to and including the roof lighted by the narrow windows with the square-headed-trefoil peculiar to this period, each divided into two lights by a transom. The space thus lighted, probably on one side of the gateway, was used as the hall, what the corresponding space oil the other side was used for it is now difficult to say. Over the gateway is a room said to have been used for a chapel ; it was lighted at the back by one large square-headed win- dow, now built up. This window was probably originally subdivided into smaller lights corresponding in sty le with the other windows, as the bases of two shafts or mullions corresponding in style are lying on the ground at the en- trance gate. A stair of communication led to this room from the basement, and was continued to the roof above. The round tower remaining is divided in its height into three O O stories, a basement lighted as before described, with small square windows ; the upper windows corresponding with those of the body of the building except that they have no transom. The basement has this peculiarity, that it has no original communication with the rest of the house, and was therefore in all probability used as a prison with a commu- nication from above. The square central tower has also this peculiarity, that it has no back wall, i.e., the lateral walls terminate at the ridge of the roof of the main building. The external walls are from 2 ft. to 2 ft. G in. thick, with well-finished ashlar facing. The mouldings are executed in the best style, and are characteristic of the period, parti- cularly those at the summit of the square central tower, which are peculiarly bold and effective. No part of the 252 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. building appears to have been embattled, nor is there any provision for a portcullis. This house is now attached to a farm the property of Earl Fitzwilliam, and derives an additional interest from having been the scene of the tragical termination of the life of l)r. Hudson, so admirably parodied in Walter Scott’s novel of Woodstock, under the fictitious name of Dr. Rocliffe. NORROROUGH. Norborough is a small village about seven miles from Peterborough, and in the county of Northampton. Accord- ing to Bridges the name was sometimes written Norborough, and anciently Northburgh. Nothing appears to be recorded respecting this house, called the old manor-house, excepting that it was formerly considerably more extensive than at present, a considerable part having been pulled down in the latter part of the last century ; and that the wife of Oliver Cromwell died in it, and his son-in-law John Clay- pole resided here. The manor-house stands at a short distance to the west of the church. The most interesting parts, and those intended to be used as illustrations of our subject, belong evidently to the middle of the fourteenth century, and the following documentary facts may assist to elucidate its history. Brian de la Mare, who appears to have been the pos- sessor of property in Norborough, held the office of forester of Kesteven, an adjoining district of Lincolnshire, in the third year of Henry hi.; Geoffrey de la Mare his descendant accounted for one knight’s fee in Norborough, Woodcroft, and Maxey, 20th of Edw. in., and married the daughter of Geoffrey le Scrope, one of the king’s judges. The his- tory of this man, the last of his family, as recorded by DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, NORBOROUGII. 253 Bridges, is very singular, and it is probable that he held the forestership of Kcsteven, though this does not certainly appear by any document yet discovered. It is to this Geoffrey de la Mare that the erection of the manor-house at Norborough may in all probability be ascribed. “This Geoffrey laid claim to the con^tableship of the abbey of Peterborough, of which Brian de la Mare, his great grandfather, died possessed in fee in the reign of Henry nr., and brought his action against the abbat for the recovery of it. By virtue of this office, he claimed the privilege of commanding the men with which the convent furnished the king’s army in war, being sup- plied for that purpose, with horses, armour, and whatever else was needful for himself and one knight; of setting the first dish on the table before the abbat at the installation dinner of every new abbat, and of taking to his own use all the gold and silver vessels that should be then placed on the abbat’s table ; with the liberty of sojourning in the abbey as long as he pleased, with three esquires, six grooms, five horses, one great horse for the saddle, and two greyhounds ; and of being found, at the cost and charges of the abbey, in bread, wine, beer, flesh, fish, hay and oats, and all other necessaries ; with the allowance of two robes from the abbat’s wardrobe, or four pounds in lieu of them. Afterwards an agreement was entered into, by which the said Geoffrey de la Mare, in consideration of sixty marks sterling', quitted his pretensions to the said constableship, at the same time renouncing all right to materials from the convent’s woods at Peychirche, either for repairs, or firing, at his manors of Makeseye, Wodecroft, and Northburgh” “In the thirty-second year of Edward I. this Geoffrey, who had procured a charter for a market and fair at Northburgh, on the complaint of the convent, that the same was prejudicial to the town of Peterborough, gave up his charter to the abbat and his successors for ever ; and in return the convent granted that he should take to himself the fines of two free tenants, and of one bondman, arising from a transgression of the assize of beer, within the hundred of Langdyke g .” “Geoffrey de la Mere died in 1327, and was buried amongst his ancestors, in St. Mary’s chapel, in Peterborough. He married three wives, having by one of the two former two daughters, and putting away the third wife, Mar- garet, then big with child at Peterborough, where the child being born was called Geoffrey, after his father. Ilis sisters afterwards asserted that he was illegitimate, that Margaret his mother was only their father’s concubine, and • Equal to about 6001. of modern cur- rency. f MS. Cott. Vesp. E. xxii. p. 1. a, b, quoted by Bridges, vol. ii. p. 527. * MS. Cott. Vesp. E. xxii. fo. 76, b, quoted by Bridges from Gunton’s Petcr- boro’. These extracts afford such a curious insight into the manners of the age, that our readers will thank us for tran- scribing them, though only inciden- tally connected with our immediate object. 254 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. that he had no hereditary right to his father’s lands. On this occasion abbot Adam de Boothbie, as guardian to the child, defended the cause for three years, and compelled the sisters to drop the suit. But his father having held lands in Essex of John Bohun, earl of Hereford and Essex, that nobleman demanded Geoffrey from the abbot, and by force got him into his possession. The abbot pursuing the matter at law, the dispute was compromised by his paying the earl one hundred pounds, who, still keeping the minor, the king, by writ, commanded the sheriff to seize and bring him before the judge, at York, to be there awarded to his right guardian. At length the earl freely gave him up to the abbot, and on his death-bed commanded his executors to restore the hundred pounds to the monastery of Peterborough. After this the abbot married this Geoffrey to the daughter of Geoffrey le Scrope, one of the king’s chief justices. “ It is this Geoffrey de la Mare who is believed to have been the builder of Norborough manor-house, and the south aisle of the church.” The only portions of the original buildings now remain- ing consist of the gate-house and hall, forming opposite sides of a court, with some portions of buildings adjoining the hall. They are constructed of stone, partly ashlar and partly rubble, with finished dressings. In its complete state it probably consisted of a quadrangle surrounded by a moat, but the moat has disappeared altogether. The gate-house, which has lost its top, has one fine bold moulded arch to the front, and a corresponding one to the back, with an intermediate large and small arch, dividing the depth into two unequal parts ; these divisions were originally arched over with ribbed groins resting on moulded corbels, but these vaultings have been destroyed. On the left hand side is a door leading to a small stair also de- stroyed, and from this another door leads into a small room, used in all probability as a guard room. There is no provision for a portcullis, resembling in this respect its elder neighbour at Woodcroft. Immediately facing this gate-house, and at a distance of about fifty feet, stand the hall and adjoining buildings ; the former a room of 36 by 24 feet, lighted by square-headed transomed windows, two on each side, separated from each other by a buttress. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY COURT. GATEWAY. Zfel E. Blore, dtl. O. Jmitt, it. plan. J NORJBOROUOH. NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, — NORBOROUGII. 255 At the end is the usual arrangement of a screen, now modernized, forming a passage at the back, with an ex- ternal door at each end and a gallery above, and three doors opening from this passage into the offices. These doors have pointed ogee arches, finished externally with rich crockets, and with ball-flower ornaments in the hollow mouldings, the whole executed in the best style of the period. There appears to be no provision for a fire, and the original fittings, including the timbers of the roof, are entirely destroyed to convert the space into a modern resi- dence. At the north-west angle of the hall, and commu- nicating with it by a door, is a small space which probably contained the stair of communication with the upper rooms of the adjoining buildings now destroyed, as an arched door on a higher level than the floor of the hall, and which could only be reached by a stair, now remains built up in the wall. This space has been lighted by narrow loops. At the west end of the hall is a loner cross building en- tered by the three doorways already described. This build- ing in all probability contained a portion of the butteries, kitchens, and other offices ; but the whole arrangement of the interior, and the external details, are so completely ob- literated, that it might be doubted whether it formed part of the original buildings, were it not for the finish of the northern gable with its beautiful finial. To the north, and opening into the hall, is a porch erected about the time of Henry the Seventh. Externally, the details of the hall are extremely beautiful. Under the eaves is a continued ball- flower ornament in a deep hollow moulding. The western gable is enriched with crockets, and terminated by a small chimney of exquisite design and execution, nor are the tracery and mouldings of the windows and doorways in any respect inferior to the other parts. In connection with the Hate-house is a ran He of buildinns erected about the time of 25G DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Charles the First, for stables, &c. ; at which time it is pro- bable the greater part of the original buildings were de- stroyed, the hall divided into floors, and the dormer win- dows in the roof inserted to give light to the upper rooms. Having described this most interesting specimen of early domestic work, it may not be irrelevant to the subject to notice a portion of the adjoining church, erected evidently at the same period, and whose history is in all probability intimately connected with it. This consists of a south aisle or transept of most beautiful design and execution, with rich traceried windows, ball-flower ornamented mould- ings, and all the peculiar characteristics of the period. It appears to have been erected as a family burial place, as there is a spacious vault underneath, and under the large south window are two arched recesses, evidently intended to contain effigies, but these effigies no longer occupy their places. It is, however, a most extraoi dinary circumstance, that in the churchyard of the adjoining parish of Glinton are two mutilated stone effigies most distinctly of the time of Edw. hi., a knight and a lady, the knight wearing, in addition to the usual appendages of a sword, &c., a bugle- horn suspended from his side, the badge of a forester. Now as there does not appear to have ever been a family of the slightest importance connected with Glinton to whom these effigies can have belonged, and as the badge above described connects them with the De la Mares, the foresters of Kisteven and owners of Norborough, the con- clusion is almost irresistible that they occupied the arches under the south window of that church, and represent Geoffrey de la Mare and his wife, the daughter of Geoffrey le Scrope, the last of their race, and the builders of the manor-house and chapelat Nor boro ugh. To explain the singular circumstance of the removal of these effigies it must be borne in mind that Norborough became the property and WORCESTERSHIRE. 257 resilience of the Claypoles, whose connexion with Cromwell might, on the restoration of monarchy and the zeal of re- turning loyalty, have induced the inhabitants of the village to expel them from a supposed connexion with that ob- noxious individual ; but how they came to be received at the adjoining village is more difficult to account for. One thing however is quite clear, that they were not considered sufficiently popular to be received into the church, other- wise they would not have been consigned to the church- yard, where they have long been exposed to injury and insult. Norborough is now the property of Earl Fite william. There is a good chimney in a barn near Aldwinkle. It rises out of a gable, and is stumpy in proportion, but well moulded and battlemented. In the gable are two circular openings, one on each side of the chimney. § 7 . WORCESTERSHIRE AND GLOUCESTERSHIRE. In Worcestershire very few remains of Domestic build- ings of the fourteenth century have been observed, but it is probable that, when more carefully examined, many more will be found. In the city of Worcester itself the Guesten Hall is still in existence, though much mutilated and divided by modern partitions. It has a wooden gable- end, the frame-work of which was very well arranged with a good deal of cusping. The side walls are of stone, and the windows arranged as at Mayfield, under arches thrown across from buttress to buttress. An engraving of this hall as restored by A. E. Perkins, was executed at the expense of the late Canon Digby. At Bredon there is a magnificent barn of this age, which has over one of the transepts a room with an original chim- ney of good character, and very perfect. It is perforated 1 . 1 25S DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. and gabled on each side, and has a small conical ter- mination. At King’s Norton, on one side of the churchyard, stands a small building, partly of wood, and partly stone, much patched and altered by repairs, but one gable contains a three-light window of oak, with tracery which has the ap- pearance of being of the latter part of the fourteenth century. The fine timber hall of the abbot at Malvern has been wantonly destroyed within the last few years ; fortunately careful drawings of it have been preserved by Mr. Blore, of which engravings are here given by his kind permission. At Broadway there is a house of this period, the property of the eminent antiquary and collector of manuscripts, Sir Thomas Phillips, which deserves a careful examination. Of Dudley castle and priory some portions are believed to be of this period. Weoblas hall and Birt’s Morton hall are also alleged to belong to this age. GLOUCESTERSHIRE. At Standish, adjoining the churchyard, is a dwelling of some extent, part of which is of early Decorated character, and the greater part may be, though altered very consider- ably in late Perpendicular and in modern times. A good portion of the gateway remains, much ruined. Adjacent to this dwelling, but outside the gateway, is a late Perpendi- cular building, of plain character, in good preservation. The Grange, in the parish of Tetbury, (a farm-house,) has the dairy formed of part of the chapel, which is of the Decorated style. The walls have been lowered and the window-heads destroyed : the east wall plastered, and its construction hid ; there was a two-light window in each side wall : the piscina remains, and has a plain trefoiled head, broken ; the rest of the house is of the time of James i. or Elizabeth. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. GLOUCESTERSHIRE 259 Beverstone castle, a fortified mansion of the Berkeleys, is now a mere ruin, quadrangular in plan, with a tower at each angle ; one of the towers and the chapel only re- main ; it is mounded by a moat. Berkeley castle is of various periods, partly Norman ; the exterior is fine, but the interior much altered to adapt it for modern uses. The hall is perfect, and a very fine one of the fourteenth century. In a street on the west side of the city of Gloucester is a small detached house of this century. It seems to be nearly (if not quite) entire, and consists of a parallelogram of two stories, the lower is vaulted, partly sunk in the ground, and lighted by plain small pointed windows. The upper story has windows of two lights of late Decorated character. This story was entered by an external door reached by a short flight of steps. At Stanley Pontlarge there are remains of a manor- house, now a farm-house, rather late Decorated work, with a square-headed window of unusual form, which has been engraved from a drawing by Mr. Petit, in the sixth volume of the Archaeological Journal. In a farm-house at Bishop’s Cleeve is a fine chimney of the time of Edward i., con- sisting of a tall octagonal shaft, springing from a square base, and crowned with a small obtuse spire, and openings like spire lights, with other openings, trefoil-headed, at the top of the shaft, below the cornice of the spire. At Eve- sham a small part of the buildings of the abbey remain, in which there is a fine tall chimney with an embattled top and trefoil-headed openings, rather late in this century. St. Briavel’s castle was begun in the time of Henry i., by Milo Fitz-Walter, earl of Hereford, the present struc- ture is chiefly of transitional Norman character, and a fine specimen of a fortified mansion of that period. There are numerous fire-places, one to almost every room, and on one 2G0 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. of the gables is a remarkably good chimney of the early part of the fourteenth century. $ S. — OXFORDSHIRE, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, AND BERKSHIRE. In Oxfordshire, besides some slight remains of Bampton castle, we have Broughton and Shirburn, and some other slight remains. BAMPTON CASTLE, OXFORDSHIRE. There appears to have been a house or castle on the site from a remote period, and the notice in the Domesday Survey would lead to the inference that Bampton was a place of much greater importance at that time than at present. In 1046 bishop Leofric gave his lands in Bamp- ton, or Bemtune, to the then newly founded see of Exeter, and the bishopric of Exeter still holds the same property. But the castle was rebuilt in the time of Edward n., by Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, whose beautiful tomb in Westminster abbey is well known to the anti- quarian world, especially since the publication of the ad- mirable engraving of it in Mr. Blore’s Sepulchral Monu- ments. In the 8th of Edward n., a.d. 1315, he obtained the licence to kernellate, or fortify, his house at Bampton, and there is no doubt that the gate-house and walls which remain belong to this period. It is mentioned again in the Patent Bolls, 5th and 16th Edward in. ; but these entries relate only to the succession of the manor. The house appears to have remained in a tolerably perfect state up to the time of the Commonwealth, as Antony a Wood, who visited it about that period, describes it as a quad- rangular building moated round, with towers at each cor- ner, and a gate-house of tower-like character on the west and east sides. He gives a rude sketch of it, which was DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY REMAINS OF THE CASTLE OF AYMER DE VALENCE. AT BAMPTON. OXFORDSHIRE. AD. 1315. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. BROUGHTON CASTLE. OXFORDSHIRE OXFORDSHIRE, — BROUGHTON CASTLE. 2G1 engraved by Michael Burghers, and published in Ilearne’s Life of Wood. Skelton, in his Antiquities of Oxfordshire, gives a small engraving of the back of the gate-house as it now stands. BROUGHTON CASTLE, OXFORDSHIRE. Broughton castle (or Broughton house, as it was formerly called) lies about three miles from Banbury on the road to Shipston on Stour, in a hollow formed by gentle wooded hills. The house and grounds are completely enclosed by a remarkably fine wide moat, the only entrance being by a bridge and gateway on the south side. Near this, and em- bowered in trees, stands the church, a fine Decorated build- ing, with a spire, and containing several rich monuments. At first sight the house appears to be a fine Elizabethan mansion, the whole of the west front, and the greater part of the south being of that style, while the east, which is not so conspicuous, is almost wholly of the fourteenth cen- tury, and it is this part which we have here to describe. The family of De Broughton were settled here, and had a grant of free warren, in the time of Edw. i., and as the style of the building perfectly agrees with this date, to them must be attributed the erection of the original build- ing. It does not appear how long the De Broughtons held it, but it seems in the 13th of Edw. n. to have been con- firmed to Robert de Holland, and in the 7th of Edw. iv., 1467, a licence to crenellate or fortify (“ /cernellare”) the mansion of his manor of Broughton was granted to Thomas Wickham. To this period may therefore be referred the outer works, the offices adjoining the gate-house, the upper story of the gateway, &c. The estate passed soon after by marriage into the family of Fenys or Fiennes, who were settled here in 1451, and who in the 2nd year of Mary, 1554, altered or rebuilt a 2G2 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. great portion of the house, and in the possession of whose representative, the lord Say and Sele, it still remains. By a careful examination the original plan of the build- ing may be made out with tolerable accuracy, and is shewn in the accompanying engraving by black lines. It will be seen that the principal additions have been the west front, the projecting bays on the north front, and the staircases at the back. The eastern portion remains almost in its original state. It is evident from the buttresses remaining on the north side, and portions of window labels and door jambs on the south, that the hall still retains its original plan and pro- portions, the alterations being the addition of two large bay windows on the north side, in one of which also is the principal entrance ; and two staircases and other offices on the south. The western end, where probably was originally the kitchen, was at the same time converted into two mag- nificent rooms, a dining and a drawing room, with pro- jecting bay windows, and having internally rich renaissance fire-places, door-cases, cornices, and ceilings, and in the dining room a curious internal porch. The alterations seem to have been conversions, not additions, except the bay window, the original wall appearing to have had the same extent westward as at present. It is not possible to say whether the projection on the north side marked E. E. on the plan is part of the original design, or an addition of this period, but probably the latter. At the opposite end of the hall we find a groined pas- sage leading from the south-east angle, eastward to the stairs of the chapel, and to the present kitchen and other offices, and northward to the entrance of a winding, or newel staircase, which communicated with all the stories of the house. Out of the southern part of this passage are three arches or doorways opening into a room, with a plain DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. DOMESTIC ARCII ITECTUIIK : FOURTEENTH CENTURY GROINED PASSAGE LEADING FKOJJ THE HALL TO THE CHAPEL BROUGHTON CASTLE, OXFORDSHIRE. OXFORDSHIRE, — BROUGHTON CASTLE. 