The principle upon which these wood staircases were constructed may be compared to that of the ladder, where the sides of the ladder are replaced by deep and comparatively narrow pieces of wood called "strings," and the rungs are replaced by the treads and risers. One side of this amplified ladder was placed hard on to the wall, the foot of the other was secured into a stout upright post, or "newel," as also was the top: into the same newel that received the top of the first string the foot of the second was secured at right angles, and so onwards and upwards as far as the staircase extended. At about two feet above the top of the string, and parallel to it, was the handrail, and between the handrail and the string were fixed the balusters. The top of the first flight leant against a flat landing, on which also the foot of the next flight rested. The construction, therefore, was extremely simple in principle, far simpler than that of the continuous winding flights of the eighteenth century; but the component parts were often highly decorated. All the woodwork was of fairly large dimensions; the newels were six, seven, or eight inches square, the handrail was generally nearly as wide as the newel, the strings were three inches thick or even more, the balusters were proportionately massive. The flights were five or six feet wide, and comprised usually about six steps, although they were longer when necessity demanded it. The plans on Plate LXXIII. show various arrangements of staircases taken from John Thorpe's collection of plans in the Soane Museum. Nos. 1 and 2 are the most usual types, and of these No. 1 is the more frequent. The space to be occupied by the stairs is divided into nine equal squares, of which those in the corners represent the landings, while the intermediate ones are occupied by the steps; the middle square is the "well-hole." The staircase at Lyveden Old Building, in Northamptonshire, is planned on this principle, and the effect can be seen in the sketch in Fig. 172. The flights in this case consist of seven steps each. This arrangement is very simple, but it necessitates the access to the upper rooms being from one of the comparatively small corner landings. Another plan, giving a larger landing at the top, is shown in No. 2, and an amplification of the same idea is given in No. 3, where, a larger number of steps being required, the sides have two flights with an intermediate landing. Sometimes the central square, instead of being occupied by an open well-hole, was either a solid block or a shell of masonry, round the four sides of which the steps ascended. Such an arrangement is shown in No. 5, where also may be seen some winding steps in one of the corners; but these winders are not of frequent occurrence, short straight flights being the rule. These four types are those most frequently adopted. Of the others, No. 4 is an instance of the employment of winders, and shows the somewhat unusual arrangement of two lower flights combining into one upper flight; No. 6, being in a turret, consists wholly of winders; and Nos. 7 and 8 are instances of a rather grander style of planning, in which it is evident that considerable effect was aimed at. The plans varied, of course, according to the disposition of the rooms to be reached; the chief characteristics were simplicity of construction and massiveness of effect. In the less important houses the work was fairly plain: the newels were unornamented, except for a shaped top; the string was moulded at the top and bottom; the balusters were merely stout turned bars. But there was much variety imparted to the turning, and while many of the outlines are rather clumsy, many of them also exhibit considerable subtlety and refinement. To increase the richness of effect the newels were ornamented either with carving, or with a pattern contrived by sinking the groundwork, thus leaving the pattern itself raised and at the same level as the general face of the newel. The tops of the newel were sometimes little more than round knobs, as at Hambleton Old Hall (Fig. 173), and a house at Warwick (Fig. 180); but more often they projected far above the handrail and were shaped in a variety of ways, of which four examples of varying degrees of elaboration are given from East Quantockshead (Fig. 174), Lyveden Old Building (Fig. 175), Ockwells Manor House (Figs. 177, 178), and the Charterhouse (Fig. 181). They were sometimes made the pedestals upon which figures were placed—such as boys playing instruments, as at Hatfield; or warriors in various guises, as at Blickling; or the animal sacred to the particular family concerned, and hallowed in their sight by being borne in their coat of arms. The newels at the Charterhouse carry a crest by way of finial (Fig. 181). Then the outer surface of the outer string would be also carved (Figs. 179 and 181), or decorated with a pattern; and the balusters would sometimes be flat pieces of wood shaped and pierced in a variety of patterns (Fig. 176). Sometimes, instead of balusters there was a series of arches springing from small columns and following the upward rake of the stairs; as at Ockwells Manor House (Figs. 177, 178), and the Charterhouse (Fig. 181). Or, again, the balustrade would consist of woodwork cut and slightly carved into a version of the favourite strap-work pattern, like that at Benthall Hall, Shropshire (Fig. 179). Not infrequently the space at command forbade the arranging of the flights at right angles to each other; the second flight then returned side by side with the first. In such cases either the newels were increased in width sufficiently to take both the handrails, or the handrail and string intersected each other in the way shown on Fig. 180. Occasionally, when a little space divided the flights, the great newels were carried up and joined to each other by wood arches, as in the instance of a staircase at Audley End (Plate LXXIV.): this kind of treatment occasionally produced a most intricate result, of which a careful study is required in order to make out what are its component parts.

