Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/378

 320 COMPARATIVE ARCHITECTURE. made the moat comparatively useless, and soon rendered quite obsolete the older systems of defence (page 549). In the fourteenth century an increased desire for privacy arose, and the highest development of the Hall was attained, as in Westminster Hall, a royal palace ; Ightham Mote and Hevev Hall, Kent, moated manor houses ; Cvanhonrne Manor, Dorset, and Crosby Hall, London, an example of a merchant's home, referred to in Shakespeare's Richard HI. as Crosby Place. Penshiirst Place, Kent (No. 132 a, b, c, d, e, f) (a.d. 1335), is a good example of a nobleman's house. The plan (No. 132 f) indicates that, as in all domestic buildings of the fourteenth century, the Hall was the feature of primary importance. In this case it is 68 feet by 38 feet 8 inches and 48 feet high, with a raised dais at one end and a screen at the other. An external elevation is given in No. 132 a. The roof (No. 132 b, e) is a fine example of a typical open timbered type, and the original " louvre" or opening for the escape of smoke from the central fire still exists. A characteristic house of the period consisted of a quadrangular plan with central courtyard. On the side away from the entrance was the Hall, the whole height of the house, the kitchen being adjacent. The fire was in the centre of the Hall on " dogs," the smoke being carried away by the "louvre" in the roof, as at Penshurst, or by a wall fireplace with a hooded canopy. The porch or doorway led to the entry which, by a panelled partition or screen, was separated as a vestibule from the Hall itself. Over this entry was the minstrels' gallery, while at the further end of the Hall was the raised "dais," for the seats of the master and his principal guests, and sometimes, a large bay window gave external and internal importance to that end. The main body of the Hall was occupied by the servants and retainers. The walls were hung with tapestry and with trophies of the chase, and the floor was often only strewn with rushes and still formed, as in the earlier periods, the sleeping- room for the retainers, though they were sometimes lodged in dormitories in the wings. The " solar," or withdrawing-room, was often at right angles to the Hall. The great banqueting-hall gradually ceased to be used as the common sleeping-room on the introduction of the withdrawing- room, and the fourteenth century house may be taken as the prototype of the modern country house, which in its highest development is an expression of the wants, inclinations, and liabits of the country gentleman of to-day, as was the mediaeval castle of the feudal baron. In the fifteenth century the central fireplace was moved to the side wall, becoming a distinctive feature, and the sleeping accommodation was much improved, as at Oxburgh Hall (No. 131 b).