INTERIOR FEATURES (continued).

Treatment of the Hall, Screens, Open Roofs.

On entering the hall after leaving the courtyard, it was on such panelling as this that the eye rested. The screen which divided the hall from the passage was generally even more richly decorated than the adjacent panelling. Its two doorways were flanked with columns, which carried a complete entablature from side to side of the hall; above this came the panelled front of the gallery, which was surmounted in its turn perhaps by a series of small arches, perhaps by some of the fantastic strap-work peculiar to the time. The spaces between the columns were panelled; every panel here and above was decorated with carving—usually of shields of arms, but where these were not suitable, as in halls of colleges, then with foliage or allegorical figures. Knole House, in Kent, has a good example of a screen with heraldic decoration (Fig. 145). Wadham College, Oxford (Plate XLIV.), has one of comparatively simple character; while for sumptuous effect those at Middle Temple Hall, London, and Trinity College, Cambridge (Plate XLV.), could hardly be surpassed. Woollas Hall, in Worcestershire, has a good screen of simple character. The illustration on Plate XLVI. gives a view of it looking from the hall. The archway leads into the passage called the "screens," in which can be seen the open door of the principal entrance. The gallery has a balustraded front; it is carried out over the entrance porch, and is lighted by a small window, visible in Fig. 69, just below the oriel. The hall, having a room over it, has a flat ceiling, and not an open timber roof. The windows of the hall were usually rather high up, and the walls were panelled up to the sills, but as a rule the sill of the bay window at the daÏs end was brought down low enough to afford an outlook. Above the panelling the walls were largely occupied by the windows, the spaces between which were hung with "pikes, guns, and bows, with old swords and bucklers that had borne many shrewd blows": or they were filled with pictures, of which a considerable number, chiefly portraits, began to be found in large houses. From the top of the windows sprang the roof, the feet of its principals coming down and occupying part of wall space between them. The principals were still constructed in the old hammer-beam manner, even at so late a date as 1604 for Trinity College, Cambridge, and 1612 for Wadham, but all the ornament is of a late type, and gives a very rich effect, the light glancing upwards against the many surfaces of the pendants and the strong lines of the moulded braces. The roof at Middle Temple Hall, built in 1570, is almost as elaborate and fine as that of the Great Hall at Hampton Court, built some forty years before, but the detail is later in character. The roof of the hall at Wollaton is peculiar in that it is of the hammer-beam type, although supporting the flat floor of a room over it (Fig. 146). Usually, when there was a room over the hall the ceiling was treated with ornamental rib-work, in the same manner as the other and less lofty rooms: the hall at Knole presents an example of this kind of treatment (Fig. 145). At Kirby there is an unusual form of roof, neither flat nor open timbered, but a kind of barrel-vault formed of four straight faces (Fig. 147); each face is divided into large panels by moulded and cut oak ribs of large size, and each panel has a curved diagonal rib resembling the wind-braces of a Gothic roof. The panels are filled with boarding at the back of the ribs.

The Smaller Rooms.

Leaving the hall for one of the smaller rooms, we find much the same kind of treatment, but here the ornamental ceiling plays an important part in the decoration. The walls were panelled, more or less richly, from floor to ceiling, and were crowned with a carved frieze and projecting cornice, above which started the ceiling ribs. The great chamber at South Wraxall (Plate XLVII.) gives a good idea of the whole effect, but the coved ceiling is somewhat exceptional, and so also is the great projection to the left. This is a mass of masonry required to carry the roofs, but the designer, who found himself obliged to leave it (for this room was contrived in an old house), resolved to face the matter boldly and make an ornamental feature of it. It will be noticed that though the panelling here is quite simple, a good deal of character is obtained by varying the size of the panels in a systematic manner.

In the old Town Hall at Leicester there is a good panelled room (Plate XLVIII.), with a handsome chimney-piece and a special seat for the mayor. The work, which bears the date 1637, is simple in design, but is quite as effective and rather more pleasing than many of the more elaborate effects of the time, in which the impression is conveyed that the designers over-exerted themselves.

Another good example of rather later date is to be seen at the "Reindeer" Inn, Banbury (Plate XLIX.); the panelling itself is simple, but the doorways and chimney-piece are more elaborate, and the columns which occur at the angles of the window-recess impart considerable vigour to the whole effect. The restraint exhibited and the concentration of the ornament on one or two places is a welcome relief from the superfluity of decoration which not infrequently distinguishes the woodwork of this period. In the broken and curled pediments of the doorway and chimney-piece we get a decided indication that the seventeenth century was well advanced when this work was done. The ceiling here is very richly wrought, and the whole room comes as a surprise in its out-of-the-way situation.