2G3 quadripartite groined roof of three bays, which reaches to the north front, where it is lighted by two windows, and it has had originally a doorway into the passage leading to the staircase before mentioned. Adjoining it is another groined room of small size, which opens into the same passage. The other rooms which communicate with it are a small tower at the south-east angle, and two other groined rooms, one of which is under the chapel, and has some good bosses at the intersection of the ribs. The chapel, which is on the upper floor, is approached from the passage by a long flight of stone steps. It is of small dimensions, being only 17 ft. 7 in. by 10 ft. 9 in., but lofty, and occupying the height of two of the other stories' 1 . The east end is almost entirely occupied by a large three-light window, with geometrical tracery, having a large circle en- closing three smaller cinquefoiled ones in the centre, and a trefoil in the head of each side light'. Under the window is the original altar-slab ; it is of stone, and supported on three stone brackets. The floor of the chapel is paved with encaustic tiles, among which are many good and valuable patterns. At the west end is a door communicating with the principal rooms, and im- mediately within the entrance from the steps is a doorway now blocked up, which communicated with a staircase lead- ing to the upper rooms, and outside the entrance door on the top of the flight of steps is the entrance to another newel staircase also leading into the upper rooms, and from h See the description of The Chapel, 2. Or, a cross engrailed sable, Brough- p. 79. ton. 1 In the three circles the following In the church is a monument to one arms in stained glass still remain : of the De Broughtons, and he bears 1. Ermine, a fesse counter compony these arms on his shield, azure and or. 3. Or, a lion rampant, vert. The Ardens, the Dauntres, and Cham- This is borne by the families of Rob- bers, bear Ermine, a fesse compony, but sart, Bartrain, and Sutton. There are this is counter compony. some small portions in the other lights. 2G4 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. this is a grated opening looking into the chapel. The room above is large, and is lighted by two large square-headed windows, with Perpendicular tracery. From this room a square opening 10 inches from the floor, and 3 ft. G in. high, has been left into the chapel (but now blocked up). This room communicates on the opposite side with another small room, having a geometrical pointed window of similar cha- racter to the chapel window, and through this with the small tower before mentioned. The small size of the chapel rendering it impossible for it to accommodate more than the officiating priests, it seems more than probable that the large upper room was intended for the use of the rest of the establishment, who would, by means of the opening, hear the service which was being per- formed in the chapel. The grated opening on the stairs might be intended for a pur- pose similar to that of the hagioscope. The small room adjoining the large one has the appearance of a priest’s room, but there is another room ad- joining the chapel, and on the same floor, and having the re- mains of a groined roof, which seems more likely to have been used for that purpose. The situation of all these apartments will be best understood by a reference to the annexed section. Immediately over the large room just mentioned are two apartments in the roof (which is plain, with curved braces) Entrance to the Chapel, DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. OXFORDSHIRE, — BROUCI1TON CASTLE. 205 having a door opening on to the leads within the parapet ; there is an octagonal chimney at the south end, but that at the north is later; the room is lighted by a single window. This is called the guard room, and there is another and larger apartment occupying the whole roof of the east part of the building, which is called the barracks, and the door of which opens on to the same leads. It is very probable they were both originally intended for the purposes which their names indicate, and much more so that they were actually used for this purpose when the castle was gar- risoned in the civil wars. The small tower at the angle is occupied by garderobcs or closets to the different stories, and has very good cruci- form loopholes on three sides. This tower is shewn in the south-east view. In this view are also seen two large ori- ginal windows, the easternmost of which in the building is mutilated, but is here restored from the existing remains ; the other gives light to a room which reaches through the entire width of the building, and is lighted by another win- dow in the north front. This room lies over the groined apartment before mentioned. In this view is also shewn a singular projecting garderobe closet, with its drain. Eastward of this part of the building, and reaching to the moat, is another erection partly of the fifteenth century and partly later, and comprising the kitchen and other offices. This seems to have been connected by a wall with the offices adjoining the gate-house. These offices are of fifteenth-century work, and have originally had a passage communicating with a staircase leading to the upper story of the gate-house. The gate-house itself is of two different dates, the lower story from its mouldings, and the corbels remaining within the archway, being clearly of the four- teenth century, while the upper story is as clearly of that of the fifteenth. m m 200 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. A portion of the ancient wall, with its battlements ex- tending from the west side of the gate-house almost to the north-west angle of the house, still remains, and being almost covered with ivy adds greatly to the picturesque appearance of the gate-house and bridge. Taken altogether Broughton castle is a most interesting building, whether we regard the original portion or the more modern additions. The arrangement of the eastern portion being almost in its original state renders this part particularly valuable. The greatest peculiarity of this part consists in the beautiful groined passage which leads in one direction to the chapel, and in the other to the principal staircase, which, before the present staircases were made, must have been the only means of access to the solar, and other principal apartments, and this end having evidently been the portion of the building appropriated to the state apartments, that circumstance fully accounts for the rich- ness of the groined passage. The whole arrangement of this part is therefore worth a careful study. The principal parts erected in the fifteenth century, when the licence to crenellate was obtained, must have been the walls within the moat, which originally surrounded the whole place, and of which portions yet remain ; the offices ad- joining the gate-house; the upper story of the gate-house, the embattled portion of the building which now contains the kitchen, the guard-room, and the windows of the room over the chapel. The three different periods may then be thus defined, the fourteenth century as the work of the De Broughtons, the fif- teenth of the Wickhams, and the sixteenth of the Fienneses. Seen from the north-west Broughton castle presents the appearance of a fine Elizabethan mansion, (though built a few years before the commencement of her reign ;) with large bay windows transomed and divided into many lights, DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. OXFORDSHIRE. OXFORDSHIRE, — WOODSTOCK. 267 and with its gables and chimneys, it harmonizes finely with the trees and water with which it is surrounded. WOODSTOCK, OXFORDSHIRE. There is an old house in the lower part of the town which is commonly said to have been part of the palace, but neither its situation nor its appearance agree with this vague tradition. It is situated in that part of the town called Old Woodstock, but the site of the palace was within the boundary of the park : part of this house, however, is of the fourteenth century, and it has retained one of its old fire-places, with a plain segmental arch, and the mouldings over it, and its chimney, which is a very elegant one, having a spiral termination and openings for the smoke on the sides. Of Shirburn castle the external walls are perfect, with the moat and draw-bridges. It is a quadrangular build- ing with a round tower at each corner, and battlements, but the windows are modern, and the interior much mo- dernized. Some of the ground rooms have groined vaults, one of them is called the ancient entrance hall and seems to have been a kind of vestibule k . The licence to crenellate this mansion was granted in the 51st of Edward hi. to Warine de l’lsle, but the style of the architecture seems to indicate that the w r ork, though commenced soon after the licence was obtained, was not completed before the 15th century. This is now the seat of the earl of Macclesfield. At Wroxton abbey the east window 7 of the chapel and some other fragments of this period have been preserved. In a house at Shutford there is a Decorated doorway. At Rotherfield Greys a brick tower and some other por- tions belong to the early part of this century, if not earlier. k There are engravings of this and of the exterior in Skelton’s Oxfordshire. 2G8 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. The following licences to crenellate houses in this county were also granted in the 14th century. 11th Edward n. at Kersington? probably Garsington, where there are some portions of an old manor-house. 12th Edward n. at Chiselhampton — the house has been rebuilt. 1 Edward hi. at Stanton Harcourt, — no part of the work of that period now remains. 4th Edward in. at Wickham — there is probably a mis- take of the county for Berkshire, as there is no such place in Oxfordshire. 12 Edward in. at Watlington ; of this there are no re- mains, and the same year at Cublesdon? probably Cud- desdon, which has been rebuilt, but evidently on an old site. B UCKING H AMSHI RE, — M A RLO W. At Great Marlow the old parsonage house has remains of a good hall of the time of Edward ill., with two win- dows, one on each side, tolerably perfect, each with its little gable like a dormer in the roof, the side walls being very low, the window itself square-headed, with flowing tracery and a segmental inner arch ; the roof has arched tie-beams, with king-posts and braces ; one bay of it only is perfect ; the hall being divided by modern partitions. The arrange- ment of these windows is similar to those of Stokesav, and shews what Sutton Courtenay must have been. Another fine hall remains near the bridge, though in a very mutilated state, it is of earlier character, in the style of the early part of Edward i., belonging rather to the thirteenth than the fourteenth century. It has lancet win- dows, blocked up, and part of the corbel-table is perfect. The walls are of chalk and flint, but much mutilated ; one of the lancet windows retains its moulded dripstone. The finest part is the roof, which is nearly perfect, and very BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. 2C9 good, though plain, the timbers are arched, and have arched braces, the wall-plate is merely chamfered and recessed, the end collar-beam crosses a lancet window in the gable, but all seems to be original. BURNHAM ABBEY, BUCKS. The ruins of Burnham abbey are situated near the bank of the Thames, about two miles below Maidenhead. They consist of part of the domestic buildings, the chapel and refectory having been destroyed, partly within a few years. The portions which remain are very substantially built of flint, with stone dressings: the windows are all lancet- shaped but small, and evidently belonging to habitable rooms, though it is now scarcely possible to make out their exact use. There are also two good doorways, with moulded dripstones ; all the details are of the character usual in the early part of the reign of Edward i. The abbey was founded in 12G5, by Richard, king of the Romans, but the parts which remain are probably not those which w r ere first built. CRESLOW MANOR-HOUSE, BUCKS. This has been a fine manor-house of the time of Edw. hi., with a large central hall of timber, of which a portion re- mains, now divided into modern apartments, and two wings or towers of stone, one of which has been destroyed, the other remains tolerably perfect, with the ground rooms vaulted as usual. The chapel is a detached building, and of earlier date. The house was surrounded by a moat, but seems to have been only slightly fortified. BERKSHIRE, DONYNGTON CASTLE. Of this castle nothing now remains but the gateway, flanked by its two round lofty towers. It was built in the year 13S6, as we find an entry in the Patent Rolls in the 270 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : POURTEENTI1 CENTURY. 9th year of Richard u. that a licence ' was given to Ricus Abberbury to build a castle in Donyngton. About ten years after its erection the poet Chaucer re- tired here, in the seventieth year of his age, having pur- chased it from the son of the founder. After Chaucer’s death it came into the hands of William de la Pole, duke of Suffolk, next it descended to his son, by whom it was forfeited to the crown. In the civil wars it was a post of great consequence, and was twice besieged, the last time three of its towers were destroyed. After the wars were at an end the ruinous parts were taken down, leaving only the gateway and part of the east wall, which now remain. WINDSOR CASTLE, BERKSHIRE. So large a proportion of this magnificent palace is modern work, and even of the older part so small a portion can with any probability be assigned to the time of Edward hi., and the work of William of Wykeham, that it hardly falls within the scope of this work. It may, however, be interesting to mention that two or three of the towers are his work ; one is known by the name of Wykeham’s tower, and bears the inscription “ this made Wykeham.” Another, called the powder magazine, and used for that purpose, is of the same character, and these agree so well with his towers at Win- chester and New College, that there is little doubt they are his work; there is a marked peculiarity in nearly all his towers in the manner in which a corner turret grows out of the body of the tower, and does not rise from the ground. The small wooden cloister is believed to be also part of his work ; the accompanying engraving will shew that its character agrees with his time. The larger stone cloister connected with St. George’s chapel is also considered by 1 Rot. Pat. 9 Ric. n. “ Quod Ricus Abberbury possit coustruere castruin in solo de Donyngton in com’ Berk.” BERKSHIRE. 271 Mr. Blorc as part of Wykeham’s work m , and it agrees with his other cloisters at Winchester and New college. BISHAM ABBEY, BERKSHIRE. The present mansion formed part of the buildings of the abbey, probably the abbot’s house ; the walls and roofs are ancient, though the appearance of the house has been much altered, chiefly in the time of Henry vm. or Queen Mary, when her sister, the princess Elizabeth, was confined here. The entrance porch is of the time of Edward i., and has a groined vault, with moulded ribs, and shafts with capi- tals. The doorway under the porch is of the same period, and the wooden door has the old iron-work upon it. The entrance hall has been entirely refitted in the time of Ilenry viil, and has a good music gallery of that period; the roof is high pitched, and appears to be ancient, but is plastered over. Behind the music gallery are the kitchen and offices, which have been much altered, and over them is a long chamber or solar, said to have been the chapel, having at the end, near the entrance porch, a fine window resembling a chapel window, of two lights, with a foliated circle in the head, in the style of the latter part of the thirteenth century, it also has the original open timber roof of the same period. Over another wing of the house is a very fine timber roof also of the time of Edward i., with tie-beams and king- posts, arched braces and moulded wall-plates ; this roof is concealed by a floor and ceiling, forming chambers in the roof, which are called the secret chambers, and are only accessible by means of a ladder. The walls are original, but have had bay windows thrown out in the time of Ilenry vm., and the suite of rooms is entirely of that period. See Arch. Journal, vol. iii. 272 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. HURLEY PRIORY, BERKSHIRE. There are some remains of the Domestic buildings of this small priory, originally Norman, but altered in the time of Edward n. ; these form two sides of a small quadrangle, one side of which is formed by the church, and which has had a wooden cloister ; in the wing opposite the church there is an upper room, apparently the dormitory, having a range of single light trefoil-headed windows n towards the quad- rangle, and larger windows of two lights on the opposite side. The ground floor has been altered and turned into a stable in the time of James i., the handsome wooden fittings of a stable of that period are perfect and curious. The church is Norman, and has recently been well restored. SUTTON COURTENAY, BERKSHIRE. A house of about the middle of the fourteenth century, or the reign of Edward the Third ; the hall is nearly per- fect, it measures 40 ft. by 23 ft. 10 in.; its original open timber roof remains, it is very lofty, canted, and supported by king-posts, with struts resting on wooden arches which rise from stone corbels, most of which are carved into heads, and one of these has the wimple ; the arches and purlins are well moulded, with the quarter round and fillet. There are two windows on each side, which have originally been lofty, with pointed heads carried up through the roof in the manner of dormers, these have been altered, having been cut off’ at the transoms ; the alteration of the roof conse- quent upon this is very perceptible, the dormers over the heads of the windows having been removed, and on the outside these windows being thus made square-headed, n The dimensions of these windows springing of the arch. The size of the are rather peculiar, 2 ft. 5J in. wide by room is about 20 ft. 6 in. by 66 ft. 2 ft. 34 in. from the sill to the line of the 7(1 trrt DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY SOOTH VIEW, SUTTON COURTENAY, BERKSHIRE. Low side Window. A. Screen. B. Fireplace. GROUND PLAN. C. Locker. . * BERKSHIRE, — SUTTON COURTENAY. 273 have wooden labels put over them; and a. modern parapet of lath and plaster has been added ° : the lights below the transoms have never had glass fixed in them, but must have been closed with casements or shutters. This hall is now called the chapel, which it clearly was not, though it may have been occa- sionally ap- plied to that use. It is very re- markable that under one of the windows of this hall is a low side window, the first that has been noticed in Domestic Low side Window work p : this is nearly perfect on the inside, and has good Decorated tracery : the hooks for hanging the shutter also remain, but on the outside it is plastered over. At the north end of the hall is the passage called the Screens, with a doorway at each end according to the usual arrangement : the framing of this passage is original, and the bays of the roof are made to agree with this arrangement. The two wings of this house have been more or less altered, one more than the other, being now used as the 0 These windows have been restored its use; this hall belongs to the build- in the woodcut annexed. ings of the monastery, converted to its r There is a low side window in the present purpose after the Reformation, hall at Cheetham’s hospital, Manchester; but nearly the whole of the monastic it is there called the Dole window, which buildings remain perfect, may probably be the true explanation of n n 274 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. dwelling house ; the south wing is more perfect, and in this is the solar, which was probably about 35 feet by 17, and the original open timber roof, which still extends the whole length of this wing, though part of it has been ceiled, and parted off into different rooms. This solar is lighted by two lofty Decorated windows of two lights, with transoms, the one on the north side square-headed, that on the east pointed. In the room on the ground-floor there are re- mains of a fire-place ; there are the corbels of one in the upper room, through the back of which at present an en- trance is made by a ladder from the hall ; one of these corbels rises from a ball-flower, the other from a twisted stem ; the chimney belonging to the lower fire-place still remains, and is an octagonal shaft battlemented. The original entrance to the solar is by an external covered staircase, opposite to a door at the north-east angle of the hall. The building is of stone, with the exception of the upper part of the east wing, which is of w T ood. The win- dows both of the hall and of the solar are widely splayed, and have a hollow moulding running round the angle of the splay. The north wing does not extend back beyond the width of the hall. There are other buildings con- nected with this wing, and forming part of the present mansion, but these are of subsequent periods : there arc also offices to the east, completing the quadrangle, which appear to have been erected in the fifteenth or sixteenth century, when some other alterations were made in the building. This house is commonly known by the name of the ab- bey, and was the manor-house of the abbey manor, and the occasional residence of the abbots, answering the purpose of a grange, though of rather a better description than usual. BERKSHIRE, ETC. 275 CUMNOR HALL, BERKSHIRE. Cumnor Hall was very similar to Sutton Courtenay; it was pulled down about 1820 and the materials were used in rebuilding Wytham church, where some of the old win- dows and a doorway may still be seen ; these were en- graved in the Gents. Mag. for Sept. 1821. There now remain on the original site only the foundations and a frag- ment of one of the walls. The site is on the south side of the churchyard of Cumnor church. Some portion of the ruins of Abingdon abbey are of this date. There is a remarkably fine barn of this century at Great Coxwell. BRIMPTON, BERKSHIRE. The chapel at Brimpton, Berkshire, stands in a farm- yard not much more than a hundred yards from the church, and attached to a house round which still remain portions of the moat, there can be no doubt that this was a do- mestic chapel. Its foundation was very early, but in its present state most of its features are of the fourteenth cen- tury. It has north and south doors, a quatrefoil west win- dow, a three-light east window, and one of two lights on the south side, and a lancet on the north. § 9. — BEDFORDSHIRE, HERTFORDSHIRE, AND MIDDLESEX. In Bedfordshire no remains of Domestic work of this period have been observed, beyond mere foundations ; and at Stevington a large plain barn of this date. There were licences to crenellate houses at Stevington, 9 E. i. and Bletsoe 1 E. m., but both have been destroyed. In Hertfordshire also no remains have been noticed of buildings of the fourteenth century. The elaborate history 270 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. of this county by Chauncy is remarkably deficient in all that relates to buildings. The only licence to crenellate a house in the county within our period, is Bigrave, 10 llic. ii., which is destroyed. Of Middlesex the same must be said, the crypt of Gerrard’s Hall has already been noticed at p. 163. The College hall at Westminster is a fine example of a Domestic hall, probably of the time of Richard ii., but belonging rather to the Perpendicular than the Decorated style. No other Domestic buildings of this period are known in the metropolis, or in the county ; it seems indeed probable that in these wealthy districts the old-fashioned and often inconvenient houses of our ancestors have given place al- most universally to later improvements. There were licences to crenellate or fortify four houses in London in this century. In Distaff lane 5 E. n. Silver- street 4 E. ii. Fleet street 11 E. n., and Bernard castle 12 E. hi. Also the Savoy 21 E. i. Puttney’s house 15 E. ii., and Islington 9 E. Hi. No remains exist of any of these, but the fact of their being fortified, especially those within the metropolis, is a curious indication of the state of the times. § 10. — NORFOLK, SUFFOLK, CAMBRIDGESHIRE, AND ESSEX. Notwithstanding the abundance of old houses in Nor- folk and Suffolk, it does not appear that any of them belong to the fourteenth century ; there is a long interval between the Norman keeps of the twelfth century and the splendid brick mansions of the time of llenry the Seventh and Eighth. There were licences to crenellate houses dur- ing this period at Blackworth, Claxton, Eggfield, North Elmham, Evesham, Gaywood, Hales, Hautboys, Linge, Melton, Sculton, and Great Yarmouth, but in none of these places are any buildings of this date known to be THE EASTERN COUNTIES. 