BARRINGTON COURT, SOMERSET. (tudor.)
95.—Burton Agnes, Yorkshire (1602-10).
96.—House at Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire.
At Burton Agnes the grouping of a circular bay in the gable with an octagonal one just round the corner (Fig. [95]) is very effective pictorially, and makes an interesting plan. The circular bays at Lilford, in Northamptonshire, set within the curved gables, produce a pleasing combination (Plate [XXXIV].); but of all circular bays the palm must be assigned to the great twin bays at Kirby (Plate [XXXIII].). It was not only in important houses that these striking features were introduced; they are to be found in all kinds of dwellings, and frequently impart interest to small and insignificant cottages, whether of stone, as at Bourton-on-the-Water (Fig. [96]), or of wood and stucco, as at Steventon, in Berkshire (Fig. [97]). In both these examples much of the pleasant effect is derived from the small size of the windows and the proportionately large space of plain wall between them; but the same effect can hardly be obtained in the present day, because the rooms have to be higher, and toleration is seldom accorded, either by private taste or public regulations, to windows which start a long way from the floor and end a long way from the ceiling.
Plate XXXIIIa.
Astley Hall, Lancashire.
Plate XXXIIIb.