Sizergh Hall, in Westmorland, offered a still more elaborate example, which has now been erected in South Kensington Museum (Fig. 148 and Plate L.). The panels here are not carved, but inlaid—a method of decoration much in vogue in Italy, where some exquisite drawing is bestowed upon it, but not prevalent in England. There are a number of instances in different parts of the country, but, compared with carving, inlay was seldom resorted to. The domed turret in the corner of the room should be noticed (Fig. 148); it is, in fact, an inside porch contrived so as to allow access between two other rooms without having to come through the third. This device in planning is not of frequent occurrence, but when it was considered necessary much care was taken to produce an attractive feature. There are several in the southern counties, notably at Broughton Castle, Oxfordshire (Plate LI.), at the Red Lodge, in Bristol, and at Bradfield, in Devonshire. This room at Sizergh presents a fresh type of treatment in the junction of wall and ceiling. In previous examples the wood panelling was carried quite up to the ceiling; here it stops short by a foot or more, and the space thus left is occupied by a modelled plaster frieze which leads up to the ornamental ceiling. This method was adopted as frequently as the other; the depth of the plaster frieze varied a good deal, being in one of the rooms at Hardwick Hall as much as six or seven feet, and filled with figure subjects modelled in relief and painted, representing hunting and other woodland scenes: the space below the frieze is covered with tapestry instead of panelling (Plate LII.).

Doors.

Doorways presented another opportunity for the display of design. At Sizergh the door is merely a portion of the panelling on hinges, the porch in which it is hung gives it the requisite importance; but as a rule the doorways were surrounded with a large amount of decoration. In important houses they were flanked with columns or pilasters, were surmounted with a frieze and cornice, and often with a pediment; obelisks stood over the pilasters; the frieze was fluted or carved or adorned at intervals with heads; some convenient panel was filled with the owner's arms; nothing was omitted that an extravagant fancy could suggest (Plate LIII.). At Levens Hall, in Westmorland, there is a fine panelled room with a richly ornamented doorway (Plate LIV.), in which fantastic figures support a cornice whereon is set up a panel for the owner's arms, flanked on either hand by a contorted animal. In the same district, at Conishead Priory, there is a panelled room of even greater elaboration than this at Levens. Some of the panels are ornamented with mouldings mitred into various patterns, but most of them have niches with pediments or raised panels surrounded with mouldings curved and straight and breaking back in a bewildering manner, while here, there, and everywhere are cherubs' heads and bunches of fruit—the whole effect being rather too bizarre.

Sometimes the embellishment surrounding the door was in stone or even marble, which being less susceptible of minute detail was more soberly treated. In smaller houses the treatment was naturally less elaborate, but even in places like St. Peter's Hospital, Bristol, and Abbott's Hospital at Guildford, the doorways had much attention bestowed upon them (Fig. 149 and Plate LV.). At Gayton Manor House, in Northamptonshire, there is a still simpler treatment, the effect being enhanced by projecting the door some inches into the room (Plate LV.). The hinges and latches of the doors and the fastenings of the window casements were of wrought iron, and were always more or less ornamental. There were invariably skill and ingenuity bestowed upon even the smallest piece of work. The latch from Abbott's Hospital, illustrated in Fig. 150, is an example of a spring latch, that is to say, instead of depending merely upon its weight to keep it in its place, it is furnished with a spring, and the whole of the simple mechanism is displayed to view. The plate to which it is fixed is shaped in suitable places, and the latch and its accessories are also ornamented to a certain extent. On the other side of the door would be a handle, something after the fashion of that shown in Fig. 151, which, however, is at Haddon. It is treated in a similar fashion: the plate is slightly ornamented, and the handle itself is wrought into a shape at once convenient to grasp and agreeable to the eye. In the casement fasteners a little more ornament was sometimes indulged in, advantage being taken of the fact that the ironwork was outlined against the light of the window. There are two simple examples shown in Fig. 152, and a more elaborate one in Fig. 153. The same treatment was applied to the escutcheons of keyholes, of which examples are shown in Fig. 152 and Fig. 154; the former also exhibits a lock plate and a drop handle and plate. It will be noticed that the whole of this ornament, although in some instances it looks rich, is in reality obtained by the simplest means, which consist in the main of cutting a thin plate of metal into a variety of shapes; there is hardly any modelling about it. This method is characteristic of most of the ironwork of the time; it was only seldom that modelled ornament was indulged in to the extent shown in the knocker and plate illustrated in Fig. 155.