277 now existing ; except the last, where the hall of the priory with good windows and a doorway of this period still exists, adjoining to the churchyard, but in a very dilapi- dated state. In Suffolk there were licences to crenellate houses at Bungay, Metingham, St. Mary Bures, and Hadleigh, but no remains of these are known to exist. The very re- markable keep at Orford belongs to an earlier period. In Cambridgeshire no remains of purely Domestic archi- tecture of this period are known to exist, but of the Do- mestic parts of the priory at Ely there are considerable remains and of a very valuable kind. Prior Crawden’s house and chapel are well known, and considerable parts of the canons’ houses belong to the same period ; the ground floor of these houses is vaulted, and in one of them, now occupied by Dr. Mill, is perhaps the most mag- nificent example of a fourteenth century fire-place in Eng- land. Its detail is very elaborate and it has four beau- tiful brackets, which appear to have been intended for candlesticks. The whole is richly carved, and has a good deal of elaborate battlementing, and a steep slope finishes the upper part. There were licences to crenellate houses at Cheveley, in the 15th Ed. n., and at Ditton 4 Ed. i., but both have been destroyed. In Essex no remains of this period have been noticed. § 11. KENT, SURREY, AND SUSSEX. Kent is remarkably rich in Domestic buildings of this period, and possesses some of the finest specimens that we have remaining. The building materials, and with them the style, differ in different parts of the county, but in general, stone is scarce, and the most common material is 278 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. either timber or flint with stone dressings. The houses in this county have in general been strongly fortified, but this ' is not invariably the case, at Charing, Great Chart, and Battle hall, Leeds, the fortification seems to have been very slight. PEXSHURST, KENT. At the time of the Domesday Survey this place was the residence of a family of the same name ; but the earliest architectural remains in the present building are not older than the twelfth century, and consist of a crypt, now used as a cellar, to which there is a descent from the upper end of the hall. The first licence to crenellate or fortify this house was granted in the 15th Edward u., its then owner was Sir John de Polteney. The estate reverted to the crown in the time of Henry the Sixth, who granted it to the duke of Buckingham. It was again forfeited in the reign of Henry the Eighth, and subsequently given by Edward the Sixth to the Sidneys. The plan of the building is an irregular square; and at a short distance from the main building on the south-east front stands a large square tower, which appears to be of the fourteenth century, and probably formed one of the chain of outworks constructed in the time of Richard the Second. The principal entrance is on the north front. This is a very extensive range of building, partaking more of the character of a palace than of an ordinary house, and is a splendid specimen of the nobleman’s mansion of the middle ages. It is of several different dates and styles, sur- rounding an irregular court or quadrangle. The hall is the most perfect and valuable part, of the fourteenth century q . i A licence to crenellate it was ob- Pulteney possit kornellarc mansutn ma- tained in tlie 15th of Edward n. Rot. nerii sni de Penshurst.’’ Pat. 15 Ed. it. ‘'Quod Johannes de KENT, — PKNSHURST. 270 It has two windows on each side, each of two lights, with a quatrefoil in the head, and transoms; on the north side there has been a third window long blocked up, as other buildings are added on at this corner r ; this is at one end of the dais, which is raised one step ; at the opposite end of this is an open archway, opening into an octagonal staircase, which leads up to the other original apartments; by the side of this arch is a small door into the cellar, which is vaulted, and has a range of arches down the centre ; it is of earlier character than the hall, and said to be of the time of Henry n. At the oppo- site end of the hall is the screen, of later date, with the min- strels’ gallery, it is of rich wood-work, panelled and carved ; among the ornaments is the bear and ragged staff, fre- quently repeated. Behind the screen arc three doorways, the central one led into the kitchen, which has been de- stroyed, the other two into the buttery and the servants’ room. There however remains a large mass of building of two stories of the same date as the hall itself. The roof of the hall is fine timber-work, open to the ridge, with collar-beams and king-posts, well moulded, and grotesque full length figures for corbels, carved in wood. At each end of the hall are three smaller windows in the gables, so placed as to fit the roof, the collar-beam passing between them. The lower windows are of four wide lights, with geo- metrical tracery ; the upper ones, each of two narrow lights with the king-post passing between them, clearly shewing that the roof is original, and that the whole forms one design. The floor is paved with tiles, with a hearth marked out by stone-work in the centre, on which stand the dogs. The r The conjecture mentioned at p. 42, that there was originally a hay window at this corner of the hall, is not borne out by a subsequent examination, and no instance of the use of a bay window at the end of the dais has been noticed earlier than the fifteenth century. 2S0 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. side tables are on the principle of boards and trestles, the latter having very solid legs, the feet of a cruciform plan, so that they would bear any weight and could hardly be up- set ; the benches correspond, and have spreading feet ; the high table is different, being a regularly framed table, with bulbous legs, but probably none of this furniture is earlier than the time of Elizabeth or James i. There are as usual two principal doorways, one at each end of the passage be- hind the screen, one into the servants’ court at the back, the other from the principal court ; this is protected by a handsome groined porch, with a tower over it. In this tower is a square window, with good Decorated tracery ; it has a battlement and cornice corresponding with those of the hall itself, and joining on to it. Over the heads of the hall windows are plain bold arches from buttress to buttress, the wall beneath them being recessed con- siderably; these were probably to add strength to the buttresses, and enable them to bear the thrust of the roof, which is very wide. At the top of a short flight of stairs in the octangular tower before mentioned is a door leading into a long room, which runs transversely to the hall, over the cellar; this is fitted up in the Elizabethan style, but the walls and lancet windows are evidently older, not later than the fourteenth century, and probably earlier; it has very much the ap- pearance from its position, and the manner in which the two gable-ends and the roof stand out from the rest of the buildings, of having been originally the chapel, an arrange- ment probably altered in the time of Elizabeth, when an- other chapel was formed in the centre of the principal front; where the grand staircase is now placed. The windows of this part are very lofty, including two stories, with a piece of panelling in the middle, where the floor interferes with the glazing. Part of the wall of enceinte, with the gate- KENT, NURSTED. 231 house, remains on the south side of the house, and other portions on the east. NURSTED COURT, KENT. Nursted is a small village in Kent, not far distant from Gravesend, and the manor-house, called Nursted court, stands isolated at a short distance from the village. It was evidently erected about the middle of the fourteenth century ; but no historical document has been met with to fix with certainty the exact date of its erection. There is, however, reason to believe that it was originally a house of considerable importance, and that, like most other houses of the same period, it combined defensive provisions along with the usual domestic arrangements. At the time of its supposed erection it belonged to a family of the name of Gravesend, who, in all probability, took their name from the adjoining place, at which time two of the family in succession appear to have held the distinguished rank of bishops of London, by one of whom the subject of this illustration was in all probability erected. As before stated, this was in all probability in its perfect state a house of considerable importance ; but at the time the drawings were made, all that remained consisted of the hall, with two small adjoining rooms, and a fragment of a strong tower attached to the end of the hall. The annexed views will give such a perfect idea both of the external design and internal arrangement, that it is unnecessary to go into any very detailed description beyond stating that the walls are constructed of flint, with Caen stone dressings to the quoins, windows, and doors : that the interior, including the columns, arches, &c., is entirely of timber, and the fragment of the tower consists of alternate layers of flint and stone, with stone quoins. The workmanship throughout is of the best description. The 282 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. mouldings of the arches and other parts well proportioned, and the foliage of the capitals and the terminations of the purlins beautifully designed and varied in detail. The labels of the windows and doors are terminated uniformly with the buckle-head, of which there is a great variety. The external dimensions are 79 ft. by 34 ft. 9 in. The two small rooms with an intermediate passage leading to an external door is an arrangement by no means usual, and it is difficult to decide what could have been the appro- priation of these two rooms, as they are too small for re- tiring rooms connected with a hall of such dimensions. Since the drawings were taken from which the accom- panying plates have been engraved, the whole of this very interesting specimen has either been taken down, or so completely changed to adapt it to a modern residence, as to have entirely destroyed its value. We are therefore par- ticularly fortunate in being able to present our readers with this highly valuable and peculiar specimen of the Domestic architecture of the period which forms the subject of the present volume. TIIE MOTE, IGHTIIAM, KENT. This is one of the most perfect examples of the com- bination of domestic convenience with the necessary pre- parations for defence, in England. It stands about two miles south of the village of Ightham, in a deep hollow, and is concealed by woods. The water of a rivulet flows into the moat by which the house is surrounded, and from which it takes its name. It is conjectured that the build- ing was originally erected on a small island, or eyte, which probably gave name to the whole parish, as Eyteham, or Ightham, the hamlet of the eyte 8 . O' v • “Wefindlvode Haut possessed of 44 Edward m. Sir Henry de Haut, the mote in the reign of Henry n. ; (liis son Sir Edmund died before him.) KENT. THE MOTE. IGHTHAM. 2S3 The house is of three distinct periods, the earliest of the time of Edward n., the second of Henry vn. and the be- ginning of Henry vm., the third of Elizabeth and James i. Of the first period, the principal part remaining is the hall, which has been shortened in the Elizabethan period, so that it is only about two-thirds of its original length ; what re- mains of it is valuable, chiefly for the stone arch across to carry the roof, resembling Mayfield, in the place of wooden principals ; it has good mouldings of the Decorated style, and the other principals, which are of wood, are of nearly the same dimensions, and have the same mouldings on them. The doorways are also original, with good hood- moulds and corbel-heads, but the fire-place and the win- dows belong to the later alterations of the time of Henry vm., except one which is blocked up by modern offices. The roof was originally covered with oak shingles, a small portion of which remains, but covered over by a later roof, and made into a ceiling 1 . Other parts of He was succeeded by Nicholas de Haut, who, in 19 Richard n., was sheriff, and kept his shrievalty at Wadenhall. He had two sons, William of Bishoptown, and Richard, who succeeded to the mote property, and in IS and 22 Edward iv. was sheriff and kept his shrievalties at the mote. He espoused the cause of the earl of Richmond, was attainted, and his estates confiscated. 3 Richard lit. they were granted to Robert Brackenbury, who lost his life at the battle of Bosworth field, when the mote was restored to Richard Haut. He sold it to Sir Richard Clement, who kept his shrievalty at the mote, 23 Henry vm. “He had no legitimate issue, and was buried in the church at Ightham. His brother John Clement, and his sister, who had married Sir Ed. Palmer of A gmering in Sussex, became coheirs, but the former succeeded to the entire fee-simple of the estate. He died with- out male issue, leaving an only daughter and heir, Anne, who carried the mote in marriage to Hugh Pakenham, and he. in the reign of Edward vi., joining with Sir Wm. Sidney, who had married his only daughter, Anne, passed it away to Sir John Allen. His son was Sir Chris- topher Allen, and his son Charles sold it to Sir Wra. Selby at the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. He was younger brother of Sir John Selby, of Branxton, in co. Northumberland. He died unmarried, Jan. 1, 1611. He bore barry of 12 pieces. The property has ever since been in the possession of the Selbys, and is now the property of Prideaux John Selby, of Twisell house, in co. Northumberland.” — From Has- ted’s History of Kent. * The opinion that this hall has been shortened, is not borne out by examina- 2S4 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. the building belong to the same period, but much mixed up with the later work. One room deserves more specific mention, it has a groined vault, and a window looking to the moat; it is square-headed of two lights, with cinquefoiled ogee cusping ; over this room is another chamber called the old chapel, which has a good doorway and a cinquefoiled niche, and a window of three lights, of which only the mullions remain. The plan of the house is a quadrangle, with the moat washing the external walls. The gateway tower, with the gateway itself, and the wooden doors to it, and the whole of that side of the quadrangle, are of the time of Henry vm. ; in part of this front is the chapel, upstairs, with a wooden barrel ceiling, which has preserved its original painting, with numerous badges of Henry vm. ; the pulpit and benches, with their poppies, are also in their original state. It is altogether a very perfect and interest- ing example of a Domestic chapel of that period. The Elizabethan work is almost entirely of timber, and the two gables inserted into the hall have good barge-boards. On the outside of the moat opposite to the entrance another large quadrangle has been added in the Elizabethan period, entirely of timber-work, for stables, and there is said to have been room for three hundred horses. At Goudhurst in Kent is a very remarkable doorway to a cottage, of oak cinquefoiled, with two quatrefoiled circles in each spandrel, and the w'hole well moulded. LEEDS CASTLE. This is more of a fortress than a house. It is a very valuable specimen of the military architecture of the four- teenth century : and though a considerable part of the tion ; the Elizabethan work joins on to position is not consistent with the idea the upper end of the hall and the louvre that the hall has been shortened, neither is not in the centre, but the doorway at is it shorter than many other halls, the end of the dais is original, aud its KENT, — LEEDS. 285 present buildings are modern, the original plan of the for- tifications can be distinctly made out. The castle stands on three islands in the midst of a small lake, or reach, in the river, which is used as a moat, and the sluices enabled the owner of the castle to inundate a considerable extent of the neighbouring country. On the first island are the remains of the barbican, and adjoining to it the castle mill ; on the second island is the gate-house, the outer bailey surrounded by a wall of enceinte, and at the further end one wing of the castle ; on the third island the remainder of the castle, with a small inner court. The walls are washed by the river, and there is a curious original boat-house under a part of the castle. Each island was connected with the other by a draw-bridge only, so that each could be defended separately. The buildings are of several periods, but a considerable part belongs to the fourteenth century. The internal arrangements have been too far altered to be very distinctly made out, but there are some good windows to the chapel, with geometrical tracery of the form usual in Kent, of similar character to the chancel at Chartham. The jambs of these windows are however earlier than the tracery, which was restored after the windows had been blown in by a hurricane in the 7th Edward n. a.d. 1314 u . BATTLE HALL, LEEDS. At about a quarter of a mile from Leeds castle is another house, now merely a farm-house, but which must have been M For these particulars we are in- debted to the courtesy of the present owner of the property, Chas. Wykeharn Martin, Esq., who has a careful transcript of the deed in which these windows are mentioned, from the “ Inquisitiones ad quod damnum? E. n. n. 15 m,” preserved among the Public Records at Carlton ride. This date is important as fixing the age of the class of windows to which this specimen belongs, which is of simi- lar character to Chartham, Penshurst, Mayfield, &c., often called the Kentish tracery. 286 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. originally one of some importance. The hall and one wing of the house are of the fourteenth century, but much altered in the time of Henry vm. In the hall, close to the screen, is the very beautiful stone cistern and lavatory, of which we have given an engraving at p. 46. This house, notwithstanding its name, appears to have been very slightly fortified. In the village of Leeds there is also a small house or cottage, a part of which has rather the appearance of work of the fourteenth century, but is probably early in the fifteenth. The lower part is of stone, and has windows of the Perpendicular style, the upper part is of wood, and in this there is some open panelling of flowing tracery pattern : there is also a battlemented wooden string of rather early appearance : the roof is perfect, and has tie- beams, and king-posts with moulded capitals, and braces spreading from it. CHARING. The remains of the palace of the archbishop of Canter- bury at Charing belong to the early part of this century. They are extensive but disjointed and ruinous, consisting of flint walls, with stone dressings, now converted into a farm-house and barn, with part of the entrance gate-house. One of the chapel windows, with geometrical tracery, is tolerably perfect, and the gate- house has the segmental arches of the doorways, but the work is plain and poor. GREAT CHART, KENT. The manor-house, called the Court Lodge, near the church, although much masked by modern additions, and in parts greatly altered*, contains a fourteenth century house apparently entire as to plan. It is not very regu- larly built, but consisted of a hall in the centre and two x The house was thoroughly repaired and much altered about the year 1816. KENT, — SALMSTONES. 287 wings; on the north side some of the windows of the hall remain, though much concealed by a lean-to. They were divided by shafts into two lights, and the tracery seems to be of geometrical character. The wings are more clearly seen, their lower stories have merely loops, their upper, small trefoil-headed windows, sometimes of one, sometimes of two lights. SALMSTONES, NEAR MARGATE, KENT. This was a country residence of the abbots of St. Augus- tine’s, Canterbury, and remains in a tolerably perfect state, though reduced to the humble condition of a farm-house, and much damaged by time, neglect, and ill-usage. It is of the age of Edw. n., and consists of a hall and chapel in two wings connected by a transverse building. The win- dows of the hall and chapel retain their original forms and tracery, and the original roofs remain in part; the roof of the chapel is a king-post, open to the rafters, very much like that at Charney in Berkshire ; the whole of this work is good Decorated. On the north side of the chapel is a building now known as the infirmary ; this is also Deco- rated work, with some tolerable two-light windows ; from the court-yard on the east side of the chapel there is an entrance leading to a small crypt, which has a very plain arched roof ; the entrance has stone ribs, and the groining ' ’DO filled with square blocks of chalk, as at St. Augustine’s, Canterbury. Nash court in the same neighbourhood retains portions of the original work, or did so very recently. The beautiful abbey gate- house of St. Augustine’s, Can- terbury, has been already mentioned ; it belongs to the fortifications begun in 2 E. II., and is one of the most elaborately ornamented specimens of the Decorated style that we have remaining. 288 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. At Wingham there is a good timber-house of the time of Edward hi., and in many parts of this county timber- houses of good character and of early appearance are very common ; they are for the most part of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but it is probable that a more care- ful examination may discover other examples of the four- teenth. Monkton court, about six miles from Margate, is still more altered than Salmstones ; it has been converted into two farm-houses; it stands on the north side of the church. In making some alterations lately for the dean and chapter of Canterbury, two good windows were discovered in the north side, early Decorated; one of two lights, the other single, with an ogee head ; a plain doorway was also found in the south wall, and in a place once known as the monks’ dormitory, but now a mere loft, is a plain original roof. Sandwich — a house in Vicarage lane has a plain De- corated doorway. St. Bartholomew’s hospital, just out of Sandwich, has traces of Decorated work. So also has St. Thomas’s hospital, in Sandwich. A large stone house, close to Aldington church, much altered and modernized, has two large two-light windows of this period. At Thorne, near Ramsgate, a good Decorated house, or rather considerable remaius of one, for parts are gone ; the principal floor on a lower story partly in the ground ; it has some good two-light windows. In addition to these examples there were licences to crenellate houses in this county during this century at Allington, Canterbury, Colinebrigges, ? Couling, Longfield, Maidstone, Penigham, ? Oakesden, ? and Westerhanger, ? of which no remains have been observed. SURREY, — SUSSEX. 