181 



DESCBIPnON OF THE OLD BUILDING IN DEEEFOLD FOREST. 



By Thomas Blashill, Esq. 



The btiildiiig stands east and west, and consists of one large room or hall, 

 44ft. 9in. long by 18ft. 9in. wide internally, with a shed, 18ft. 9in. by 8ft. 6in., 

 attached to the western end. The whole is constructed of oak framing 

 standing on a stone plinth. In the main portion the framing is filled in with 

 very thin stone walling, and the roof is covered with tiles. In the shed the 

 framing is covered with boards, and the roof thatched. 



Arrangement. — At the ground level the floor of the main building is 

 open throughout, but there is a chamber over the western end ; the stairs by 

 which it was originally reached seem to have been at the north-west comer. The 

 chief entrance was just east of the centre of the south front. A second door 

 at the west end led into the shed ; and I infer from the appearance of the frame- 

 work that there was an external door on the south side of the shed, with a 

 window opposite to it on the north side. 



The hall had two windows placed high up on the north side, and one near 

 to the east end of the south side. I suspect there was also another below this 

 last, and there are signs of a very small window in the east end. This last 

 must, however, have opened into a chamber, and has, I think, been used for 

 the object of looking from a chamber into the hall. Immediately beneath this 

 east window there is a break in the masonry of the plinth, 6ft. 3iu. in length. If 

 we assume that the building was a chapel, this would show the place of the 

 atone altar. 



The chamber over the west end of the hall had three windows, one of 

 which looked into the hall, and another, opposite to it, either looked over the 

 roof of the shed, or, as I believe, into the shed itself. The third window was an 

 external one on the south side. 



The ab jve description includes everything appertaining to the arrangement 

 which gives any clue to the uses of the building. 



Construction. — The construction of the framed portion is of massive oak 

 sills, posts, and quartering. The posts have a good moulding up their fronts, 

 and their heads are cut to a suitable shape for carrying the roof-trusses. The 

 trusses are quite plain, and, indeed, of a rude and mean design, except as to the 

 under side of the tie-beam, which is moulded to match the posts. Between the 

 main trusses are intermediates, which have curved braces of good design, and 

 the whole carry purlius or side pieces moulded like the other timbers. There 

 are plain square rafters which now carry the modern roof-covering. The whole 

 roof was filled in between the trusses with very handsome curved braces, having 

 cusps with terminal leaves carved on them. The wall-plates are moulded and 

 finished with battlements on the top. The same description applies to tho 

 chamber excepting that the wall-plates and the posts below them are plainly 

 chamfered and there are no battlements used. 