Chimney-Pieces.

Much elaboration was bestowed upon the chimney-pieces, of which, indeed, there are very few simple examples to be met with. They were made of wood, of stone, and of marble. Wood and stone were the more usual materials employed, and it is difficult to say upon which the detail was the more minute. The general idea that controlled the designs was much the same in all cases, but the treatment of it varied. The idea was to flank the fireplace opening with columns carrying an entablature consisting of architrave, frieze, and cornice, the projection of the latter forming a convenient shelf. On the top of this composition was another of the same kind, but with smaller columns and of more delicate proportion. The space enclosed between the columns, which in the lower half was the fireplace, was occupied in the upper half by some kind of carved subject. This was very often the arms of the owner, being either those of the family, or his own special achievement. At Boughton House, in Northamptonshire, there is an example of this kind (Plate LVI.). It is fairly simple in design; the centre-piece is the Montagu arms; on the margin of the panel is the motto adopted by Sir Edward Montagu, who caused the work to be done; and in the frieze below is one of the innumerable Latin aphorisms with which houses of this time abound. The fireplace opening occupies the full width between the sides of the chimney-piece, and if the grate were removed, would give a tolerable idea of the appearance of an Elizabethan fireplace, with its cast-iron fire-back delicately modelled, and the fire-dogs, or andirons, to hold the logs in place. This particular fire-back, however, is of a later date. Almost contemporary with this fireplace at Boughton is one at Lacock Abbey (Plate LVII.), equally simple in design, but executed with more refinement, and having a very unusual adjunct in the shape of a hearthstone ornamented with a pattern inlaid with lead. The two works are likely to be of much the same date, as Sir William Sharington of Lacock died in 1553, and Sir Edward Montagu of Boughton in 1556. At Barlborough, in Derbyshire, there is a fine chimney-piece still fairly simple, in which the upper part is devoted to the owner's personal history (Plate LVIII.). His name was Francis Rodes, a lawyer, and subsequently a justice of the Common Pleas. He married twice. These facts are all set forth on the chimney-piece. His own arms, and those of his two wives, are carved at large, and the names of his wives are printed against their shields. The upper cornice is supported by two caryatides instead of columns, one of whom represents Justice, in allusion to the calling of the master. At Hatfield House, in a room called after King James, there is a handsome marble chimney-piece, with a large statue of the King in his robes as the centre-piece (Plate LIX.). Here, too, there is an open hearth, with an iron fire-back and handsome andirons. In the great chamber at South Wraxall is a very elaborate stone chimney-piece (Plate LX.), in which the prevailing idea is highly developed. The lower entablature is supported by pairs of caryatides growing out of pilasters, and adorned with bands and swags of flowers. Within the main enclosure is a subordinate margin of mouldings and egg-and-tongue enrichments. The upper part of the composition, though founded on the same idea of columns supporting a crowning cornice, is much elaborated with niches and carved panels. There are no shields of arms, which is rather a curious omission, but instead there are statues of abstract conceptions—Arithmetica, Geometria, Prudentia, and Justitia. The whole effect is extremely handsome, but it is too intricate to be quite satisfactory.