289 SURREY. The county of Surrey, like the other metropolitan coun- ties, is too wealthy and flourishing to have preserved many of its ancient Domestic buildings, which are generally found oidy in poor districts or in decayed and deserted towns. There are however still some remains of Winchester house, in Southwark, though built in and concealed by modern brick warehouses : the beautiful circular window in the gable of a hall of the time of Edward in. is believed to be still in existence, though entirely hid. A recent work on the antiquities of London assumes that Chaucer’s Pilgrim’s Inn, in Southwark, is still in existence, and describes the existing structure as of that period. It is, however, of the time of Charles n. at the earliest, and has no medieval character about it. The original inn was destroyed in the great fire in Southwark, as mentioned by Aubrey, who was living at the time. Some portions of Farnham castle may possibly be of this period, and the same at Guildford ; and at Croydon some part of the archbishop’s palace may be of the end of this century. At Buckworth there are some remains of the castle, for which a licence to crenellate was obtained in the 3rd of Richard n., 1377. SUSSEX. Sussex is not so rich in Domestic work of this period as might have been expected from its history and comparative poverty. The most important structure of our period is Mayfield. Bodiham castle is a fine ruin, but belongs rather to the next century, at least in style, though the licence to crenellate it was obtained in the 9th of Richard n. Some parts of the bishop’s palace at Chichester are believed to be of this century. Battle abbey belongs chiefly to the next ; but the gate-house is a very fine specimen of this period, p p 290 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. and was probably suggested by that of St. Augustine’s, Canterbury. Petworth lias been rebuilt. The remains of Lewes castle belong to the time of one of the Edwards ; the gate-house is tolerably perfect, with its two flanking towers ; the inner archway is segmental, but of the same period, to which also belong the remains of the keep. The medieval castle within the Roman walls at Pevensey is also Edwardian. Winchelsea has been sufficiently described in an earlier part of this volume, in the chapter on Towns, pp. 158 — 1G3. There are still some ruins of Ambcrley castle, built by William Rede, bishop of Chichester, who obtained the licence to crenellate it in 1 Ric. n. At Crowhurst, adjoining the churchyard, are the re- mains of a house of early Decorated date, transition from Early English ; it must have been a very good specimen — but is now a total ruin consisting only of walls; one gable retains a well-moulded two-light window, which has lost its tracery and mullion ; the principal floor was raised on a low story. THE ARCUH IS HOP’S PALACE, AT MAYFIELD IN SUSSEX. Of this the hall is the most important, and by far the most beautiful existing portion. It is of four bays, each bay divided internally by a fine stone arch. The internal dimensions are very grand, G9 ft. 5 in. by 39 ft. 3 in. The entrance porch (12 ft. G in. by 19 ft. 10 in. inside) is on the south side of the hall, in the westernmost bay. At the west end of the hall are three doorways opening into the kitchen apartments, of which, however, but little now remains. At the south-west angle of the hall is a small staircase leading to a room over the porch. There are several remains of rooms at this end of the hall, but in a ruinous state. 'f V i I f SUSSEX, — MAYFIELD. 291 In the south-east angle of the hall is a curious arrange- ment of doors. One of good size in the cast wall, which led from the dais into the house, the other much smaller, in the south wall, but connected with the first in design, and which opened into a passage cut in the thickness of the south wall, nicely groined, and lighted by small lancet windows, and leading to the cellars. The proportions, as well as all the details of the hall, are of the finest possible character. The windows are of two lights, transomed, with cinquefoiled arches under the tran- soms. The tracery has two trefoiled arches, with a large ogee trefoil delicately sub-cusped with roses at the points of the larger cusps. There is no groove for the glass in the mullions, but hooks remain everywhere in the inside jambs, from which it appears that the glass must have been all in casements opening from the inside. The inside arches of these windows have labels, internal jamb-shafts, with well- carved capitals, and the usual arrangement of seats. The sills are curiously contrived with a sunk channel below the glass, apparently to prevent the rain from driving in. Externally the windows have no labels, but above them are arches of segmental construction like those in the hall at Penshurst, projecting about 9 in. and carrying the parapet, and springing on each side from the pedimented heads of the buttresses. The whole design is singular, but beautiful, and has been followed to some extent in the new library of St. Augustine’s college at Canterbury. The great size of the buttresses, 3 ft. 10 in. by 7 ft. G in., is necessary in order to resist the thrust of the great arches across the hall. These arches are well moulded, and spring from very finely carved corbels. Their purpose seems clearly to have been the support of the roof, in which they took the place of principals. In the walls above the arches there are cor- bels, which evidently supported arched pieces under the 292 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. purlins, and which probably supported also cjueen-posts, as we should call them. In the centre of the upper end of the hall is the mark of an old seat of state which once stood there. All that now remains is some very beautiful stone diapering resembling the diapering in the choir of Canter- bury cathedral, erected by Prior Henry de Estria in 1 304-5 T . This seems to have been contained under a stone canopy, now destroyed. In the gable over this is a window now blocked up, the outline of which is a spherical triangle, with a good inner arch. The porch already mentioned is very well groined, and has a trefoiled side window, and very good doorways. The present buildings east of the hall have but very small traces of fourteenth-century work. The best is a fine fire-place, with shafts in the jambs, and of considerable size. The whole house is very interesting, and probably of the six- teenth century, with earlier portions, and in one of the rooms upstairs are the arms of Archbishop Warham. It is to be lamented that the timber roof should have been destroyed, for it was probably unique. The original building on this site is supposed, hut on slender authority, to have been constructed by St. Dunstan, who died in 988 : it is certain, on the authority of Eadmcr, that that prelate erected a wooden church at Mayfield. The few existing remains belong chiefly to the fourteenth cen- tury, and a later period. Mayfield seems to have been an ordinary and favourite residence of the archbishops of Canterbury, several of whom died there in the fourteenth century; as Simon Mepham in 1333, John Stratford in 1348, and Simon Islip in 13G6. Pro- vincial councils were held there in 1332 and in 13G2. The manor and house, to which a park was then attached, r For an engraving of a piece of this diaper see Willis's History of Canterbury Cathedral. WILTSHIRE. 203 were surrendered by Archbishop Cranmer to Henry the Eighth, who, in 1545, granted the estate to Sir Henry North, by whom it was sold to Sir John Gresham. It de- scended to his next brother Sir Thomas, the founder of the Royal Exchange, who entertained Queen Elizabeth there on several occasions. After passing through various hands it is now the property of the Kirby family. “ In the early part of the last century this building was in a tolerably per- fect state; but about that time the roof and floors were taken down, and much of the stone and other materials was employed in erecting several houses in the neighbourhood. The lofty stone arches, however, were left standing because they were judged inadequate in value to the trouble and expense of throwing them down. The east end has been long converted into a farm- house. On the stone mantelpiece of another apartment, called the kitchen chamber, is engraved the date 1371 ; and on the dexter side of the door of the ante-room adjoining is the coat of the see of Canterbury. The arches of the great hall yet remain. Its dimensions within are 68 ft. by 38 ft. In each of the side walls are three very lofty windows, and space for a fourth ; and in the centre of the upper end was a seat for a throne, the stone fret- work of whose back is yet to be seen in the wall. The gatehouse, or porter’s lodge, continues entire, and with the gateway built up forms a dwelling house § 12. — WILTSHIRE AND HAMPSHIRE. Wiltshire is particularly rich in the remains of antiquity, but very few of them belong to the period with which we are concerned. The most important are the manor-house at Stanton St. Quentin, and Place House, near Tisbury ; some parts of the ruins of Wardour castle and Farley castle are probably of this century ; the manor-houses of south Wraxall and Woodlands, near Mere, are commonly attri- buted to this century, and may perhaps be of the time of Richard n., but in style they belong rather to the fifteenth. There is a fine barn of the fourteenth century at Bradford, and part of the farm-house adjoining, called Barton, with a • Grose’s Antiquities, vol.v. p. 178, and vol. viii. p. 131. 294 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. small bridge, belong to the same work. Of the once numerous monastic establishments the remains are very small, and few of them belong to this period. Of Laycoek abbey the kitchen and the chapter-house are of the thir- teenth century, and the cloister of the fifteenth. At Malmes- bury scarcely any thing but the church remains, and of that a part only. Bradenstoke, or Broad-stoke, priory, near the hamlet of Clack, has retained part of its Domestic buildings, especially the refectory, with a fine timber roof, enriched with the ball-flower ornament, but this hall is divided into several apartments, and the whole is turned into a farm- house, and is in a very bad state of repair. At Salisbury there is a timber-house with barge-boards of this century. At All Cannings the ancient manor-house is now a farm-house ; there was a licence to crenellate a house here in 1 1 Edward hi., and part of the present house may belong to that work. STANTON ST. QUENTIN, WILTS. The remaining portion of the manor-house of Stanton St. Quentin is in plan a parallelogram, measuring about 55 feet by 34 ; this is divided into two parts by a wall run- ning longitudinally, and finishes at the ends in two gables. The interior having been subdivided in modern times, it would be difficult to give any satisfactory account of the original arrangement. There are two stories, of which the upper is the principal, but the lower is also adapted for human occupation. The windows are chiefly of two lights and square-headed ; those in the upper story have the lights trefoiled, those in the lower plain. Judging from the cha- racter of the mouldings, this house would appear to have been built in the earlier half of the fourteenth century. It originally had a square tower attached to the south-east angle, and a print will be found in Britton and Brayley’s W I I,TS II I RE, II AMPSIIIRE. 293 Beauties of England and Wales, in which it is represented in this state. This tower contained two rooms communi- cating by a newel stair in a turret at an angle ; the lower room was vaulted and lit only by loops, the upper had oriel windows in two if not three of the sides. The plan of the house at Longthorpe, near Peterborough, (engraved in the first volume of this work,) probably originally much resembled that of this house and of Nursted court, and the one enables us to supply the defective parts of the other. Aubrey says of this house, that the hall was on the upper floor, with an ascent outwards, and that in the hall and parlour were two protuberant chimneys ; he also says that an old building with leads and battlements “ was perhaps an oratory ; ” this may probably refer to the tower. HAMPSHIRE. Hampshire appears to contain scarcely any remains of the Domestic buildings of this period ; there is a timber hall of the time of Edward il, in the close at Winchester, (now the dean’s stables); and at Beaulieu, the residence of the abbot remains in a tolerably perfect state, surrounded with its walls, corridors, angle turrets, and moat. The residence itself has lost most of its original windows, but two or three remain, and the entrance hall, with its richly groined vault, is a fine specimen of the period. At Bishop’s Waltham portions may possibly be of this date, but the greater part is either of a more ancient or more recent period, probably early Perpendicular. The Water-gate at Southampton is also of this period. William of Wykeham’s college, though belonging in date to the end of this cen- tury, is so completely in the style of the fifteenth, that it scarcely comes within the scope of the present volume. 290 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. § 13 . — SOMERSETSHIRE AND DORSETSHIRE. Somersetshire is one of the richest counties in the Do- mestic architecture of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries : it is not always easy to distinguish between the two in this part of England, as the usual characteristics of the four- teenth here continued in use in the fifteenth ; but there is no doubt that many valuable specimens of the fourteenth century are to be found in this county, and it is probable that several more will hereafter be noticed in addition to those we have described. The houses in this peace- ful county are in general very slightly fortified. Nunney castle is, however, an exception ; it is a small but strong fortress ; on the other hand, Mere and Martock, Clevedon court, and Lyte’s Carey house seem scarcely calculated for defence beyond merely keeping off robbers. From the beautiful quality of the stone, most of the buildings in this county are in fine preservation, excepting where they have been wilfully destroyed. NUNNEY CASTLE, SOMERSETSHIRE. This is a good example of a tower-built house or castle ; the plan is oblong, with a large turret at each corner ; these have a very bold projection, and so nearly meet at the two ends of the house that there is barely room for a single window two feet wide between them : the plan is very similar to that of Langley castle in Northumberland, but this is surrounded by a moat, while that seems to have depended on its own strength alone. The walls arc here nearly perfect, but the roof and floors arc entirely gone : it has never been vaulted, not even the lower story, as DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. PLAN OF THE UPPffR STORY A let GROUND PLAN, ME A RE. SOMERSETSHIRE O Jew Ht. w. SOMERSETSHIRE, MEARE. 297 shewn by the putlog-holes in the walls : the central part of the house has been divided into four stories by wooden floors : the rooms on the ground floor were about ten feet high, those on the front floor somewhat more lofty, and the two upper stories not so high ; a parapet above the upper story seems to shew that the roof was flat. There are win- dows and fire-places in all the four stories ; one room on the ground floor was evidently the kitchen, and has two large fire-places close together. The turrets are large, round externally, but flattened on the side next the building ; three of them were divided into stories like the rest of the house, the fourth was the stair- case, which appears to have been of wood only. There is a small door on the ground floor, with an inner porch, but the principal entrance appears to have been on the first floor. Externally there are bold machicolations, which have evidently carried a wooden gallery outside the parapet. The windows in the turrets are small single lights, square- headed ; those in the body of the house protected by the projection of the turrets, are of two lights, with pointed arches, and tracery of early Perpendicular character. The moat almost washes the foot of the walls. MEARE, SOMERSETSHIRE. The manor-house, which formerly belonged to the abbey of Glastonbury, has been in great part preserved, and affords a good example of a country house of about the middle of the fourteenth century. Two sides of a quadrangle remain ; there have probably been three, but clearly not four ; the other two sides have been enclosed by a wall about twelve feet high. The eastern wing has been destroyed ; the west- ern one, containing the hall, is nearly perfect ; the hall is on the first floor ; the space under it is divided into three Q q 298 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. rooms, the end one of which has a plain segmelital barrel- vault, and serves as a cellar ; the second is a store room ; and in the third there is a fire-place, immediately under that of the hall. The southern part of the house is so much altered by modern partitions, and the insertion of square-headed windows and doors, that the original arrange- ment can hardly be made out. There is a good entrance porch of two stories, with the figure of an abbot on the point of the gable. The exterior is disguised by roughcast, but it has good Decorated buttresses. The kitchen, in which there is a plain large fire-place, is in the southern part of the house, and is entered immediately from the porch ; it would appear that this wing consisted chiefly of the offices and servants’ apartments. The hall is about GO feet long by 22 wide. At the north end is a good Decorated window of two lights, with a tran- som, and a foliated inner arch, an elegant piece of work of a character not unusual in churches in the neighbourhood ; this window does not stand in the centre, but rather on one side to allow room for a garderobe turret, the lower part of which remains, and the doorway which opened into the upper closet; this doorway has a plain segmental head, and is in the end wall ; there are two other doorways near to it in the side walls, one at each end of the screens, or passage under the music gallery, and it is probable that there were two staircases, one for the principal entrance, the other leading from the side door down to the kitchen, the walls being roughcast over ; the marks are concealed, which makes these arrangements not very clear. On the west side of the hall is another window, and a good fire- place, with sculptured corbels, and on the east side two more windows ; all the windows are alike, with the foliated heads, and the one at the north end has the wooden shut- ters remaining in the lower part, with a projection in the MEARE SOMERSETSHIRE. . SOMERSETSHIRE, — MEARE. 299 mullion for tlie bolt, shewing that the lower part has never been glazed ; we have had occasion to observe before, that it was usual at this period to glaze the upper part of the windows only. The fire-place is a good example of its period, the manner in which the central part of the pro- jecting hood is supported by joggling the stones is worthy of notice. Nearly opposite to this fire-place is a sort of shelf or bracket, on which are the bases of five small shafts, as if there had been four small niches. A line of wall extended from the house towards the west, and in this is a doorway, with good mouldings ; this wall appears to have connected the house with the bartou, or farm-yard ; the barn, pigeon-house, and stables w’ere pulled down in 1837, and there now only remain one or two archwavs. J Adam de Sodbury, who became abbot in 1322, and died in 1335, obtained the appropriation to the abbey of the rectory of Mere, and Johannes Glastoniensis relates of him, (p. 237,) that “ Capellas et cameras apud Mere, Pulton et Domerham fecit construi spe- ciosas cum aliis sumptuosis sedificiis. Ecclesiam parochialem de Mere fecit dedicari et curiam ibidem lapideo opere communiri cum vinariorum delectu.” No material alterations appear to have been made in the house until the time of Henry vm., when abbot Richard Beere made considerable additions to it, but these have almost entirely disappeared. In 1517 he made a peram- bulation of the estates of the abbey, and caused a terrier to be compiled containing the results of the survey \ Another survey was made by order of the crown in 1539, • The following is extracted. “ Est ibidem perpulchrum et amplum mane- rium antiquitus l'undatum et per Do- minum Abbatem nuuc cam novis ca- meris ornatum cam stagnis piscinis et pomeriis infra procinctum ejusdem ma- nerii muratum ex magna altitudine et spissitudine murorum lapidibns fortiter circumvallatum, continens infra inuros prsdictos ill acras i perticam. Item Gracgea cum bartoDa ibidem et domus exterior vocato Wodehouse in australi parte manerii praedicti continens in pcr- ticas dimidiam. Insuper gardinum et 300 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. after the dissolution, by “Richard Pollard and Thomas Moyle esquires generall surveyors of the king’s highness landes ; ” this supplies some deficiencies and mentions the house with more particularity. “the scite or the manour. “ The scite of the said manour is of an auncyent buylding having a faire large hall, th’ one halfe whereof is covered with leade and the other with slate, with vm faire chambers, a proper chapell, with a kytchyn buttery and pantrye, and all other houses of office very necessary. “ Finally the house is fitt for a man of worship, but thayer thereof is not very holsome saving to such as have contynued long therein. “ Whereunto are appertayning iii fayre orchardes, well replenyshed with fruitful trees, with iii large pondes in them conteyned, full of all manner of fysshe which is not here put in value until the king’s highness pleasure be knowne.” No details are given in this survey as to the outbuildings, but the mere is mentioned as follows : “ FYSSHINGS. “Also there is appertayning to the saide manor one fysshing called the Mere which is in circuit five myles.” THE FISH-HOUSE, MEARE. About two hundred yards to the east of the manor-house is a singular curiosity, a cottage of the time of Edward iii. ; the architectural details are so exactly like those of the manor-house that there is no doubt it was built at the same time as an appendage to it. It is known by the name of the Fish-house, and as it stood on the bank of the mere, or small lake, there is no doubt that it was the residence of the fisherman of the abbey, an officer of some importance. This small house is remarkably perfect ; the plan is a parallelogram about 32 ft. long by 1G ft. wide; it is of two stories, the ground floor is divided into three rooms, the pomerium in oriental! dicti manerii I ac. existimatur hie quia columbellae inde ill pertic. et la Botehaye cum virgulto provenientes expenduntur in familia ibidem continens i ill ac. i pertic. Est Domini, tamen reddere solebat xx s. per ibidem domus columbarum quae non annum.” DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY THE FISH HOUSE. MEARE, SOMERSETSHIRE. ./ //. Lr fTauar f tt> if' 1 SOMERSETSHIRE, MEARE, MARTOCK. 