There was no end to the variety which the workmen imparted to the simple constructional features which were the groundwork of the design. The points which were always aimed at were breadth of way, ease of ascent, massive appearance, and very frequently richness of effect. The series of stout newels going up and up in a long procession, each crowned with a handsome finial or heraldic animal, alone is enough to lend stateliness to the staircase; and when these are supplemented with quaint balusters, or a row of arches, or, as in later days, with a carved foliated filling, beyond which is seen the highly ornamented string of the upper flight, the whole effect is particularly striking. As a rule the flights were short, from six to eight steps being considered enough between the various landings, but the number varied according to the height to be attained and the space at command.

These fine staircases were clearly made for show as well as use, because it not infrequently happens that having reached the first floor, which was their chief object, they sweep upwards with equal grandeur to the next, where there are only insignificant attics. The upper staircase, however, although it leads to no important room, would be in full view of those who came to the first floor; and it was on this floor that some rooms were placed which were the resort of all who were staying in the house—namely, the Great Chamber and the Long Gallery. The great chamber was, among princes and nobles, the presence chamber, where they received guests. It was the "Great Chamber of Estate." In smaller houses it answered much the same end as the drawing-room of the present day. Even so inconsiderable a person as Slender, who was a small squire, had a great chamber in his house, which he took care to mention casually in the course of his controversy with Falstaff as to the picking of his pocket.

The Long Gallery.

The Long Gallery is a feature peculiarly characteristic of the times of Elizabeth and James. Mention has already been made of this apartment, and of the fact that not a few houses were specially planned so as to obtain a gallery of great length. Some of them were extravagant in this respect, the length being as much as eight and ten times the width. At Buckhurst House the gallery was 254 feet long by 16 feet wide, at Ampthill 245 feet by 22 feet, but it is not quite certain that these were not divided into two lengths each. John Thorpe shows the gallery at Slaugham Place to be 200 feet by 27 feet, Audley End probably 190 feet by 27 feet, Holdenby 140 feet by 22 feet, Aston Hall 140 feet by 18 feet, Copthall 136 feet by 22 feet, Burghley 128 feet by 18 feet, and Wollaton 100 feet by 18 feet. Others, to which there are no names, are 200 feet by 20 feet, 150 feet by 25 feet, and 150 feet by 17 feet, besides many of 80 feet in length by widths varying from 10 feet to 21 feet. The purpose of such a long apartment has never been fully explained: it may have been for exercise; it may have had its origin from reasons of display or in imitation of royal palaces, where its use as an ante-room to the royal closet is easily understood; or it may have been merely a development in planning dictated by fashion, each person vying with his neighbour to obtain a long room. But, however this may be, no Elizabethan or Jacobean house of any size was without its long gallery, which was ornamented in the same way as the great chamber, the parlours, and the hall. The walls were either hung with tapestry or panelled, the ceiling was richly moulded, the fireplaces, of which there were two or three in the length, were large and elaborate. The porch of the house was often carried up to form a bay window in the middle of the length, and advantage was taken of other opportunities to break up the extreme length by projections at the side. It was almost always on the topmost floor, where space was of less importance for other purposes; but as many of the houses were only two storeys high, it was usually easy of access, and, of course, it was approached by one, or oftener two, of the principal staircases. The room at Haddon, now called the ballroom, is in reality the long gallery (Plate LXXV.). It is 110 feet 6 inches long by 17 feet 4 inches wide, and its extreme length is broken along one side by three large projecting bays, the middle one of which, measuring 15 feet by 11 feet 6 inches, is itself large enough for a fair-sized room. The legend of the elopement of Dorothy Vernon from this "ballroom" is a modern invention which confuses the public mind in regard to the household arrangements of that period, for Dorothy's father, who greatly embellished Haddon, lived during the prevalence of the Late Tudor style, and had no such huge apartment: it was her husband who fashioned this long gallery in Elizabeth's time, and adorned it in the manner then prevalent. This may seem a small point to insist on, and to the general public no doubt it is; but to the student, whose imagination naturally clings to the picturesque legend, it is important to realize that the work in the "ballroom" was not done by Dorothy's father, who belonged to the Tudor era, but by her husband, who belonged to the Elizabethan. But leaving this point, it may be remarked that the gallery is panelled with unusual richness, and the ceiling is felt to be in harmony with the rest of the work, although the moulded rib is but small, and the pattern it makes is simple. It may also be noted that there is but one fireplace in the whole length of 110 feet, which must have been quite inadequate, according to modern ideas.