In contrast to this is an interesting chimney-piece in a bedroom at Hardwick Hall, in Derbyshire (Plate LXI.). The material is marble, and the design is unpretending. Its noticeable feature is the panel that serves as overmantel, carved with much grace and spirit. The subject seems to be Apollo and the Nine Muses, though some of the latter appear to have abandoned for the time being the callings over which they presided, in order to join in concerted music. The period of the work is put beyond a doubt by the presence of the royal arms with Elizabeth's supporters, the lion and the dragon, and of the initials E. R. Panels with figure subjects were not uncommon, although they were not often so well executed as this. Scriptural themes were frequently represented, but they did not necessarily imply any special religious character in the house, and often in some of the other rooms of the same house would be other themes of quite mundane inspiration. At East Quantockshead, in Somerset, a house of the Luttrells, one room has in the overmantel the Descent from the Cross, the next a mermaid with scrollwork and flowers, the next the Luttrell arms and the date 1614: others have Christ Blessing the Children; the Lamentation over Jerusalem, with the city in the distance, and a hen in the foreground gathering her chickens under her wings; and the Agony in the Garden. Another house in that district has the Affliction of Job, with the principal figure represented as being in exceedingly poor case. Occasionally there were no figure subjects, nor even shields, the panels being quite plain, as in the wood chimney-piece at Ford House, Newton Abbot (Plate LXII.), where the considerable amount of enrichment serves as ornament only, and does not lend lustre to the family arms. The workmanship is not of the best, and the details of the design are somewhat poor and wanting in imagination, especially in the treatment of the arched panels; but it is characteristic of a good deal of work of the time. The chimney-piece at Benthall Hall (Fig. 156) is far more beautifully conceived. It departs from the regular treatment in the disposition of the main panels. There is great freedom about the play of the strap-work and figures surrounding the cartouches, and if it be compared with the panelling in the same room (Plate XLIII.), it will be seen that while preserving the same general idea, there is a special richness about this part of the work which is quite appropriate to it as being the chief feature of the room. It will be seen that here, too, the cartouches in the upper panels bear coats of arms. At Whiston, in Sussex, there is a stone chimney-piece which has got excluded from the house, and now adorns an outside wall. It is of unusual design (Plate LXIII.), but the family arms form the centre-piece, and are flanked by figures of warriors in recesses divided by small, elegant columns. In the upper part is a circular panel containing two subjects, of which it is difficult to decipher the meaning; the figures, however, are in violent action. Bolsover Castle contains some of the most striking examples of chimney-pieces to be found in the country. They are all in stone or marble, and have a variety and originality of design which are quite remarkable. Two of them are illustrated on Plate LXIV. There are also a number of small ones fitted into corners of the rooms (Fig. 157), and it will be seen that the walls against which the chimney-piece is placed are faced with stone to receive it, and that this plain stonework is surrounded with a moulding against which the wood panelling stops.

There was a chimney-piece of unusually good design and workmanship in the palace of Bromley-by-Bow: it is now in the South Kensington Museum (Plate LXV.). The composition does not quite follow the usual lines, inasmuch as the upper part, or overmantel, is not a repetition in idea of the lower. Nor is it divided into panels of equal width and height; the large central panel, which contains the royal arms, is the dominating feature, and is flanked on either side by a niche of much less width and height. The upper half is wedded to the lower by the bosses on the boldly carved shelf, which carry down the main lines of the columns. The arms are those of James I., as the second and third quarters are Scotland and Ireland respectively, and one of the supporters is the Scottish unicorn. In another house near London, at Enfield, there was a well-designed chimney-piece, figured in Richardson's Studies from Old English Mansions, in which the royal arms and badges were the centre-pieces of the composition. The part above the fireplace was divided by columns into three panels, of which the middle one was the largest, and contained the arms of Elizabeth with her red dragon as one of the supporters. Of the side panels, one was occupied by the rose crowned and the other by the portcullis crowned. In the smaller panels below these, and between the pedestals on which the columns rested, were the royal initials E. R., and a Latin sentence expressing a pious aphorism. It is not certain whether this house belonged to the Crown, or whether this display of regal heraldry was a compliment to the Queen on the part of the grateful owner. In either case the making of arms and badges the chief objects of interest in the composition, and the introduction of the Latin aphorism on a conspicuous panel are quite characteristic of the time. At Castle Ashby, in Northamptonshire, is a chimney-piece (Plate LXVI.) treated in much the same way as that from Bromley. It was not designed for the house, and therefore the heraldry is not so apposite as usual. The central panel contains the arms of the owner set in an elaborate framework of fanciful carving. On either side is a niche containing a figure of one of the virtues. The columns which support the cornice are richly carved in low relief, as also are the mantel-shelf and the friezes below it. On the lower of the friezes the family arms are repeated, and in the centre is the crest. The opening of the fireplace is flanked on either side by a female figure, which changes in a provoking way into strap-work and the semblance of a pilaster. The whole effect is rich, and the principles dominating the composition are at once recognizable, but the details are too fantastic to be quite agreeable.

Ceilings.

Of all the architectural work of the time of Elizabeth and James, that which was peculiarly English is to be found in the ceilings. It was a development of native tradition, and although, like all other work of the time, it was influenced by Italian models, it retained its individuality with great tenacity, and in no other country can the same special development of design be found. The root-idea of an Elizabethan ceiling is to cover the space with a shallow projecting rib forming a more or less regular pattern. The ribs varied in section, and the patterns varied in form. The ribs and the panels they enclosed were sometimes perfectly plain, sometimes highly decorated with modelled work; and between these two extremes were infinite gradations—plain ribs and decorated panels, or plain panels and decorated ribs, the decoration varying from something quite simple to ornament of much elaboration. The plainest examples are sufficient to give character to a room, while the richest are bewildering in the intricacy of the pattern and the minuteness of the detail.