301 central one as large as the other two, and in this is a fire- place divided into three parts, from one of which a small oven opens ; this was clearly the kitchen. These rooms are about seven feet high ; the floor of the upper rooms forms the roof of these, and is carried on stone corbels. In the western room is a doorway which opened into a small pro- jecting building, now destroyed, probably a garderobe. The upper floor is divided into two rooms ; the roof is of good open timber, of the same age as the house, of good simple design without ornament ; it is open to the ridge, and covered with thatch \ The entrance to the upper floor is by an external stone staircase, or rather a flight of stone steps. The chancel of the church is of the same character with these houses, which is late in the Decorated style. The nave has been rebuilt in the sixteenth century, and is late poor Perpendicular work, but has some remarkably good iron- work. MARTOCK, SOMERSETSHIRE. Near the church are the remains of a fine manor-house, now divided into different tenements, but which may still be made out, and is tolerably perfect. The hall is now called the old school-room, having been long used for that purpose ; it has good windows ot two lights, with trefoiled heads, and a transom; the inner arch cinquefoiled, and seats in the sills; the end window has the same foliated inner, or scoinson arch, but has a quat.refoil in the head. The roof is of plain open timber, with good principals and braces of the same period. Projecting from the side walls b This has long been suffered to go to tion of the owner, Sir Charles Taylor, decay, and the floor has consequently Bart., being called to it by the editor of suffered much from the wet, and the this volume, in the autumn of 185 ', he whole cottage was in danger of falling has very liberally ordered the necessary down from neglect. But ou the atten* repairs. 302 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. are good stone brackets, with quatrefoils and foliage under them, and shields, on which there have been coats of arms. At the lower end of the hall the servants’ passage remains, though separated off by a modern partition : beyond this are two small rooms or offices. Over these is the solar, placed, as usual, transversely to the hall, with a good Decorated window at each end, of two lights trefoiled, with a quatrefoil in the head of plate tracery ; this solar is di- vided into several small modern rooms. The kitchen is almost a detached building, connected at one corner only with the solar and offices, and standing at right angles to them, forming another side of the servants’ court ; it retains its roof of plain open timber, and its fire-place, and the hatch, by the side of the door, opening into the court ; there may possibly have been a covered passage from this point to the back door of the hall. COMPTON DUNDRUM, SOMERSETSHIRE. In this village are the remains of a manor-house, or grange, of the fourteenth century, but in a very bad state, and now divided into several cottages; the barn retains some of the original timbers, and in one of the outbuildings is a very remarkable small window, it is round, and filled with a kind of flowing tracery arranged like the spokes of a wheel, but all curved ; there are ten small openings, and the form of these is more like French flamboyant work, but the mouldings are of good English Decorated. LYTE’s CAREY HOUSE, SOMERSETSHIRE. The chapel, which forms one wing of the house, is of the time of Edward m., and a very perfect specimen, so far as the walls and roof make the chapel, but all the fittings are gone, and the piscina mutilated. The east window is of three lights, with reticulated tracery ; the side windows square-headed, with similar tracery, and the doorway has a DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. SOMERSETSHIRE, DORSETSHIRE. 303 good canopy. The rest of the house, which is extremely picturesque, is of the time of Henry vm. CREWKERNE. At Crewkerne, Somersetshire, was, just west of the church- yard, a house of early Decorated date, with Perpendicular additions, it has lately been pulled down. The original part consisted apparently of two parallelograms, with an adjunct at the east end of one of them, apparently the chapel : some of the windows were of two lights, with plain tran- soms; as the ground on which this stood sloped rapidly down towards the west, there was a lower story in that part with good buttresses against the walls. CLEVEDON COURT. Clevedon court has a fine front, chiefly of this period, with a porch and room over it, and a square-headed win- dow with reticulated tracery. The interior of the house has been altered to suit modern conveniences, and though the walls and probably the roof of the hall still exist, it has been so much divided by modem partitions and floors that nothing can now be said of the original arrangements. At Chapel Cleeve is part of a house of this period, with a good dormer window in the roof, and a hatch by the side of the door, like that at Martock, but the house has been much altered. The fine barns of Somersetshire have already been noticed, at p. 151. DORSETSHIRE. In Dorsetshire no remains of this period have been ob- served, except the town-hall at Weymouth, which still exists though in a very dilapidated state. Cranbourne castle was originally of this period, but con- verted into a residence in the time of Queen Elizabeth. 304 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. § 14 . DEVONSHIRE AND CORNWALL. Although the county of Devon has been thoroughly examined of late years by the members of the Diocesan Architectural Society, they appear to have confined their attention too exclusively to the Ecclesiastical architecture, and we have no account of the remains of medieval Do- mestic buildings, beyond the scanty notices of Lysons, which are far from satisfactory. Part of the bishop’s palace at Exeter was built by Bishop Quivil in the time of Edward r. : Dartington hall appears to have been built in the reign of Richard n., whose cognizance appears on the porch, but in style it belongs rather to the fifteenth century. There were licences granted in the reigns of the three Edwards to crenellate houses at Bere Ferres, Buckland (abbey), Byr, Exeter (palace), Hemyock, Medebury, Samp- ford, Peverill, Tamar, Torriton, and Geditton ; we must leave it for the local antiquaries to examine the remains at these places, and see whether any portions of the work of this period still exist. CORNWALL. Of Cornwall our notices are equally scanty ; there were licences to crenellate houses during our period, at Byename, Ivor, Tregvvell, and Tutbury, but we have not been able to ascertain that any portions of them remain. INCEWORTH. At Inceworth is a Domestic chapel of the time of Edward i. It is of lofty proportions, having an under- croft now used as a stable, and is entered by an ex- ternal staircase, and a door on the south side. The floor, if not original, is at least in the old position, as the door and windows sufficiently prove. The internal dimensions are about sixteen feet by thirty-nine ; and there seems to CORNWALL. 305 have been a chamber or sacristy on the north side, with an opening through the wall looking towards the altar; in the south wall there are two lancet windows, with trefoil heads, and one on the north, another at the west end, with a quatrefoil window in the gable over it; the east window is of two lights trefoiled, with a quatrefoil over, but without any enclosing arch, and another quatre- foil opening in the gable. CORNWALL, EARTH. There is another chapel in a farm within two or three miles of the former, in a retired nook at Earth on the St. Germain’s river. The chapel is reached by a flight of steps from the outside, just as at Inceworth. Tlie east window is of three lights, and the head straight-sided instead of arched, and filled with peculiar tracery. There is a window of one light in the north wall, and another below it opening into the undercroft. There are still some remains of good dis- temper diaper on the walls, and there is a piscina, though the chapel has long been used as a loft. There is no vil- lage near, and the farm-house to which it belongs has a few, but very few, marks of antiquity. § 15 . THE MARCHES OF WALES. SHROPSHIRE, HEREFORDSHIRE, AND MONMOUTHSHIRE. The marches of Wales were long in the same unsettled state as the borders of Scotland, and though in the four- teenth century the country was gradually settling down into a more peaceful state, most of the buildings of this district are of a semi-military character, and have large outer baileys or court-yards enclosed by a strong wall, cor- responding to the barmkins for cattle in the north. Ludlow castle is a magnificent structure, of which a con- 30G DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. siderable part belongs to the fourteenth century, though part is earlier. The ball and the state apartments are fine Decorated work ; the windows of the hall are long, narrow, trefoil-headed, with transoms ; those in the external wall are single lights, but those in the inner wall are of two lights, with seats in the sill : one has an Elizabethan fire- place introduced under it, with two chimneys, one on each side of the window. This hall is on the first floor, and the entrance to it is by a flight of stone steps from the court- yard, through a good Decorated doorway. In the state apartments for prisoners of rank there are several fire- places, one of which is of particularly good character ; the chimneys are later: there are some fine corbel-heads, with the costume very characteristic of the fourteenth century. The chapel is a small round church of the twelfth century, with a good Norman doorway : it stands detached in the court-yard. Acton Burnel and Stoke-Say have been described and engraved in our first volume. There are many old timber houses in Shrewsbury, but they are not earlier than the fifteenth century, excepting part of Vaughan’s-place, and a house in the High-street, the lower story of which is half under ground, and vaulted in the manner usual in the fourteenth. Of the castle there are some of the walls remaining, which belong to the time of Edward n., the licence to crenellate it being in the nineteenth of that reign. Of the abbeys of Buildwas, Wenlock, and Ilales-Ovven, there are some remains, more or less important, but none that belong to the Domestic buildings of the fourteenth century. The massive towers of Whittington castle belong to an earlier period. Some fragments of Middle castle seem to be of the time of Edward hi., part of the work of the lords Le Strange. Some small portion of the domestic DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. TIMBER HODSE AT WEOBLEY, HEREFORDSHIRE SHROPSHIRE. HEREFORDSHIRE. 307 buildings of Lilleshull abbey, now incorporated in a farm- house, may belong to this period. The refectory and some other parts of Haughmond abbey remain in a tolerably perfect state, and are fine Decorated work. The side windows are very elegant, of two lights, trefoiled, with a trefoil in the head, and good mouldings, early in the style. The end window has lost its tracery, but the moulded jambs remain, and a stair- turret on each side with pyramidal tops. The chapter- house also has a good flat w’ooden ceiling, with mouldings of the fourteenth century. HEREFORDSHIRE. The ruins of Goodrich castle are of various periods. The keep is of the twelfth, and other parts of the thirteenth century, but part of them are of the time of Edward the First, including the hall with remains of a fire-place, the windows of which are trefoil-headed lancets, with tran- soms and seats, the solar, and the kitchen, and the gate-house, with the porter’s lodge, in which there is a good fire-place. Near this are the remains of Elanesford priory, the refectory of which has long been used as a barn. The small decayed town of Weobley contains a number of ancient timber houses, with rich barge-boards and panel- ling with flowing tracery patterns. The one of which we give engravings and two or three others are believed to be of the fourteenth century, though the greater part are of the fifteenth and sixteenth. The sites of castles in this county are very numerous, but the remains of them in general are slight. Licences to crenellate were obtained for four of them in the time of the Edwards, Asperton, Eaton, Moccas, and Wall; three of these appear to have been entirely destroyed ; and of the fourth, Eaton, some fragments only remain, now forming part of a farm-house. 308 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. MONMOUTHSHIRE. There are some ruins of Monmouth castle, but they chiefly belong to an earlier period than the fourteenth cen- tury, while the remains of the priory are later. The re- mains of 'White castle, near Lanlilo, belong to an earlier date ; this was connected with the neighbouring castles of Scenfreth and Grosmont, of which there are also some re- mains ; they all belonged to the same proprietor, and are probably nearly of the same age, but Grosmont rather the latest of the three, that is, of the time of Henry hi. or Ed ward i. ; and there is a fine chimney of that period, of which we have given an engraving at page 90. Of Aber- gavenny castle, there are some slight remains. Raglan castle belongs to the fifteenth century ; Penhow and Pen- coed, and Lanvair, to the twelfth. CHEPSTOW CASTLE, MONMOUTHSHIRE. This castle is very finely situated on a steep narrow bank or rock overhanging the river Wye, the plan is of irregular form, as the outer wall follows the line of the edge of the cliff, so that the space enclosed is a long narrow strip, wider in some parts than in others, with an entrance gateway at each end. The principal entrance is from the town, and is defended by two fine towers ; near the entrance is the ban- queting room, or smaller hall, now in ruins, but with the walls for the most part standing, with windows of the early Decorated style, about the time of Edward n. At the lower end of this hall are the doorways of the pantry and buttery, (which now form part of the keeper’s house,) and between them a third doorway leading down by a straight steep flight of stone stairs into the kitchen, which is also in ruins, with the other offices attached to it ; and under some of these chambers are vaulted store-rooms, or cellars, with MONMOUTHSHIRE, CHEPSTOW. 309 windows opening to the river, and the landing-place where provisions and fuel could be hoisted up from boats. This range of buildings is situated in the outer bailey. The lord’s oratory is built in the angle formed by one of the round towers of the entrance gate-house and the wall of the castle ; it has for its chief feature a large single- light window, occupying nearly the whole of that side of the chamber, richly decorated with a rose ornament, carried round the arch and jambs, but unfortunately the tracery no longer remains. It was probably beneath this window that the altar stood ; but there are two other windows, and, as if to economise space, into the sills of them are worked two seats : to the right hand of the large window is a pretty little piscina. Nor should we omit to mention, that opposite to the east window, and on the left hand of the doorway on entering, is a small fire-place, perfect, with the chimney in good preservation. This oratory is now in a dilapidated state, as the floor and roof have been destroyed. Passing through a doorway in the partition wall into the inner bailey, or court, we arrive at the great hall, which has a fine range of early Decorated windows of the time of Edward i. ; it has had rooms under it, but the floor is destroyed. The walls of the lower part, and the two end walls are Norman, but the character has been entirely changed, and the side walls partly rebuilt. At the upper end of this hall one bay has been partitioned off by a very rich screen of Early English work, of which some fragments only remain ; but these shew the springing of the arches, and the exuberance of the dog-tooth ornament ; the win- dow of this bay is quite different from the rest, and has no seats in the sill, as all the others have. This bay has evi- dently been the whole height of the building, and was with- out doubt the chapel, and separated from the hall by a stone screen, which seems to have been double like the 310 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. rood-loft in a church, and had a kind of gallery over it, but quite distinct from the minstrels’ gallery, which was at the lower end of the hall, as shewn by the arrangement of the doors and windows. Beyond the great hall is another bailey, or court-yard, from which there is a postern, or side entrance, and beyond this is the back gate-house. CALDECOT CASTLE, MONMOUTHSHIRE. This was the seat of the Bohuns, earls of Hereford, and hereditary constables of England ; hence Camden calls it the shell of the castle belonging to the constables of Eng- land. The large remains of strongly built walls mark it as a fortress of some distinction, of the time of Edward the Second. Although only the external w r alls with the gate- ways and towers remain, they are so perfect that there seems little difficulty in forming a correct notion of the internal arrangements. The plan is that of an irregular oblong, forming some seven or eight angles, at each of which stands a tower. The length is one hundred feet, the breadth varies from seventy to forty. The most prominent feature is the west front, the ma- sonry of which should be noticed for its extraordinary fine- ness, and the machicolations on each side, of a richness rarely to be met with in this country. Here is the prin- cipal entrance gateway, with large vaulted rooms on each side : opposite to it, and across the court-yard, stands the postern gate, also containing some curious rooms and pas- sages in the thickness of the walls ; in fact, throughout, nearly every wall seems perforated in the centre, either by passages, chimneys, or closets. The series of tw r o light windows on the right hand side of the principal gateway mark with certainty the situation of the hall. The end window is of different tracery, and without the scat in the sill, and seems to be the window of MONMOUTnSIIIRE, — CALDECOT. 311 the screens at the end of the hall. Next to this we have a large round tower, with the remains of the largest fire- place in the whole castle, this was probably the kitchen. The solars and private apartments were at the other end of the hall, over the western gateway, and were approached by a large stone staircase with a finely sculptured vault to it. The outer side of the hall is the only one which remains, the inner one is destroyed : this might possibly have been of stone, but as there are no foundations of it, and all the other buildings were evidently of wood, the probability is that the inner wall of the hall was the same. The floor of the hall was some six feet above the level of the present ground, and there remain a series of recesses in the wall beneath, which served for receiving the barrels, as this lower chamber was originally the cellar. In walking round the interior of the court, which is of extremely large dimensions, one cannot help being struck by seeing the numerous fire-places recessed in the wall ; and on examination, in some places it is possible to detect the holes for the beams which formed the partitions, for, as before stated, all the inner buildings were of wood. In the towers, too, there appears to have been a fire-place to each story, and some of them well carved. The tower at the north-eastern angle is perhaps the most perfect one ; and besides the remarkable arrangements of chimneys, in the sill of one of the windows is a curious circular hole communicating with the dungeon beneath it, and near it a door, with steps, but which must have ori- ginally been half in one story and half in the one beneath it, as the corbels for the beams running round would pass across the centre. It seems to have been some mode of secret communication, and those who are well acquainted with medieval contrivances for dungeons, &c., would do well to examine this tower carefully. 312 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. The moat remains perfect all the way round, and it is only on the southern side that the walls have been de- stroyed, all the other portions remain perfect, and well worthy of a visit. § 1C. NORTH AND SOUTn WALES. The castles built by Edward i. in Wales, or rather begun by him and completed by his successors, are so numerous and important that they afford ample materials for a sepa- rate work, which has in fact long been promised by Mr. Hartshorne, and the admirable manner in which he has elucidated the history of Carnarvon makes us hope that he may be enabled to complete his work. Conway b and Beaumaris are so much connected with it, that the same labour which was necessary for the one must have gone far to complete the other two. The following general description of the Edwardian castles, with especial reference to those in Wales, is from the pen of Mr. G. T. Clark, in the first volume of the Archaeological Journal, and is generally considered the best summary of the subject : — “ In the Edwardian castle, the solid keep becomes de- veloped into an open quadrangle, defended at the sides and angles by gate-houses and towers, and containing the hall and state apartments ranged along one side of the court. The term keep is no longer applicable, and around this inner ward, or bailey, two or three lines of defence are disposed concentrically. Such castles frequently enclose many acres, and present an imposing appearance®. “ The parts of a perfect Edwardian castle arc: — The inner b See the Survey of Conway castle, acres. The Tower of London, within P> 21. the walls, twelve. Windsor and Caer. c Bernard’s castle includes seven philly still more. WALES, — EDWARDIAN CASTLES. 313 bailey , the tvalls of the enceinte, single, double, or triple. The middle and outer baileys contained between the walls. The gate-houses and posterns. The ditch. The inner bailey contained the hall, often of great size, the chapel, the better class of apartments, and an open court. The offices usually were placed in the middle bailey , on the outside of the wall of the hall. The outer bailey contained stabling, at Caer- philly a mill, at Portchester and Dover a monastery, and often a moderate sized mound of earth or cavalier to carry a large engine. The icalls were strengthened by “mural,” or towers projecting inwards, but flush with the face of the wall, and “buttress- towers” projecting outwards beyond it. These towers were sometimes circular, as at Conway and Caerphilly ; sometimes square or oblong, as at Dover and Portchester ; sometimes multangular, as at Caernarvon and Cardiff. The Beauchamp tower at Warwick is a fine exam- ple of a multangular tower, as is Guy’s tower of one formed of portions of circles. Such towers were all capable of being defended independently of the castle, and usually opened into the court and upon the walls by portals, regularly de- fended by gates and a portcullis. The fine bold drum- towers that flank the outer gateway of so many castles, as Chepstow, Beaumaris, &c., are Edwardian. Circular and octagonal towers of this age frequently spring from a square plan or base, the angles of which gradually rise as a half pyramid cut obliquely until they die away into the upper figure of the tower towards the level of the first story. These towers are common in Wales, as at Marten’s tower, Chepstow ; Castel Coch, near Cardiff; Carew castle, near Pembroke; Newport, Monmouthshire, &c. This descrip- tion of tower also occurs next the Constable’s gate at Dover. “ The gate-houses are distinct works, covering the en- trance : they contain gates, one or two portcullises, holes for stockades of timber, and loops raking the passage. 311) DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Overhanging the arch at each end are funnels for pouring down hot matter upon the assailants, and above are ovens and flues for heating it. The Constable’s gate, at Dover, is very early Edwardian ; the gate of Caernarvon, 1283, and that of Lancaster, half a century later, are fine ex- amples, and both the latter have statues over the gateway. “The drawbridge dropped from the front of the gate; when the ditch was broad, a pier was erected in it, and the space spanned by two bridges, as at Holt and Caerphilly. The barbican was an outwork, or tete du pout, on the out- side the counterscarp of the ditch. It seems to have been commonly of timber, so that wdien deserted, as it was in- tended to be, at a certain period of the siege, it might be burnt, and thus afford no cover to the assailants. The bar- bican of the tower of London is of stone, and evidently in- tended to be defended throughout a siege. There is a very complete stone barbican at Chepstow. Another descrip- tion of barbican was attached to gates, viz., a narrow pas- sage between walls in advance of the main gate, with an outer gate of entrance, as at Warwick and Alnwick and the Bars at York. “The posterns were either small doors in the wall, or if for cavalry were provided with smaller gate-houses and drawbridges. “ The ditch was usually wet. At Caerphilly, Kenilworth, Berldiampstead, Framlingham, and Leeds castle, Kent ; a lake was formed by damming up the outlet of a meadow. “ The top of the wall was defended by a parapet, notched into a battlement; each notch is an embrasure , and the in- termediate piece of wall is a merlon. The coping of the merlon sometimes bears stone figures, as of armed men at Chepstow and Alnwick, at Caernarvon of eagles. Some- times the merlon is pierced by a cruciform loop, terminat- ing in four round holes or oillets. CAERPHILLY CASTLE, restored from a careful survey, by G. T. Clark. WALES, — EDWARDIAN CASTLES. 315 “In many cases a bold corbel-table is thrown out from the wall, and the parapet placed upon it, so as to leave an open space between the back of the parapet and the face of the wall. This space is divided by the corbels into holes called machicolations, which overlook the outside of the wall, as at Hexham and Warwick, or later at Raglan, and later still at Thornbury. If the parapet be not ad- vanced by more than its own thickness, of course no hole is formed ; this is called a false machicolation, and is used to give breadth to the top of the wall. It is common to all periods, being found upon Norman walls as well as upon those of late Perpendicular date, as Coity and Newport. “ Some of the smaller Edwardian castles in Wales are very curious ; that of Morlais, near Merthyr, has a circular keep of two stories, of which the lower is internally a poly- gon of twelve sides, with a vault springing from a central pier. The up-filling of the vault is a light calcareous tufa. This castle contains with its enclosure a singular pit, twenty-five feet square, and excavated upwards of seventy feet deep in the mountain limestone rock. It was pro- bably intended as a well, though a clumsy one. The ruins of a somewhat similar castle remain at Dinas, near Crick- howel. The upper story of the tower of Morlais, as of Castle Coch, contains a number of large fire-places ; some- thing of the same sort is seen at Coningsborough, with the addition of an oven. “ The Edwardian castles are frequently quite original d ; they occur also as additions encircling a Norman keep, as d Among the castles either originally ris, 1295 ; Caerphilly, Harlech, Mor- constructed, or thoroughly re-edified in lais, the same reign ; Queenborough, this style, are Cilgarran, 1272; Flint 1361; Cowling and llaby, 1378; Bolton and Rhuddlan, 1275; Hawarden and castle, and the west gate of Canterbury, Denbigh about the same time; Caer- in the same reign ; most of Dudley aud narvon, 1283 ; Conway, modified in Warwick are a little earlier, plan by its position, 1281 , Beauma- 31 G DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. at Dover, Portchester, Bamborough, Corfe, Goodrich, Lan- caster, Middleham, Carlisle, and Rochester. Edward i. completed the tower-ditch of London. The existing walls of towers are commonly Edwardian, though on an older foundation, as York, Canterbury, Chester, Chepstow, and their various bars and gates. "The Norman and Edwardian, the solid and concentric, may be regarded as the two great types of English castles, of which other military buildings are only modifications.” St. Donat’s and Coity belong chiefly to the twelfth cen- tury. The ruins of Margam abbey, with its beautiful chap- ter-house, are of the time of Edward the Third. Morlais castle was built by Gilbert, earl of Gloucester, in the time of Edward i., and was the cause of a dispute with Bohun, earl of Hereford; there are now, however, but small re- mains of it. Denbigh castle was built by Henry Lacy, earl of Lin- coln, and Ruthven castle by Reginald, lord Grey, both in the time of Edward i., but their remains are not important. A part of the domestic buildings of Valle Crucis abbey have been converted into a farm-house. The castles of Flint and Harlech also belong to the time of Edward i. The ruins of Caermarthen and Kidwelly are chiefly Norman. Of Llanstaflen there are considerable remains of the time of Edward i. Newcastle-Emlvn belongs rather to that of Henry hi. Of Neath abbey the ruins are considerable, and very picturesque. The priory is of the fifteenth or sixteenth century, but the vaulted substructure called the chapter- house appears to be only one of the series of store rooms under the dormitory, as was customary in the fourteenth century. WALES, — PEMBROKESHIRE. 317 PEMBROKESHIRE. Picton castle is chiefly Norman work. Carew castle is a magnificent ruin of various periods, but chiefly later work. Lawhaden castle was another residence of the bishops of St. David’s, and is a fine and extensive ruin ; it is believed to have been built by Bishop Becke in the time of Edw. i. Haverfordwest has a fine Norman keep. Roche castle is a tower-built house of the same style. Newport castle is an interesting ruin, chiefly of the twelfth century. Kilgeran castle is another ruin also of the twelfth century. The palace at St. David’s being one of the finest examples of the fourteenth century, calls for a more detailed account. This county is remarkably rich in Domestic buildings of early character. Mr. Freeman has described them in the Archaeologia Cambrensis, and, with his kind permission, we quote a few of his accurate observations. “ Remains of Domestic architecture on a small scale are very common ; we often see doorways retaining the same rough pointed arches as are usual in some other parts of South Wales ; but there are two peculiarities which seem nearly distinctive of Pembrokeshire. One is the very cha- racteristic round chimney, the other is the frequent use of vaulting. The latter at once connects the Domestic with the Ecclesiastical architecture, which also resemble each other in a sort of general picturesque character which is much easier to recognise than to define. The churches, the houses, and even the castles, seem made for one an- other, and often group admirably together. The chimneys are of course much more important features in the small houses than in the castles and palaces ; but they are by no means excluded from the latter; in the internal view of Manorbcer castle they are very numerous and striking; 818 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. indeed that castle most remarkably displays its relationship to the smaller Domestic remains of the district. “ The vaults are a very interesting study, as so strikingly shewing the connection between the ecclesiastical and the secular architecture of the district, and the strong localism of both. There is, however, this difference to be observed, that, while those in the churches are pointed, those in the castles and houses are usually round, or, sometimes, when the span is very great, as in the crypt under the college chapel at St. David’s, elliptical. The cause of this difference doubtless is, that, as they, for the most part, form crypts with another building over them, a high pitch would have interfered with the requirements of the whole structure. They are by no means confined to large and splendid edi- fices, as they may be seen on a very humble scale in a house between Penally and Manorbeer, and in the build- ing which has lately been so barbarously destroyed at St. David’s®. This last mentioned city affords an excellent series, as crypts of this kind forming extensive ranges are found under both the palace and the college — the cathedral forms an unfortunate exception. In those of the palace are some remarkable seams not easily to be accounted for, looking as if ribs had been knocked away, which however cannot have been the case. On the other hand, at Carew castle this process has clearly taken place, as some portions of the ribs still remain ; and an extremely fine example of a ribbed barrel-vault still remains in excellent preservation in the crypts of the ancient castle at Stackpole, the only portion now existing, and which at present form the cellars of Earl Cawdor’s mansion ; a purpose for which, according to modern notions, they are far better adapted than to be employed as human habitations, which was clearly the case with some of those at St. David’s. The ribs remind one * See Archxologia Caiiibreniis, 1851, p. 169. WALES, PEMBROKESHIRE. 319 somewhat of the transept at Manorbeer, but they arc not set nearly so close together. Like so many other local peculiarities, this does not seem to belong to any particular style or epoch ; those to which the characters of contem- porary portions or other circumstances allow us to fix a date appear to range from Romanesque to Perpendicular.” Among the castles within the district we are at present examining, the vast pile at Pembroke claims beyond all comparison the first place, and the second we may with equal confidence assign to Carew. Manorbeer is exceed- ingly striking from its position and grouping, and its gate- way with massive flanking towers is very grand, but, as a whole, its architecture is of a very inferior character to cither of the other two. Llawhaden, the Caput Baronice of the bishopric of St. David’s, has been a magnificent structure, and well deserves a thorough examination and description ; but it is in a state infinitely less perfect. The most remarkable feature is the gateway, placed between two round flanking towers, with spur buttresses; the actual gate has been double, one arch over another, but the lower one has been broken down, not unfortunately for the general effect, as there is something very striking in the bold round arch thrown across at so great a height. There are some large octagonal towers in this castle, a feature not common in its neighbours, and a range of long trefoil-headed lancets. At Upton castle there remains a gateway somewhat resembling that at Llawhaden on a smaller scale ; though far more injured in detail, owing to the castle being still inhabited; it retains the double arch, and so may help to suggest the original appearance of its more stately fellow. The massive tower which forms the ancient rectory- house at Nangle is an example of military architecture on the smallest scale. With this we may class the building, 320 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. whether a separate dwelling, or in any way connected with the conventual establishment, which crowns the ascent leading from Pembroke to Monkton priory. The tower re- maining at Pater has more of picturesque outline, and a vault, not of the common form, but groined with heavy ribs, as in the small chapels in Gumfreston and Cheriton churches. Pembroke castle. — “This magnificent fortress may fairly take its place among the noblest military structures in the kingdom, and its historic interest, as the seat of the famous earldom to which it gave its name, is fully in keep- ing with its architectural merit. The grouping of the whole, when seen at high tide from the bridge or from the high ground on the opposite side, is inexpressibly grand ; the natural position, the rock washed by the winding inlets of the haven, the castle itself growing out of the rock so that it is hard to define the exact boundaries of art and nature ; the windows of the hall and the entrance to the cavern below, uniting to produce the appearance of an enormous water-gate, and the vast round tower forming the crown of the whole, combine to make a most indelible impression on the mind, and at once suggest a comparison, invidious enough in an aesthetical view, with the works of modern defensive art at Pater.” “The immediate approach from the town, owing in part to more recent mutilations, is perhaps hardly worthy of the general majesty of the structure ; consequently the most effective view of the great gateway is to be had from the interior. The grandeur of its general effect is pro- duced by its unusual height, and the comparative slen- derness of its round flanking towers. Crossing a large court, we come to the next important portion of the build- ing, the great hall, a magnificent specimen of a fully de- veloped form of Early English. It provokes a com pari- DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. HOUSE IN PEMBROKE, SOUTH WALES. WALES, — PEMBROKE. 321 son with Chepstow, the present form of which is of the same style, but it is considerably smaller, and differs in being a complete structure of its own date, while Chepstow is so remarkable a recasting of a Romanesque building. The windows are of the same incipient geometrical charac- ter, but differ in their details ; those at Chepstow having only a quatrefoil pierced in the head, while at Pembroke there is a sexfoiled circle, the rear arches also are more pointed than at Chepstow ; their mouldings have remark- ably little depth or projection. “ This hall, like that at Chepstow, is commonly shewn as the chapel, but no one who has the least experience of the difference between Ecclesiastical and Domestic architecture can doubt for a moment of its belonging to the latter class. Rut in this, as in several other castles, there is no building at once proclaiming its sacred character, as at Kidwelly and Oystcrmouth ; the chapel has to be looked for, and some- times is by no means easy to find. “ The noble round tower is the remaining architectural object in Pembroke castle. This is a stately pile remark- ably combining elevation and massiveness, so that its effect is one of vast general bulk. It stands at the point farthest from the gateway, near the conventional west end of what we have supposed to be the chapel. The chief architectural features of the tower are two remarkable couplets of win- dows. One consists of two pointed lights under an obtuse arch, the other of two round ones under one much more acute ; the former has tooth moulding round the inner jamb. In neither is the head pierced, but a small human head is inserted in each.” There is a house at Pembroke called the Great Hall, or Charity Hall (?). The general form of this building is that of a T, the western side, which looks into the street, is re- presented in the accompanying engraving. It contains three t t 322 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. stories, the lowest of which is vaulted, under the western parts of the building, with a groining with bold square ribs, and under the eastern end with a plain vault. In this vaulted story there is at the eastern end a very large fire-place and chimney. Another fire-place is over this, in the first floor. No internal means of access from the ground floor to the one above is now apparent. A turnpike stair leads from the first to the second story. The rooms are low and small, but it is not clear that the partitions are all original. The windows are small, and covered by segmental arches. No tracery exists in them, and it is probable that no stone tracery ever did, as the stone is very little fitted for such work. It is, however, not unlikely that they originally contained wooden tracery, as they resemble in shape and size some windows at Tenby which contain wooden tracery apparently of the fourteenth century. In consequence of the absence of mouldings or ornament it is difficult to de- cide with confidence as to the date of this house, but it would seem most probably to belong to this century. CAREW CASTLE. “The second among the castellated buildings of the dis- trict is certainly that of Carcw. It is much smaller than Pembroke ; in one sense it is much more of a whole, in another much less so. From its great inferiority in point of size the portions are more united together into one mass, and do not stand out as distinct architectural objects like the hall and round tower at Pembroke. On the other hand, the latter castle is pretty much the work of one period and contains no striking architectural contrasts : while Carew presents a most remarkable instance of the latter. Part of the fabric presents the genuine type of the medieval fortress, which seldom appears in greater dignity than in the western WALES, CAREW, LAMPIIEY. 323 front of this castle, flanked as it is by two massive round towers with immense spur buttresses, recalling some of the best parts of Chepstow. But turn round the corner to the north, and the feudal age with its defensive architecture has quite vanished ; here we have the facade of a splendid mansion of the Elizabethan age, with the accustomed ranges of large windows, and two large semicircular oriels running up the whole height.” Intermediate in date and character between these two parts of the building which afford so striking a contrast is the inner face of the west side, which was recast by the famous Sir Rhys ap Thomas in a rich style of late Per- pendicular, forming a transition between the purely military and the purely domestic portions of the edifice. Here is the great hall, chiefly remarkable for the lofty porch which forms its entrance. On the east side of the castle, the most remarkable portion is the chapel f . This stands like that at Kidwelly in the upper part of an apsidal tower, but it is by no means treated with the same skill which so conspicuously distinguished the architect of that admir- able structure. The vaulting is awkwardly treated, being adapted for a flat end rather than an apse. There is a fire- place in the chapel, and to the north is an apartment ap- parently forming a sacristy and residence for the chaplain. Near the entrance to the chapel stands the celebrated cross. LAMPHEY PALACE. The remains of the country mansion of the bishops of St. David’s (built, like their palace at that place, by Bishop Gower g ) consist chiefly of two detached buildings very 1 Some doubt lias been raised as to 1851, p. 322. the destination of this apartment, but * Mr. Freeman considers it as of ear- there seems in this case no good ground Her date, but the weight of authority to question the tradition which calls it seems to be against him. the chapel. See Arch. Camb., Oct. 324 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. massively constructed. They are very much ruined, most of the free-stone used about the doors, windows, &c., hav- ing been carried off. Each contains two stories, the lower vaulted, the upper appears to have formed a large hall lighted by large windows ; a battlemented parapet is car- ried round the roof, and in some parts the same peculiar arching below the parapet which occurs at St. David’s and in Swansea castle is to be seen. At an angle of each is a small tower, in one square, in the other circular, which add to the castellated effect of the building. This building, anciently one of the principal residences of the bishops of St. David’s, is a no less valuable example of domestic architecture than Pembroke is of military. This palace is exceedingly striking in itself, and the more so when compared with its neighbour at Pembroke, and per- haps most of all with the other episcopal residence at Llawhaden. There is no mistaking the difference between the castle and the palace, between the abode of war and the abode of peace. The design of the palace is very irregular ; it does not form any marked quadrangle, but consists of two principal masses of building lying a little detached from each other from east to west, together with some smaller outlying portions. The eastern mass, which apparently contained the principal domestic apartments, has the arched parapet round the greater portion of it, but it is not continued round its semicircular west end, one of the most military portions of the building. The rooms here are raised on a crypt, and lighted by the very characteristic trefoil lancets. The other mass contains the hall ; in its original state it must have been a good deal like that of Pembroke castle, but it has been greatly disfigured by the insertion of square- headed Perpendicular windows. The arched parapet does not occur here, but a battlement with loopholes is carried WALES, LA 31 PH EY, BRECON. 