84.—Cheney Court, Somerset.
85.—Manor House, Cold Ashton, Gloucestershire.
86.—Manor House, Cold Ashton, Gloucestershire. Ground Plan.
Coming now to somewhat smaller houses, we find the same simple materials relied upon, and producing equally good effects. In the ruins of the old Hall at Exton, in Rutland (Plate [XXIX].), the front façade shows curved gables separated by a length of pierced parapet, and the side has three straight gables close together, with a huge stack of chimneys placed irregularly against them. The Manor House at Glinton, in Northamptonshire (Plate [XXIX].), is even simpler; nevertheless, its curved gables, carefully wrought chimneys, and projecting porch give it a considerable amount of character. It is not on record when either of these houses was built, but Exton Hall was probably the work of John, Lord Harrington of Exton, the tutor of the Princess Elizabeth, only daughter of James I. There is nothing left inside the house, which was burnt down in 1810, but enough of the exterior remains to show that, like most manor houses in the district, it must have been a fine place in its palmy days. In the church at Exton are a number of exceptionally good monuments of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, commemorating the Harringtons and their descendants (see Fig. [6]). The manor of Glinton was granted to the Dean and Chapter of Peterborough at the dissolution of the monasteries, and so remained till long after the house was built, which may therefore have been used as a country residence for the Dean. At Cheney Court, near Bath (Fig. [ 84]), another house without a history, the treatment is quite simple, consisting of nothing more than three evenly placed gables along the side, and two others, in combination with large chimney-stacks, along the end. The reason for the sudden jumping up of the strings in the right-hand gable of the side is not apparent; but as a matter of fact, at the present time that part of the house is occupied by one tenant, while the remainder is let to another. This type of manor house, with its extremely quiet handling of gables, chimneys, and mullioned windows, is common all over the country, and so far as its exterior is concerned, it owes little besides its symmetrical disposition to the Italian spirit. An extra touch is given to the doorway here (Fig. [68]), and the internal fittings show the foreign influence, but otherwise it is entirely a native production. The same may be said of Cold Ashton (Fig. [85]), another house in the neighbourhood of Bath, but here the symmetrical treatment is more marked, as will be seen by looking at the plan (Fig. [86]), and the chimneys are gathered into two groups which serve the whole house. This is an interesting example of the smaller kind of manor house, and it has been subjected to very few alterations. Its history is not recorded, but it was evidently built by one of the numerous squires of the time, who put his arms over the gateway on the road side (see Fig. [58]). Judging by the two doorways remaining in the screen on the left of the central passage, one of which now leads into a pantry, the hall has been shortened by the space required for the pantry, but except for this alteration the plan seems to indicate the original arrangement, including that of the front garden, with its gateway and circular steps, its paved walk, and the flight of steps leading to the terrace in front of the house. The external detail throughout is of the simplest, but there is a good ceiling in one of the parlours, and some of the woodwork is of unusual elaboration. The character of the work points to the early part of the seventeenth century as the date of erection. In these simpler examples the windows do not occupy nearly so large a proportion of the wall space as they do in the more ambitious houses.
87.—Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire (1613).
An interesting adaptation of the symmetrical arrangement of the forecourt and lodges is to be seen at Bolsover Castle (Figs. [87], [88]), where the square house has been built on the site of the ancient keep, which no doubt largely controlled its size. There are no gables, all the roofs being flat; that over the house itself is approached by a staircase in a domed turret, and was intended as a place of resort. The usual picturesqueness of outline is obtained by various turrets and chimneys. In the illustration the two chambers in the sides of the courtyard are hidden behind those which form the entrance to it. It is not easy to say to what use these chambers were to be put. They are all furnished with fireplaces, most of which are carefully wrought, as though for the delight of the owner rather than of his retainers. The house itself is full of interest; all the rooms on the basement and principal floor are vaulted, and the vaulting ribs and corbels are managed with such care as was seldom bestowed upon those features even in the days of stone vaulting. This method of construction was rapidly going out of fashion, most of the houses of the sixteenth century having floors of joists and boards, the underside being ceiled in the early part of the century with wood, and in the latter with plaster. But at Bolsover, as late as 1613, we have stone vaulting beautifully wrought. There is a large amount of good panelling also left, and the chimney-pieces are unrivalled in any house of the time for their beauty and variety. Some of these will be illustrated when that subject comes to be dealt with. This part of Bolsover Castle, although so carefully built and embellished, is but a small portion of the whole scheme. There was an immense gallery in close proximity, which, however, has fallen to ruin. It is in a style somewhat later than its smaller neighbour, with gigantic doorways and unwieldy mouldings, and forms a link between Jacobean work and the more fully developed classic treatment of the close of the seventeenth century.