The gallery at Aston Hall (Plate LXXVI.) is a fine example of its kind. The walls are panelled from the floor nearly up to the ceiling, only sufficient space being left above the woodwork for a plaster frieze. The panels have an arched enrichment in each of them, in accordance with the fashion prevalent in King James's time, and they are divided into bays by shallow pilasters, fluted above, and ornamented with imitation rustic work below. The ceiling is of great richness, and itself goes a long way towards "furnishing" the room. There is a row of windows down one side, and a large one at the end. The Hall is now used as a museum, and the rail, which occupies a conspicuous position in the illustration, serves to protect the articles exhibited.

Although it is tolerably certain that Sir George Vernon had no such room as the long gallery, it is not quite clear that houses in his time were all without them, for at Hampton Court, in the time of Henry VIII. and Jane Seymour, there was the Queen's long gallery, which was 180 feet long by 25 feet wide, lighted on both sides, and having, like Haddon, three bay windows down one side, the middle one of which was not square but circular.[27] But although the palace had such an apartment, there is no evidence that the smaller houses in general possessed them until the time of Elizabeth, when they became of universal adoption.

Glazing.

The windows in the gallery at Hampton Court were glazed with heraldic glass displaying the arms, badges, and mottoes of the King and Queen. This was in accordance with the custom of the time, the principal windows being generally more or less filled with heraldic devices relating to the family who owned the house. Much of this splendid decoration throughout the country has disappeared, but enough is left to show that the treatment of the glass followed the same lines as the carving of stone and wood. In the early part of the century it consisted of dainty foliage, vases, candelabra, scrolls, and the quaint animals with attenuated bodies, which are characteristic of Italian ornament. Toward the end of the century these were replaced with the strap-work and the great bunches of fruit and flowers which we owe to Dutch designers. A small part of an early pattern from Ightham Church is illustrated in Fig. 182; among the Italian vases and flowers is the English portcullis, the badge of the Tudor family, more particularly of Henry VII. A good example of the later treatment, when the Dutch strap-work was in vogue, is given in a panel from Moreton Old Hall on Plate LXXVII. The strap-work is merely an ornamental border to the shield bearing the family device, and is treated in the same way as that which surrounds most of the shields on the tombs of the period. There is a fair amount of sixteenth century glass to be found up and down the country, but it is mostly in small pieces, either saved from the wreck of larger windows, or consisting of detached coats of arms. The finest display of the later glass that has survived is that in the dining-room of Gilling Castle, in Yorkshire, where there are several large windows full of beautiful heraldic glazing. Much of it was the work of a Dutchman, Bernard Dininckhoff, who signs one of the panels with the date 1585 (Fig. 183). The hall of the Middle Temple also has some good heraldic glass which is dated 1570. There were good English glaziers both before and after Dininckhoff's time. At Hengrave the old glass, dated 1567, was the work of Robert Wright, who was paid £4 for the "making of all the glasse wyndows of the Manour-place, with the sodar, and for xiij. skutchens with armes."[28] In the year 1615 one Walter Gedde published a book of pattern glazing called "A Booke of Sundry Draughtes. Principally serving for Glasiers; And not Impertinent for Plasterers and Gardiners: besides sundry other Professions. Whereunto is annexed the manner how to anniel in Glas; And also the true forme of the Furnace, and the secretes thereof," in which he gives 103 pages of designs for lead glazing of varying merit, out of which four have been selected for illustration on Plate LXXVIII. Few, if any, of these designs have survived in actual execution; such patterns as are still to be found here and there are somewhat simpler in design. It is interesting to observe how Walter Gedde considered that his patterns would be useful to plasterers for the groundwork of their ceiling-designs, and to gardeners for the ornamental beds and knot-work with which they embellished their gardens.

The finest examples of painted glass of the early part of the sixteenth century are the splendid windows at King's College Chapel, which were the work of Englishmen. There are also portions of the beautiful glass from the ruined Chapel of the Holy Ghost at Basingstoke, still preserved at the church of Basingstoke, and at the Vyne; and there are three windows in the apse of the chapel of that house. In addition to these examples, there are several windows at St. Neot's Church in Cornwall, the character of which inclines more to the Perpendicular than the Renaissance; there is the east window of St. Margaret's, Westminster; and there are fragments at Balliol and Queen's Colleges, Oxford, and at St. James's, Bury St. Edmund's. [29] The ornament forming the background to the figures in these windows is all similar in character to that which adorns other work of the same period.