The lower plan shows a portion of the first flight and the servants’ passage, a, under the first landing; b is their staircase down to the basement, this should have been shown on the left-hand side. It is the footman’s staircase, adapted for him to ascend and
Iron railing on staircase.
descend readily from or to the basement, and the passage a permits him to enter either side of the house without being seen. The upper plan shows the two flights, right and left, rising from the principal landing. Each of these has 22 steps. Three more in the centre lead up to the gallery round the saloon; the section of the staircase, given on p. 482, clearly shows this arrangement. The staircase front is in Bath stone. The only ornaments are the decorated corbels supporting the small angular projections or buttresses necessary to receive the iron standards of the railing above. One of the corbels and a panel of the iron railing is given. This is carried up the stairs on both sides and round the gallery, and is richly coloured and gilt. The only remaining portions of the ground plan to be described are the secondary rooms. A side entrance is at j, and the waiting room, i, is also at the side; h is the servants’ staircase, going from the basement to the attic. On the other side of the building o is the Earl’s dressing-room, with a study or writing room by its side. This has a lift, n, from the kitchen, enabling it to be used as a serving room. The picture gallery has a flight of steps descending to a large ornamented garden at the back of the house, n n is the stable yard, and k k k rooms over the stable.
The section through the complete building, given on page 486, shows the general character of the interior. The rooms are wholly without ornament; all have plain cornices formed of running Gothic mouldings. The
only decorated portion is the saloon (inf.), the coved ceiling of which has the shields of painted and gilt coats of arms of family connexions, together with
