On the top floor, over the hall and running from end to end of the building, is the gallery; it is lighted at each end and down so much of the side as is not blocked by the wings of the house, which of course it cuts off from the staircases and the other rooms. The treatment of the elevations is as symmetrical as that of the plan (Fig. [48]). The area of window space is in excess of that of wall space, the strings are of some depth and of classic profile, and the whole appearance contrasts strongly with that of Hengrave. Along the topmost floor in the spaces between the windows are eight statues, which, with a ninth in the central gable, are said to represent those Nine Worthies whom Holofernes and his companions tried to represent in a more dramatic manner before the Princess of France and her lively attendants.
Plate XX.
MONTACUTE HOUSE, SOMERSET.
PART OF ENTRANCE FRONT SEEN FROM WING.
It has already been observed that the plan of Montacute is shaped roughly like the letter H. This type of plan is very frequent, and is the same in its essence as the E plan, of which many writers have made more than is needful. The
plan is in fact the same as the H with the side strokes curtailed. To make a just comparison, either the centre stroke of the
should be omitted or it should be added to the cross of the H, inasmuch as it represents the projecting porch, which was present equally in each arrangement. The fact that the