4 BRADSHAW HALL AND THE BRADSHAWES. 



together, we have a parallelogram of 42 ft. by 18 ft., which 

 closely compare.s, as to length at least, with that of the old 

 home of the Lancashire Radcliffes, which until recent years 

 upheld its oaken structure of 43 ft. by 26 ft. 



Such was the original plan of the mediaeval hall of the 

 Bradshawes in, perhaps, the thirteenth century — a plain hall, 

 open to its high-pitched roof, with a hearthstone in the centre 

 from which the smoke ascended to the rafters and found its way 

 out through a hole in the tiling called the " louvre." The 

 entrance would be at the lower end of the hall, and is again 

 evidenced on the original ground plan of the present building, 

 where the position was retained. At the ujiper end of the 

 hall, where the " Withdrawing Room "' is marked on the plan, 

 would be the raised dais, where the head of the house and his 

 family dined and lived. As time progressed, the requirements 

 of civilization prompted the addition of kitchens to the lower 

 end of the hall, which would be added on the site of what is 

 now " Kitchen No. 1 "' on the modern plan, and private rooms 

 for the gentry would be built, or at least partitioned off, at the 

 upper end of the hall. This was the usual plan of a mediaeval 

 hall, and a typical example may still be seen at Baguley, near 

 Cheadle, where the kitchen and private rooms alone have been 

 rebuilt, leaving the grand old half-timbered hall in its original 

 condition as it was before chimneys were thought of. 



The advent of the chimney caused immediate structural 

 changes; the introduction came from the Continent towards the 

 close of the fifteenth century, and in the days of Henry VIII., 

 if not earlier, the custom of adding stone stacks to the existing 

 buildings became prevalent throughout the country. These 

 were usually built outside one of the sides of the hall, and 

 contained a broad archway, opening into the room, in which 

 the log fire was kindled. This seems to have been the case 

 at Bradshaw, for on the line of what was formerly the outside 

 wall of the hall is still standing a great stone chimney-stack, 

 marked A on the plan. That it was the chimney to the ancient 

 Hall, and is the oldest portion of the jiresent building, there 



