84. Drayton House, Northamptonshire.
Roof of the Great Hall (cir. 1328).
85. Little Sodbury, Gloucestershire.
Roof of Hall (15th cent.).
86. Eltham Palace, Kent.
Roof of Great Hall (late 15th cent.).
The Drayton example is interesting inasmuch as there are two types of principal: the main principals carry the purlins, which in their turn carry the intermediates; they are strengthened and supported where this additional load comes, by curved braces or struts, which rest on the wall at the foot of the main principals. Curved braces were very commonly employed; they occur both at Little Sodbury and Eltham, and in the latter case the curves are so designed as to form a feature in the decorative effect. In this example it will be seen that a more determined effort at design has been made, the whole work has been more carefully thought out than in the others. It is, moreover, of the hammer-beam type; that is, the main arch of the principal does not spring from the wall itself, but from a projecting piece of timber (the hammer-beam), which is supported by a curved strut springing from the wall.