177.—Staircase at Ockwells Manor House, Berkshire.
The principle upon which these wood staircases were constructed may be compared to that of the ladder, where the sides of the ladder are replaced by deep and comparatively narrow pieces of wood called "strings," and the rungs are replaced by the treads and risers. One side of this amplified ladder was placed hard on to the wall, the foot of the other was secured into a stout upright post, or "newel," as also was the top: into the same newel that received the top of the first string the foot of the second was secured at right angles, and so onwards and upwards as far as the staircase extended. At about two feet above the top of the string, and parallel to it, was the handrail, and between the handrail and the string were fixed the balusters. The top of the first flight leant against a flat landing, on which also the foot of the next flight rested. The construction, therefore, was extremely simple in principle, far simpler than that of the continuous winding flights of the eighteenth century; but the component parts were often highly decorated. All the woodwork was of fairly large dimensions; the newels were six, seven, or eight inches square, the handrail was generally nearly as wide as the newel, the strings were three inches thick or even more, the balusters were proportionately massive. The flights were five or six feet wide, and comprised usually about six steps, although they were longer when necessity demanded it. The plans on Plate [LXXIII]. show various arrangements of staircases taken from John Thorpe's collection of plans in the Soane Museum. Nos. 1 and 2 are the most usual types, and of these No. 1 is the more frequent. The space to be occupied by the stairs is divided into nine equal squares, of which those in the corners represent the landings, while the intermediate ones are occupied by the steps; the middle square is the "well-hole." The staircase at Lyveden Old Building, in Northamptonshire, is planned on this principle, and the effect can be seen in the sketch in Fig. [172]. The flights in this case consist of seven steps each. This arrangement is very simple, but it necessitates the access to the upper rooms being from one of the comparatively small corner landings. Another plan, giving a larger landing at the top, is shown in No. 2, and an amplification of the same idea is given in No. 3, where, a larger number of steps being required, the sides have two flights with an intermediate landing. Sometimes the central square, instead of being occupied by an open well-hole, was either a solid block or a shell of masonry, round the four sides of which the steps ascended. Such an arrangement is shown in No. 5, where also may be seen some winding steps in one of the corners; but these winders are not of frequent occurrence, short straight flights being the rule. These four types are those most frequently adopted. Of the others, No. 4 is an instance of the employment of winders, and shows the somewhat unusual arrangement of two lower flights combining into one upper flight; No. 6, being in a turret, consists wholly of winders; and Nos. 7 and 8 are instances of a rather grander style of planning, in which it is evident that considerable effect was aimed at. The plans varied, of course, according to the disposition of the rooms to be reached; the chief characteristics were simplicity of construction and massiveness of effect. In the less important houses the work was fairly plain: the newels were unornamented, except for a shaped top; the string was moulded at the top and bottom; the balusters were merely stout turned bars. But there was much variety imparted to the turning, and while many of the outlines are rather clumsy, many of them also exhibit considerable subtlety and refinement. To increase the richness of effect the newels were ornamented either with carving, or with a pattern contrived by sinking the groundwork, thus leaving the pattern itself raised and at the same level as the general face of the newel. The tops of the newel were sometimes little more than round knobs, as at Hambleton Old Hall (Fig. [173]), and a house at Warwick (Fig. [180]); but more often they projected far above the handrail and were shaped in a variety of ways, of which four examples of varying degrees of elaboration are given from East Quantockshead (Fig. [174]), Lyveden Old Building (Fig. [175]), Ockwells Manor House (Figs. [177], [178]), and the Charterhouse (Fig. [181]). They were sometimes made the pedestals upon which figures were placed—such as boys playing instruments, as at Hatfield; or warriors in various guises, as at Blickling; or the animal sacred to the particular family concerned, and hallowed in their sight by being borne in their coat of arms. The newels at the Charterhouse carry a crest by way of finial (Fig. [181]). Then the outer surface of the outer string would be also carved (Figs. [179] and [181]), or decorated with a pattern; and the balusters would sometimes be flat pieces of wood shaped and pierced in a variety of patterns (Fig. [176]). Sometimes, instead of balusters there was a series of arches springing from small columns and following the upward rake of the stairs; as at Ockwells Manor House (Figs. [177], [178]), and the Charterhouse (Fig. [181]). Or, again, the balustrade would consist of woodwork cut and slightly carved into a version of the favourite strap-work pattern, like that at Benthall Hall, Shropshire (Fig. [179]). Not infrequently the space at command forbade the arranging of the flights at right angles to each other; the second flight then returned side by side with the first. In such cases either the newels were increased in width sufficiently to take both the handrails, or the handrail and string intersected each other in the way shown on Fig. [180]. Occasionally, when a little space divided the flights, the great newels were carried up and joined to each other by wood arches, as in the instance of a staircase at Audley End (Plate [LXXIV].): this kind of treatment occasionally produced a most intricate result, of which a careful study is required in order to make out what are its component parts.
178.—Staircase at Ockwells Manor House, Berkshire. Plans and Details.
179.—Staircase at Benthall Hall, Shropshire.
180.—Staircase at Warwick.