The origin of the idea is to be found in the treatment adopted by the late Gothic joiners. When they had a large flat surface to deal with, they divided it into panels by moulded wood ribs, and they frequently covered the intersection of the ribs with a carved boss or with carved foliage. Their main lines, being formed of wood, were straight; their panels rectilinear and often rectangular, the whole treatment being suggested by the moulded constructional timber of earlier roofs. At Hampton Court, in the portions built by Wolsey and Henry VIII., there are several ceilings of this kind still left. The ribs are arranged in simple geometrical patterns with straight lines. In the watching chamber, at the end of the Great Hall, these ribs are of a fair size, both in width and depth, and at certain intersections they are bent downwards to form a pendant after the fashion prevalent in the stone vaulting of the time (Fig. 158). Some of the panels thus enclosed are adorned with a kind of independent circular boss formed of a wreath surrounding one of the royal badges, or even the royal arms. These bosses are not carved, but modelled in papier mÂchÉ, or some similar substance, and they, together with the wood ribs, are secured to the joists above. Two of these bosses are illustrated in Fig. 159, and it is in the wreaths of these comparatively unimportant adjuncts that the only touch of the new fashion is to be found.

Other rooms have ceilings of which the ribs are much smaller in depth and width: the ribs are again arranged in patterns with straight lines, and at their intersections there are four small leaves of lead nailed on, the whole junction being covered with a small plain wood boss, which forms the centre of the flower. At other intersections each of the four angles of the flat ceiling is occupied with a small modelled head in foliage, all of papier mÂchÉ; one of these is also shown in Fig. 159. The four insertions taken together form a circle, which is divided into four quadrants by the intersecting ribs (Fig. 160); and the whole arrangement is the first step towards the elaborate decoration which was afterwards introduced, when the facility with which plaster can be worked was recognized and acted on.

Another, though somewhat similar, type of ceiling is to be found in a little room called Cardinal Wolsey's Closet; but here the decoration is more general, and is founded more directly on the Italian manner (Plate LXVII.). The ceiling is divided by wood ribs into rectilinear panels of small size and simple design; the intersections of the ribs are covered, in the manner already mentioned, with a plain wood boss and lead leaves bent down into the angles; each panel is filled with Italian decoration modelled in papier mÂchÉ; the whole is screwed up to the floor-joists above. The effect is very rich and elaborate. There is also a frieze on the wall which formed part of the design, although its precise relation to the ceiling can no longer be detected owing to modern alterations. The relation was probably something like what we see to-day (Plate LXVII.), but a close scrutiny shows that the connecting links between the ceiling and the frieze have disappeared; there must have been some kind of moulded cornice. There can be little doubt that the spacing of the panels in the frieze was made to agree with those of the ceiling, and that it had a moulding of some importance at the top to connect it with the ceiling, and corresponding to the border which it still retains at the bottom, on which is painted repeatedly Wolsey's motto "Dominus mihi adjutor." The panels in the frieze are ornamented in a manner corresponding with the ceiling panels, which all contain either a rose or a fleur-de-lys, the devices of Henry VIII. This ceiling is of great interest, because it is one of the earliest of a highly decorated kind left to us—for the Tudor joiners placed little, if any, decoration in their panels; it is more Italian in manner than any other that survives, and it is formed of wood ribs and modelled filling, which were made elsewhere and then brought to the room to be fitted and fixed in position.

From the occurrence of Wolsey's motto in the frieze, it is probable that this work was done by him; it would consequently date prior to his death in 1530. Richardson, in his Architectural Remains of the Reigns of Elizabeth and James I., gives a large drawing of a ceiling in the Chapel Royal, St. James's, dated 1540, which is very similar in character to Wolsey's. It consists of small geometrical panels formed by wood ribs, enclosing rich designs in the Italian manner, among which the King's devices are constantly repeated, together with the date, the initials of Henry and Anne of Cleves, and such mottoes as "Vivat rex," "Stet diu felix." If the latter aspiration were fulfilled, it certainly was not in conjunction with the wife whose initials are on this ceiling that the wished-for happiness was attained, for she was divorced in July, 1540; and we therefore incidentally learn that the ceiling must have been put up in the first half of that year. In addition to the ornament already mentioned the King's arms frequently occur. The ribs in this case are broader than those at Hampton Court, and they are ornamented with a running pattern cast in lead.