325 round in front of the gables. Of the detached buildings the most important is the chapel, which stands near the east end of the hall. It is a Perpendicular structure, pro- bably the work of Bishop Vaughan, raised on a small cloister; it has a somewhat higher gable than might have been looked for, but the windows are four-centred, with tracery of the same character as the east window in the choir clerestory of the cathedral. BRECON. The building usually called the Palace adjoins the re- mains of the convent of St. Nicholas, afterwards Christ’s college. It has been supposed to have been the refec- tory of that establishment, but as its plan seems rather that of a house, it may, perhaps, with more probability be supposed to have been the residence of the prior. It ap- pears to be nearly entire, though there are traces of other buildings having been at one time attached. What exists may be described as consisting of three portions ; one run- ning north and south, and ending in a gable at each end, measuring about 45 feet by 20 ; a second running east and west, attached to the first at the west, and terminating in a three-sided apse at the east end, measuring about 50 feet by 24 ; and a smaller portion attached to the re-entering angle formed by the two first on their south side, measur- ing about 36 feet by 17. Of these the first is much the most lofty; its interior is divided into small rooms, and en- tirely modernized, but the ancient oaken roof remains; this lias the principals cut into foliations, and the wall-plate shews a moulding of early Decorated character. Only small parts of it can be seen at once, but it seems to be a very good example of an open roof of the fourteenth century. The room it covered was no doubt the chief apartment of 326 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. the house, and extended through the entire length. Whether the whole space from the ground upwards was occupied by this room, or whether there were two stories it would now be difficult to decide. In the northern gable there remains an elegant foliated trefoil window, and in the southern a large pointed window blocked up. The second portion is now occupied by a tanner, and nothing of its original des- tination can be traced, the apsidal termination and its easterly direction seem to make it probable that it formed the chapel. The windows are square-headed, but contain no tracery. The third portion seems to have contained offices ; it has some small loop windows, and a large chimney projecting from the wall. This building, it would seem, may be safely assigned to the earlier part of the four- teenth century. bishop’s palace at st. david’s, south wales. In an ordinance of Ilenry de Gower, bishop of St. David’s, which received the assent of the chapter on the 27th of May, 1342, complaint is made of the many superfluous and ruin- ous buildings belonging to the bishop, and the following houses oidy are declared to be necessary, and ordered to be kept in good repair, viz., in the deanery of Pebidiawg, the palace of St. David’s, and the manor of Trevine ; in the deanery of Iloos, the castle of Llawhaden ; in that of Pem- broke, or Castlemartin, the manor of Lamphey; in the deanery of Gower, the manor of Llanddewi ; in that of Brecon, the manor of Llanthew; and in that of Sub-Aeron, the manor of Llandygwydd h . This probably marks the time when the bishop, according to Leland, erected the episcopal palace at St. David’s, and extensively repaired the h Liber Stalutorum Ecclesire Catli. Mcnev. transcript., anno Dm cio iolxxxu u> ., penes Capitulum Menevense, p. 24. wales, — st. david’s. 327 manor of Lamphey K The former, indeed, is assigned to him upon the surer evidence of an inscription upon his tomb, which was extant in the sixteenth century \ But the authority of Leland is sufficiently confirmed by testi- mony which we may fairly consider as independent, as the three edifices ascribed by him to Gower, St. David’s, Lam- phey, and Swansea castle, have a common and distinctive feature in the very remarkable parapet which we shall de- scribe presently. It may be added, in partial confirmation of this, that while the building at St. David’s, with one or two unimportant exceptions, and, so far as we are aware, that at Swansea, belong to the early part of the fourteenth century ; Lamphey, only a portion of which is assigned to Gower, belongs partly to an earlier, and partly to a later date. The palace of St. David’s, as it is far the most important of the buildings referred to, so is it among the most re- markable Domestic remains existing in this country. Its importance arises not more from its being of one date, than from its extreme magnificence both of outline and detail. The general effect of the building can be best understood from a description of its very complicated ground-plan. The principal buildings are of the same height, and occupy the eastern and southern sides respectively of a large quadrangle. The southern range is occupied by a large hall, bearing, by an apparent anachronism, the name of King John, and by a solar at the western extremity, which now forms part of the hall, the dividing wall having been broken down. The eastern range contains a smaller hall and solar, and at its southern extremity a large kitchen, 1 “ Henricus Gower episcopus Mene- vensis. Hie etiam tedificavit castellum vensis fuit cancellarius Angl. Hie in Swanseye in solo patrimonii sui.” x iificavit mag. palatiuin episcopi Me- Leland, Collectanea, p. 415. neviae, et bonam partem xdificionun k Browne Willis, St. David’s, p. 71. apud Lantfey, maner: episcopi Mene- 328 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. which appears to have served for both the suites of apart- ments. These ranges are not actually contiguous, but are connected by a prolongation of the north wall of King John’s hall, which is continued at the same height for some distance as a mere screen, and finally as the gable- end of the eastern range. This screen is carried by a semicircular arch across a kind of corridor, forming an aisle attached on one side to the gable-end of King John’s hall, and on the other to the interior wall of the eastern range. Adjoining the latter on the west, is a large porch, having a chamber over it, which forms the entrance from the quadrangle to the greater hall. A chapel with a belfry- spire is attached to the northern face of the same range of building, communicating with the solar. A small erection of two stories, having somewhat the air of a tower, projects from the southern or outer side, and communicates in like manner with the solar. The western side of the quadrangle is occupied by a lower range of buildings extending to the chapel just mentioned, and now mainly destroyed. A low building projecting externally from the eastern range, a smaller chapel attached to its northern extremity, and com- municating with the lesser solar, and a gate-house placed immediately to the west of the latter, and opposite the porch of King John’s hall, complete the ground-plan. So far as it can be made out, with the exception of the gate- house, and a part of the smaller chapel, the north side of the quadrangle seems to have been completely open. The whole of these buildings, of course excepting the gate-house, are raised upon crypts, having plain round or segmental barrel vaulting, and lighted by trefoiled loops. The exist- ence of tire-places in some of them proves them to have been inhabited. The most remarkable point of detail is the parapet, to which allusion has been made already. “ This consists of wales, — st. david’s. 329 a series of open arches, resting on octagonal shafts corbelled off a little way down the wall ; over the arcade is a corbel- table, over which again is a battlement with loopholes, and extremely narrow embrasures. The arcade remains perfect throughout the greater part of the palace, but the battle- ment remains only in a few places. The same ornament is also carried round the ends of the different portions, the gables, which are stepped, rising behind the flat parapets ; here however the arches are necessarily blank. Great variety and richness is given to the shafts and arches in the more adorned parts of the structure, by the employment of stones of different colours, placed alternately in the voussoirs of the arches and in the spandrils above them, and even by rows of four-leaved flowers set along both shafts and arches. Great variety may also be observed in the capitals and cor- bels, as well as in the width of the arches and height of the shafts in different parts of the building It may be ob- served that the arches are both better proportioned and more ornate in the great hall and the adjoining apartments than in the eastern range, and are rudest and least finished in the structure attached to the external face of the latter. This parapet, which is terminated at the angles of the prin- cipal buildings by small turrets, combined the ordinary arrangement of a battlement with that of a drip roof. The roof, which was high pitched throughout, was carried down through the open arches, on the sides of which it has left its marks. Its total destruction has added considerably to the effect of the arcade, which now forms a finish to the wall, and produces a much greater variety of light and shade than could have been perceptible when the roof was in existence. The same ornament, as we have seen, occurs 1 Jones and Freeman’s History and the palace, and a general criticism on Antiquities of St. David’s, p. 191, where the works of Bishop Gower, will be found a minute description of U U 330 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. at Swansea castle, and at Lamphey : in the former place the arches closely resemble those at St. David’s, but are a little plainer ; but at Lamphey they are extremely obtuse, and do not rise from shafts, while the work there is alto- gether of a much poorer character 1 ”. Next to the parapet the most important features are the doorways leading to the two halls, the belfry of the greater chapel, and the rose window in King John’s hall. The latter, which is placed under the eastern gable, though by no means unique, is extremely beautiful. Its tracery “ forms a complete wheel, with spokes radiating from a central qua- trefoiled circle, and having trefoiled arches between their extremities; the four-leaved flower occurs in the inner order of the arch”.” The doorway of the porch leading to the greater wall is highly enriched, and of an unusual form, the arch being struck from six centres. It is consequently of a quasi - ogee form, and is surmounted by a finial. The jambs and arch are highly ornate, being decorated with a vine-leaf moulding, and enriched with floriated capitals. The other hall is approached through a porch, being merely a bay cut off from the corridor or aisle already described. The doorway of this porch is of a shape scarcely less un- common than the other, as its arch forms a semi-octagon, like that of the entrance to the hall of Berkeley castle, and a much smaller specimen, the work of Gower, in the cathe- dral 0 . It had shafts with floriated capitals, now almost destroyed, and the arch was probably foliated. The principal chapel is the model of a domestic oratory, and while it sufficiently harmonizes with the general de- sign, distinctly proclaims its own object. Its east window must have been a striking composition, of three lights, with a niche for an image on either side. This, however, is See Archsologia Cambrensis, New " See p. 38. Scries, vol. ii. p. 324 ; vol. iii. p- 19!>. * Hist, of St. David’s, p. 78. WALES, ST. DAVID S. 331 almost wholly destroyed. There is a piscina in the usual place, ogee-crocketed, between pinnacles. But the most remarkable object in the chapel is the belfry, which rises from its western wall, where it is placed not in the centre but on the north-western angle, being carried partly by the northern wall, and partly by an arch springing from a corbel. It is surmounted by an octagonal broach-spire. We cannot complete this description without noticing two well-wrought Decorated chimney-pieces in the apart- ments on the west side of the quadrangle. They project in the form of a pent-house, carried by brackets, and on each side of both are brackets for lights, one of which has a rose sculptured on the lower part p . The ruin of this magnificent structure is due to Bishop Barlow, who occupied the see from 153G to 1547, and was afterwards celebrated as being the principal bishop who ofii- ciated at the consecration of Archbishop Parker. Browne Willis informs us that the “ damage he did to the episcopal palace of Saint David’s by uncovering the roof for the lucre of the lead, was so considerable * * * that twelve years’ revenue of the bishoprick would not then have sufficed to repair it as he found it q .” A portion, however, of the palace was under cover for nearly a century after this time, as we find a chapter held in it in the year 1G33 r . f A similar chimney-piece occurs in s Browne Willis, p. 120. the old chapter-house. Ibid., p. 74. ‘ Chapter Register, D., p. 113. 332 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. This description of Langley castle was accidentally omit- ted in the account of Northumberland. LANGLEY CASTLE, NORTHUMBERLAND. This is a very fine example of a tower-built house of the latter half of the fourteenth century. The central space is oblong, about 80 feet long by 24 wide internally : this space has not been vaulted, but was divided by floors into four stories ; the putlog-holes for the beams and the corbels of the wooden ceilings remain. One window at the west end retains its tracery of late flowing character, inclined to Flamboyant ; the other windows have all lost their tracery excepting fragments. At each corner of this building is a large square tower, or turret, and on the north side, attached to the north-west turret, is another square building, containing a large round staircase, and a series of small vaulted rooms on the west side of it, be- tween the staircase and the corner turret. The entrance is by a doorway and passage at the foot of the stairs, and there is no other entrance, nor any other staircase, through- out the building; the entrance is protected by a portcullis only : there is a series of doorways from the staircase to the principal apartments, and small ones to the side cham- bers : the doorway on the first floor has Decorated mould- ings and shafts with foliaged capitals ; the other doorways are all plain. There are three fire-places on each floor, but the internal partitions, having been of wood, are entirely destroyed, and the exact arrangement cannot now be made out, especially as the inner surface of the walls has been stripped of its ashlaring. In the south-west tower there is a series of garderobes, four arches for seats recessed in the south wall on each floor, each row behind the one below it, with flues exactly like chimney flues, to the pit be- DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY, A. Doorway, tbe only external entrance C. Garderobe Tower. B. Vaulted Chamber, or Stable? p p Fi re . p iace«. G BOUND PLAN, LANGLEY CASTLE, NORTHUMBERLAND. NORTHUMBERLAND, — LANGLEY CASTLE. 333 low, through which a stream of water was turned. A similar arrangement may be seen at Wells, and in many other places, but here it is remarkably perfect ; whether these seats were enclosed in wooden closets or not it is difficult now to decide, but there is no appearance of it ; the chambers into which they open were about twelve feet square, with a doorway on each floor from the principal apartment. On the ground floor, which has been vaulted, and has oillets for defence, there are two garderobe closets in the thickness of the wall, slightly projecting externally in the south angles, with vaulted roofs. The three other towers had the two lower rooms vaulted, and without fire- places ; the two upper stories had wooden floors, and had fire-places. The windows of the towers are either mere loops, or are square-headed, those of the other part of the building pro- tected by the towers have been of two lights, with tracery. At the two ends the towers are flush with the face of the building, the junction marked only by tall buttresses, at the top of each of which was a small turret corbelled out in a very bold manner, of which fragments only remain ; enough to shew that these turrets were higher than the battlements. The chimneys are carried up in the thick- ness of the wall, and terminate in the merlons of the bat- tlement. There is the corbel of a garderobe projecting from one of the upper stories. The vaulted chamber on the ground floor of the building adjoining the entrance, opens externally, and has no internal communication with the house ; it was probably a stable ?. The whole building is of one period, and externally is in fine preservation, with good ashlar masonry. There is no appearance of any moat or external defence ; the builders seem to have relied on the strength of the building itself. It was the capital seat of the barony of Tyndale, and came 334 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. by marriage to the Botleby’s and Lucy’s; and again, by the marriage of Maud, heiress of Antony, lord Lucy, and widow of Gilbert de Umfranville, to Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland in 1383, which marriage united the large possessions of the Umfranville’s and Lucy’s in the Percy family, and by this lord Percy the castle was rebuilt. It remained the property of the Percy family until 1567 ; it afterwards came to the RatclifFe’s of Dilston, and was forfeited by James the last earl of Derwentwater in 1745. It is now the property of Greenwich Hospital, and much neglected by the trustees of that establishment. The in- terior has evidently been destroyed by fire. CHAPTER VIII. FOREIGN EXAMPLES. Houses of the fourteenth century are remaining in France at the following places. Provins. In the upper town within the ancient walls are remains of several houses of this period with extensive vaulted chambers under them for warehouses or cellars. Rouen, a part of the building containing the library on the north side of the cathedral. Poitiers, the remains of the palace of justice, or law r courts, formerly the palace of the counts of Poitiers, are partly of this period ; the great hall is a fine room of the thirteenth century, though the extreme shallowness of the work gives it an earlier appearance ; the windows at one end are cased by Flamboyant work in a very singular manner. Bayeux, several small houses near the cathedral. Soissons, the front of a house, with an arcade of large arches on the ground floor, and a gallery over them. Noyon, remains of the chapter-house. Paris, remains of the abbey of S. Genevieve, now the college of Henry iv. Remains of the college of Beauvais. Part of the palace of justice, the buildings between the royal court, and the prefecture of police. Poissy, near Paris, some slight remains of the abbey, and some other Domestic buildiiurs. 336 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : EOURTEENTH CENTURY. Coulmier-le-sec, near Chatillon-sur-seine, two very curious houses of this period, with gables projecting into the street, the first story hanging over, with a balcony. Laon, remains of the bishop’s palace. Mont S. Michel, near Avranches, part of the buildings of the monastery are of this period ; the great hall of the knights, and the refectory of the monks belong to the previous century ; the buildings of this monastery are in a very* perfect state; their arrangement is very singular and interesting, the cloister is on the top of the great hall. Riom, near Clermont-Ferran, a house of the fourteenth centurv. ft Mont-Ferran, a house of this century. Limoges, fragments of houses. S. Yriex, near Limoges, a fine house of this period, with an arcade below, and rows of windows in the two upper stories, having good early geometrical tracer}’. (See the engraving.) In England this style of tracery, which Pro- fessor Willis has named Plate tracery, would indicate the first half of the thirteenth century, but in this part of France its use appears to have been continued for a long period, even into the fourteenth century. The church of Beaumont is a good example of the forti- fied churches, having the guard chambers above the chapels with their machicoulis, and the doorways so placed as to be defended by the towers, in which there are loopholes or evlets for arrows ; even if the doors were forced the church might still be defended for some time, the vaults being paved over and the rooms above them well calculated for defence ; the church is provided with a well and other con- veniences in case of its having to sustain a siege. The town of Cahors in the mountainous part of Guienne, has preserved a great part of its fortifications, consisting of the wall with a parapet, and square towers at intervals. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. FRENCH EXAMPLES. HOUSE NFAK THE CH0RCH. CAYLUS— GUIENNTC FOREIGN EXAMPLES, — FRANCE. 337 and a number of houses of the fifteenth and sixteenth cen- turies, though generally much mutilated, some of these con- tain curious and valuable details. The most important is the house of the family of Ense, commonly called the Pope’s palace, but really built by the brother of Pope John xxi., between 1320 and 1334, but never quite finished. It has a fine and lofty tower with some of the original windows ; these are small of two lights, divided by a shaft with a good capital of foliage and a square abacus. Other windows on the east side of the palace are large and have good Deco- rated tracery ; in the entrance passage is a good corbel of a lion’s head, with the springing of a vault and well-moulded ribs, but the whole of this fine palace is in a very neglected and ruinous state 8 . (See the engraving.) At Cahors also is a remarkably perfect bridge of the fourteenth century with three towers and part of a fourth, which seems to have been a sort of barbican not so high as the others ; the arches are pointed, except the one under the barbican next the town, which is round. There is a passage through the piers a little above the water b . This bridge was built at the expense of the town, begun in 1265 and finished in 1380, as appears from the archives of the town®. We have no bridge of this period remaining in England with its towers, although we have abundant evidence that we formerly had many, and there is no doubt that they were very similar to this, so that it may be con- sidered as a valuable example for the illustration of English histcry. ViLLEFranciie d’aveyron is another of the bastides of the same regular plan, as before described, with a central * Closely adjoining the palace is the a fine brick bridge of the fourteenth church of St. Bartholomew, built at the century. same time, and apparently intended to c For these dates I am indebted to serve as a chapel to it. M. Plunarvergne, prolessor of history in b This is also the case at Montauban, the college of Cahors. 338 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. market-place surrounded by arcades, some of the arches of these with their buttresses are of the fourteenth century, but the greater part of the houses are of the sixteenth or later, with some good examples of the period of Renais- sance ; at one corner of the market-place is the church, which is a fine one of the early Flamboyant style d . Caylus d’aveyron is a small town, containing a num- ber of houses of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the greater part modernized by having new windows in- serted and other alterations, but some remain nearly per- fect, particularly one opposite the church e of the early part of the fourteenth century, with the arches on the ground floor and one of the upper windows perfect ; in this house is a very good stone lavatory of the same period, with the spout for water built into the wall on the first floor, and part of the original construction. In another house adjoining is a similar lavatory, perhaps a little earlier but less perfect. St. Antonin. This small town contains several houses of the fourteenth centurv, but all more or less mutilated ; in d In the outskirts of the town is the Carthusian monastery, which was turned into a public hospital after the revolu- tion of 1790, and has thereby been pre- served nearly intact. The church, the refectory, and the two cloisters, (accord- ing to the usual plan of the Carthu- sians,) are Flamboyant work of the fif- teenth and sixteenth centuries, the other buildings have been mostly modernized. The church contains some fine wooden stalls with canopies, and the wooden doors are finely carved with the figure of a monk on the lower panel of each door. The refectory has a good vault and a rich pulpit quite perfect. One of the cloisters is carried all round a large cemetery ; it is narrow, low, and plain, but is vaulted. The other cloister en- closes a small space between the church and the refectory, it is more lofty and much richer than the other, with a fine vault and very good windows, the tracery of some of which is quite Geometrical, while that of others is quite Flamboyant, side by side, with the same late mould- ings. On the side next the church the cloister is double and very elegant, this part forming the mortuary chapel, a common arrangement in French clois- ters; close to the door of the refectory is a good lavatory. There are two other small chayels of the same character, their vaults have good corbels, chiefly of foiiage, and fine bosses, some of which are enriched with shields of arms, others with fol age. • The church is a poor one, partly of the thirteenth and fourteenth cen- turies. ■ DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. FRENCH EXAMPLES. HOUSE OF TBE CHIEP HUNTSMAN. jCORDES. LANQUEDOC FOREIGN EXAMPLES, — FRANCE. 