45.—Moreton Old Hall, Cheshire. Ground Plan (1559).
He then enters upon particulars of the plan, and it will be observed how exactly his suggestions, so far as they go, agree with the plans we are examining. "Make the hall," he says, "under such a fashion that the parlour be annexed to the head of the hall, and the buttery and pantry be at the lower end of the hall; the cellar under the pantry, set somewhat abase from the buttery and pantry, coming with an entry by the wall of the buttery; the pastry-house and the larder-house annexed to the kitchen. Then divide the lodgings by the circuit of the quadrivial court, and let the gatehouse be opposite or against the hall door (not directly), but the hall door standing abase, and the gatehouse in the middle of the front entering into the place. Let the privy chamber be annexed to the great chamber of estate, with other chambers necessary for the building, so that many of the chambers may have a prospect into the chapel." The necessity for these particular arrangements, so far as health is concerned, does not seem quite obvious, especially the directions not to have the hall door exactly opposite to the entrance gateway; and it may be supposed that this particular passage in his treatise was suggested by what he had frequently seen rather than by what science led him to prescribe. When he goes on to dwell upon the necessity for removing "fylth," he was probably taking a more original attitude, as also when he recommended the stables, slaughter-house, and dairy to be kept a quarter of a mile away from the house. The bakehouse and brewhouse should also be isolated, he thinks; but in all these respects his advice was not universally followed, for the whole of these particular places are to be found attached to the house on one or other of contemporary house plans. His next advice is applicable to Moreton Old Hall. "When all the mansion is edified and built, if there be a moat made about it, there should be some fresh spring come to it, and divers times the moat ought to be scoured and kept clean from mud and weeds. And in no wise let not the filth of the kitchen descend into the moat." Most of Dr. Andrew Boorde's advice is practical and to the point, and he is not so much in bondage to ancient authorities as many of his contemporaries were, in spite of his reference to Jeremiah. The rest of his chapter refers to the gardens and other surroundings of the house, which need not now be dealt with.
Plate XV.
MORETON OLD HALL, CHESHIRE.
ELEVATION OF ENTRANCE GABLE.
Plate XVI.
MORETON OLD HALL, CHESHIRE.