These two ceilings are the most Italian in character which have survived. The type does not seem to have been generally adopted; but it was rather a simpler one, founded more directly on Tudor methods, which was developed. The wood ribs were replaced by plaster, and in the more plastic material they were no longer kept in straight lines, but were curved into an infinite variety of patterns, more or less intricate. The intersections were sometimes, but not often, covered with foliage; as a rule they were left bare, but where the pattern left a salient angle the lower members of the moulding were carried out to form the stalk of some foliage, as may be seen in the long gallery at Haddon (Fig. 161), and also at South Wraxall (Plate XLVII.). The ribs, which at first were of a section similar to that of their predecessors in wood, soon assumed other proportions: they increased in width and lessened in depth; they sometimes ceased to have any mouldings, and became more like ribbons or straps, as in the example from Beckington Abbey (Fig. 162), but more often they retained their moulded edges, and were ornamented on the flat face with a minute running pattern, such as that at Deene Hall (Plate XLVIII.), and the "Reindeer" Inn, Banbury (Plate LXIX.). The strap-work ribs did not form such regular set patterns as the others: they enclosed a panel here and there, but wandered off into spirals and scrolls, and were emphasized at intervals by little ornamental knobs, such as may be seen in the ceiling of the gallery at Charlton House, Wiltshire. It was by no means necessary for the ceilings to be flat. Indeed, this kind of decoration was exactly suited for application to coved ceilings such as that already seen at South Wraxall (Plate XLVII.), and that at Beckington Abbey (Fig. 163), where there is not only the main vault of the ceiling, but also a subsidiary cove at the side, the curved face of which is ornamented with a variation of the principal pattern. The end wall of the room is also decorated in a similar way in the upper part where its shape is controlled by the curves of the ceiling. The example at Beckington Abbey is among the more formal of those where the strap-work type was employed; there are panels of regular shape, and the scrolled ends balance one another. But in some instances the strap-work conformed in its course to no regular pattern at all; it twisted and interlaced and bent itself back upon no system whatever, except that of covering the surface evenly, and of gathering itself into a knot or of surrounding a pendant at regular intervals, the result being that the most prominent features stand out in regular array from a mazy background that requires concentrated attention to follow. There is a ceiling of this kind among the many beautiful examples at Audley End. These erratic designs were used simultaneously with others of much severer character, where the pattern is of the simplest in structure, and richness of effect is derived from its frequent repetition, and from the ornament in the panels. Such an example is to be seen at Sizergh (Fig. 164), and others, slightly more elaborate, at Aston Hall (Plates LXX., LXXI.), where the modelling is beautifully delicate and varied. But in both these examples the proportion is so carefully managed that the shape of the panels, which is the foundation of the design, is not obscured by the patterns which occupy them. The effect is equally rich in both, although the width of the rib and the manner of its decoration are varied. These ceilings are fairly late in date, as Aston Hall was being built from 1618 to 1635, and comes quite at the end of the period under discussion, but they retain all the characteristics of Elizabethan and Jacobean work. Another example of the formal kind is at Benthall Hall (Fig. 165), where the main panels are all of oblong rectangular shape, and are filled with strap-work enrichment surrounding an elliptical boss. The patterns are varied in every case, and exhibit considerable ingenuity in obtaining the same general effect with entirely different disposition of lines. It will also be seen, by comparing this ceiling with the panelling and chimney-piece in the same room (Plate XLIII. and Fig. 156), that they are all en suite, and not, as is often the case, designed without relation one to the other. The ceiling at the "Reindeer" Inn, Banbury (Plate LXIX.), is also thoroughly Jacobean, although, from the style of the wood panelling, the room must date from well on in the seventeenth century. Soon after this time the large unbroken space of the ceilings began to be cut up into large panels by cross-beams: the spaces thus formed were still of considerable size, and were decorated in the old manner, as may be seen in a room in the entrance tower at Haddon (Fig. 166), and at Carbrook Hall, Sheffield (Plate XLII.). But it was an easy step to omit this surface decoration, and when that was done, the ceilings became the large coffered ceilings characteristic of the style which followed the Jacobean.

164.—Part of a Ceiling from Sizergh Hall, Westmorland (now in South Kensington Museum).