339 almost every instance the windows have been removed, and later ones inserted in their place. The town-hall belongs to an earlier period, it has lately been carefully restored by M. Viollet-le-Duc, and is extremely picturesque and in- teresting. This was not one of the bastides, and its streets are narrow and irregular, but it contains a great number of houses of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, though much mutilated. Others are of the fifteenth and sixteenth, some of which contain some very rich fire-places of the Flamboyant and Renaissance styles, one in particular is of the richest Flamboyant work. A few miles from this is the very curious little town of Cordes f , situated on the peak of a sugar-loaf hill, which rises so abruptly from the valley that the road would be quite impracticable if it did not wind gradually round the hill. The gates are of the twelfth and thirteenth cen- turies, but very plain ; the original town is small and quite at the top of the hill, the suburbs have gradually spread downwards, till some straggling houses have nearly reached the bottom B . In the old town the street is straight and open, and here are some of the most perfect houses in France of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, several of them in very good preservation and very rich work, some with towers, some without them. One remarkably fine house at Cordes has the front orna- mented with a string of small figures, representing a hunt ; this is said to have been the house of the chief huntsman of the count of Toulouse. (See the engraving.) ( The stranger visiting Cordes should of the old town is a very tidy little inn beware of the temptation of the hotel with civil people, where he will be well in the outskirts of the town, at the treated, and there is a splendid view over foot of the mound, where he will be the adjacent country from the windows, certain to be cheated, and will still * It takes nearly an hour to wind up have the steepest part of the hill to the hill, and in parts the ascent is so climb; there is a carriage way winding abrupt that it is extremely fatiguing to around quite to the top, and in the heart walk up at all. 310 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. At Rodez, Mende, and Langogne, are many houses of early date, but so much mutilated as to be with difficulty recognised ; the plan of this latter town is singularly irre- gular, having been built round the walls of the monastery, which occupies the heart of it with the church near the centre. At Cluny there are a number of early houses, some of which, belonging to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, have been already mentioned in our first volume, but the abbot’s house, or as some call it, the strangers’ hall, is a fine rich example of the fourteenth, with an arcade below, and a gallery above. Farther to the south the town of Carcassonne was re- built by the officers of St.Louis in the second half of the four- teenth century, after its destruction in the crusade against the Albigeois. It still retains almost entire the character which it received at that period ; the walls and drawbridges are perfect. The houses are mostly later, but there are ex- tensive remains of a large house of the fourteenth century, though in a very mutilated state. Montreale, near Avallon, remains of houses. Perpignan, se\eral houses of this period. Flavigny, near Dijon, small village houses of this period. In almost all the small towns in the neighbourhood of Perigueux, and also in nearly all those on the banks of the Garonne, there are numerous houses belonging to the four- teenth century ; but as almost all these places were ruined, and the houses devastated during the wars of religion in the sixteenth century, they are now either mere ruined shells of houses, or have been fitted up in modern times, and retain little of their ancient character; modern windows especially have generally been inserted. At Caudebec in Normandy is a good house of this cen- tury, with the original shop, a small doorway on the first DOM EST1U AnIJH 1TJSUTU KK : FUUKTEEINTH CEJNTUK 1 PART OF THE ABBEY OF CLUNY.— BOURGOGNE. FOREIGN EXAMPLES, — FRANCE. 341 floor, as may frequently be observed in French town- houses, as if the approach to this part of the house had been by a step ladder ; the windows are of two lights, with trefoils in the head, a form which continued in use in France from the thir- teenth to the fif- teenth centuries. The house fol- lows the line of a bend in the street. House. Caudebec. In general there are many traces of houses of this period in all those parts of France which were then in a state of peace, but in those parts which were continually the seat of civil war, at one time occupied by the French and at another by the English, neither party had much leisure for building any thing but castles and fortifications. The houses of the fourteenth century in France differ very little from those of the thirteenth ; in many cases it is difficult to decide to which century a particular house may belong ; but in general the architectural details become gradually more finished, the tracery of the windows more developed, more cut through, and more decorated. An arrangement which seems to have been adopted more par- ticularly in the fourteenth century in private houses, is to have a sort of gallery or central hall on the first floor, lighted 342 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. by large windows, often on both sides, and forming a kind of clearstory. (See the engraving of the house at Cluny.) It was during the fourteenth century that the custom of turning the gable end of the house towards the street began to be introduced. Previous to that time the facade was parallel to the street, and was terminated square, the eaves of the roof having often a very bold projection, quite overhanging, and casting a shadow on the front, as at Cordes. The gables turned to the street had the advan- tage of allowing more light to be received in all the stories. This custom was generally adopted in the fifteenth and six- teenth centuries, and discontinued again in the seventeenth. During the fourteenth century also the turrets corbelled out on the angles of the houses began to appear, especially at the corners of streets ; this fashion was only suitable for large and important houses, and is rarely found in any others; it was continued throughout the fifteenth and six- teenth centuries. It was also during the fourteenth century that high- pitched roofs were commonly introduced on houses, in the place of the flat ones, which had continued in use down to the end of the thirteenth in a large part of France, on private dwelling houses. "Wood played an important part in the construction of houses of this period, the timbers of the roof were left visible on the exterior as well as the interior. Large dormer windows were introduced in the roof, covered with slates or tiles, or with lead. At Autun there is still remaining a house of the fourteenth century, with large dormer windows of carved wood-work. The different stories are more lofty at this period than in the preceding century. Chimneys and fire-places are more common, the shops are more open and higher. Benches are frequently found on each side of the door of FOREIGN EXAMPLES, — FRANCE. 3 13 the house, on the public road, and even sometimes occupy part of the foot pavement. Porches towards the street are more rare than in the thirteenth century. The windows are larger and nearer together 11 . Country houses of this period are extremely rare in Prance. During nearly the -whole of this century the coun- try was overrun either by the English and French armies, or by the free companies; and every house that was not strongly fortified was sacked and burnt, so that what re- mains there are of this period partake more of the character of fortresses than of dwelling-houses. This is the case even with Blanquefort, the usual residence of Edward the Black Prince, a few miles from Bordeaux. It is, however, an in- teresting ruin, and contains some vaulted chambers, in one of which is the lion of England on a corbel of the vault. In some secluded situations it is possible that a few dwelling houses of a more peaceful character may be found. The barony of Douvres, a few miles from Caen, near the sea coast, appears to be one of this kind; the only defences seem to have been a small stream and a moat, with a com- mon rubble wall ; the entrance gateway is more like that to a farm than to a nobleman’s house ; it is however double, and supported by strong buttresses, the mouldings seem to indicate the end of the thirteenth or beginning of the four- teenth century. Within the enclosure are three detached buildings, the principal one, which is two stories high be- sides the ground floor, was probably the dwelling house, the second the hall, and the third offices ; the windows are mostly square-headed, but one has a circle in the head and another is divided by a shaft with a capital, instead of a plain mullion. The doorway is plain, with a segmental 11 I am indebted chiefly to my friend confirmed by my own observation, and M. Viollet-le-Duc for this outline of the in some cases I have added a few par- French architecture of the fourteenth ticulars which had escapedhim, or which century in towns; it is, however, fully were more striking to an English eye. 344 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. head ; over it is a projection supported on an elegant cor- bel. The second building contains a large fire-place, with a segmental arch, the doorway is round-headed, and some corbels seem to have belonged to an earlier building. The manor-house of Cully, near Bayeaux, has been already mentioned ; it is situated at about a mile to the north of Bretteville, on the road to the castle of Creuilly, and is a very remarkable example of a manor-house of the fourteenth century in France not fortified, or so slightly as hardly to deserve the name. The entrance gateway is little more than an ornamental gateway to a farm-yard, such as are not uncommon in this district; in this case it was the entrance to the court-yard, and is a little more ornamented, and more capable of defence. This court-yard is of considerable size, on the right hand is the chapel, which is much mutilated, and converted into a stable, but has some good Decorated windows ; it has evidently been a detached building, though now connected with sheds and other stabling; on the left hand are the offices, connected with the house itself, which, being still inhabited, has been much altered, especially within, but still retains some good features of the fourteenth century. At the back of the house is a series of fish-ponds, which seem to have been in a kind of park, such as we read of in the romances of the period. The whole is at present occupied as a farm- house and homestead. There are comparatively few buildings to be found in France of the latter part of the fourteenth and early part of the fifteenth centuries, owing doubtless to the disturbed state of the country, the continual wars, and the conse- quent poverty of the nation ; but of the latter part of the fifteenth century, the buildings are numerous, and the houses of the sixteenth century in the style of the Re- naissance are very numerous and often very fine. FOREIGN EXAMPLES, FLANDERS. 345 In Flanders, houses of the fourteenth century are not very common ; but some brick houses with stone dressings in the Kidder street, at Bruges, appear to belong to this period. One of these of moderate size is in very good pre- servation, the door is small and placed on one side, and has a trefoiled head. Almost the whole of the front is filled with long panels pierced with square apertures for the windows of the three upper stories ; the spaces inter- vening between the windows of each story are occupied by blank trefoil and quatrefoil panels. The gable is cut into “ corbie-steps.” At Ghent, the house called Utenhovensteen, in the Friday place, is of this century ; the lower story is vaulted, the principal entrance is on the first floor by a flight of stone steps ; there are two ranges of pointed windows, and turrets at the angles. In Ypres are two very beautiful fragments of houses of this century closely resembling in style the celebrated town- hall. Each had three stories ; in the one best preserved the central story has been modernized, the ground and the second floor remaining in their original state. The ground floor had a door in the middle and two windows of good size on each side, all these have what have been called shouldered arches ; remarkably large stones are used in the construction of this part. The upper story has three windows remaining (of the original five), which are of two lights trefoiled, the upper part filled with geometrical tracery. The second story had windows of the same na- ture, as appears from some small remains. The building was finished by an ornamental parapet, and had turrets corbelled out from the angles. The roof is extremely high and steep, and its side walls cut into steps. For further information see the valuable work of M. Schayes, “ Ilistoire de TArchitecture ou Belgique.” Y y 34G DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. GERMANY. In some German cities examples of houses dating from this century will be found. At Treves there are many ; generally, however, the lower story has been modernized, and the rows of small trefoil- headed windows, and the ornamented corbels of the chim- neys, are the only indications of the age of the building. At Nuremburg almost every thing at first sight looks very late in date, but there is very much to be found if it is looked for carefully. St. Sebald’s parsonage house has a magnificent oriel window rising from a multangular shaft ; it has five sides with a fine traceried three-light window in each side, pin- nacles at the angles, a carved cornice, and a steep roof covered with ornamental tiles; below the windows are five subjects finely carved, and the corbelling out from the shaft is exceedingly elaborated. There is no other point of interest about the house. The parsonage of St. Lawrence, as does the church, at- tempts to vie with that of St. Sebald, not so successfully however. The bay window here is similar in idea, but much less elaborate, and as it has all been restored and nearly rebuilt, it has lost much of its interest. At the corner of the street opposite St. Lawrence’s church is a most curious house of the fourteenth century called the Nassauer-haus. It is a large square of great height, with magnificent angle pinnacles, a very rich parapet, a very steep tiled roof, hipped all ways, and therefore coming almost to a point; in one face of the building is a most beautiful oriel, well proportioned and very delicately orna- mented ; this is the only window that appears to be ori- ginal. The angle turrets have great tiled roofs, and the height is very imposing ; the height to the bottom of the FOREIGN EX AM PEES, — G ERM ANY . 317 turrets is equal to five stories in height of an ordinary house by its side. The Rath-lmus has a very long hall of this date, though the greater part of the building is later. It has ten two- light windows at the side, of varied geometrical tracery, and at the end two similar windows, with a narrow and lofty oriel between them. The effect is unusual and good. The fountain in the market place, known every where, but not the less to be mentioned, since it is a civic erec- tion, and in nowise ecclesiastical, as our crosses generally are, is divided into three stages, and has a number of fine effigies of kings and others, and is in good preserva- tion. The iron railing round the fountain is original. It is of considerable height and stands upon a stone base, projecting from which are stone pedestals, on which the townspeople place their buckets whilst they fill them, by depressing the end of a pipe hung on a pivot. This is the original plan, and a very sensible scheme it is. The foun- tain ow r es its very perfect state, doubtless, to the protection of the railing. Ratisbon contains much more to repay a careful investi- gation than even Nuremburg. The finest specimen of the fourteenth-century work is the Rath-haus. Of this the front is simple, but very beautiful. It is of three stories, the low r er only used for cellars, and not lighted. The next stage has in the centre a beautiful oriel rising from a plain buttress, pinnacled at the angles, and has crocketed gables on each side. It is square in plan. On each side of it are four two-light windows, they are square-headed, with tre- foiled lights, and the windows are arranged in pairs to- gether. Above these are two windows of two lights, with arched heads and goodj early tracery. At the end of the hall are two similar three-light windows. The gables are stepped, and appear to be original. The entrance porch 348 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. and staircase are at one angle. The outer door very elaborate, with an arched head under a crocketed canopy. The feature most worthy of notice inside is the spandrel above the stairs. It is filled in with the most elaborate geometrical tracery, and has a good effect. The detail is all very rich. In another part of the same building is a very good two-light window, with trefoiled heads to each division, and square openings to the lights. The spandrels having a small sunk trefoil. In the oldest portion of the town, particularly in a street running parallel with the Danube for some extent, almost every house seems to be of extreme antiquity. Many of them seem to be of the twelfth century, and they are all very similar in their design and detail. They are of great height, and their facades have generally at each end an immense stepped gable, with a battlemented parapet between, or else each end has a tower battlemented, or capped with a steep pyramidal roof. The lower story seems to be always used as a cellar, and has nothing but a very rude gateway. Above this are several rows of win- dows. The windows on each tier being generally similar. The detail of the windows is very good. They are of two, three, and four lights, almost invariably supjwrted on de- tached shafts, with finely carved capitals, the abaci and bases are all square; the heads of the lights arched and trefoiled, and there is always a weather-mould over the window, but not returning down the sides, as is common with us. In some of the windows the central light is the highest, and in these cases they have crocketed canopies over them. In all cases there is some kind of dripstone. The towers at the angles frequently rise as much as seven stories in height, and the design of the windows in each stage is almost always varied. Windows with arched heads over square openings are of frequent occurrence. There are a FOREIGN EXAMPLES, — GERMANY. 349 variety of singular designs for Domestic windows dispersed about the town, and frequently of most unusual shapes. The buildings seem to range from the twelfth century to the end of the fourteenth, and to have been all intended as houses fitted for defence. This the history of Ratisbon would quite lead one to expect. More houses, however, of this century exist in the Ilanseatic cities on the Baltic than elsewhere in Ger- many ; they are entirely of brick, without any stone dress- ings, the ornamental parts being formed of moulded and glazed brick-work, and, as their style is very peculiar, it is not easy to ascertain their date quite satisfactorily. Some are, however, assigned by the German architects to the latter part of this century, and many others exist which there is every reason to conclude are of earlier date. Ros- tock, Wismar, Stralsund, Greifswald, Anclam, &c., afford numerous examples, often occurring in groups of threes and fours. It is, however, seldom that the lower part is in an unaltered state. In the largest houses a common plan appears to have been to make an entrance large enough to admit a cart, from this a large passage or hall runs quite through the house, giving access to a small court at the back. The rooms at the sides are now gene- rally shops or sitting rooms, but probably originally store- houses for wood, &c. The living rooms of the family were chiefly on the first floor, and the whole upper part of the house served for granaries or warehouses. This forms in most cases a vast gable towards the street, and contains se- veral rows of arcades, with shafts and tracery in glazed brick. The castle of the Teutonic knights at Marienburg on the Nogat affords very curious examples of Domestic archi- tecture in brick, partly of the thirteenth (as is said) and partly of the fourteenth century. The residence of the grand-master is one of the most remarkable parts. 350 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE : FOURTEENTH CENTURY. ITALY. We are indebted to M. Verdier of Paris, for the follow- ing notices of Domestic architecture in Italy a . Pisa. — Nearly the whole of the old town still consists of buildings of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries ; the custom-house is an ancient palace of the thirteenth. Lucca. — The palace of the Guinigi family is of the thirteenth, and some other houses adjoining to it are of the same style. The Quorquonia or poor-house, is said to have been the country seat of the same family; and the palace of the Benettoni near to that of the Guinigi, with a fine tower b . Siena — The palace of the Buonsignori is of the end of the thirteenth century ; the palace of the Piccolomini is also of the thirteenth ; there is also a house of the thirteenth in the street of St. Peter, and a number of other houses of the thirteenth and fourteenth. The public palace was begun in the fourteenth, and the hospital has portions of the thirteenth. Viterbo. — There are here a considerable number of houses of the twelfth century; amongst others, that which is called the Palaretto, and one called the Vellegrino. A very elegant Gothic fountain of the thirteenth in the place or square of Cartano, and two or three other fountains of the thirteenth. Orvieto. — The palace of the Podest.at is of the twelfth * Engravings of many of these build- intended for habitation and state, and ings will be found in the valuable work also for defence. In the Scaligerian on the Domestic and Civil Architecture castles defence is the first object, and of Italy, now publishing in Paris by magnificence the second; but in these, M. Verdier. peace takes precedence of war, but it is an armed peace.” — Murray’s Hand- book of Northern Italy. b ‘‘These palaces belong to a class of buildings peculiar to Tuscany, palaces FOREIGN EXAMPLES, — ITALY. 351 century ; there is a large building of the thirteenth op- posite the cathedral ; the bishop’s palace has fragments of the twelfth and thirteenth ; and there are a great number of houses of the twelfth. At Florence, the public palace (Palazzo Vecchio) was built by Arnolfo in 1278, but much altered in subsequent times. Bologna contains numerous houses of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, built of brick, with ornaments of terra cotta : the most remarkable is the Loggia dei Mer- canti, which is of moulded brick. It was begun in 1294, finished in the fourteenth century, and restored by the Bentivoglio family during their political ascendancy. The Palazzo maggiore del Pabblico was also begun at the end of the thirteenth century, and has some portions of the fourteenth, but has been much altered. Padua. — The arcades on which the houses are supported are of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, over a great part of the town. The Palazzo della Ragione is said to have been built by Pietro Cozzo between 1172 and 1219, and a new roof added in 1306 by Prate Giovanni. It is a very large hall, standing entirely upon open arches. The length is about 240 feet by 80 wide, and as much in height, and it is ornamented by various paintings, said to have been designed by Giotto. Verona. — A house of the twelfth or beginning of the thirteenth century, with the ancient staircase, near the tombs of the Scaligers, and there are numerous fragments of the fourteenth and fifteenth. A clock tower at one end of the piazza is said to have been built by Cansignorio, the ninth ruler of the Scaliger family, in 13G8, and the exchange or Casa dei Mercanti, is said to have been built for that purpose by Albert Scaliger in 1301. Vicenza. — A house in the principal street is of the 352 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE: FOURTEENTH CENTURY. fourteenth century, and there is another house with a curious staircase. “ The Palazzo della Pagione is an an- cient Gothic building surrounded with loggie by Palladio.” Venice. — There are here a great number of palaces of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries in all parts of the town. The Fondaco del Torchi (or factory of the Turks) has a fa£ade of the twelfth century along the grand canal, but in a ruinous state. The palace of the Poscari is of the fourteenth. The Cal d’Oro on the grand canal is a very curious structure of the fifteenth century, although of a corrupt style, having a mixture of oriental details and ogee arches. The Casa Ferro is a beautiful specimen of the Venetian Gothic style. Mantua. — The Castello de Corte, the palace and fortress of the Gonzagas, was built between 1393 and 1406. “ It is a vast pile, flanked by deeply machicolated and noble towers, but battered and decayed.” Adjoining to this is the immense edifice begun in 1302 by Guido Buonacolsi, but little remains besides the front, with its Gothic win- dows and battlements. The Palazzo della Pagione was begun in 1198 and completed about 1250. Como. — T he town-hall is of the thirteenth century. PRINTED BY PARKER AND CO., CROWN YARD, OXFORD. -r * GETTY CENTER LIBRARY 3 3125 00638 0626