58 



ladders being the rule, fireplaces were few, glass windows were 

 almost monopolized by the Chm-ch, and the floors were usually 

 of clay. 



Early in the 14th century the quadrangular plan with the Hall 

 as its chief feature was adopted and it now reached perfection. 

 Its dimensions were magnificent — its walls were lofty, its windows 

 expansive and its roof or ceiling elaborate. The Dais raised at 

 one end by two or three steps was occupied by the high table ; 

 opposite was the wooden partition or screen forming the entrance 

 passage and porch, above which was the minstrels' gallery. In 

 the centre of the hall was placed the brass grate for fire with a 

 louvre in the roof, and on the other side were doors leading to 

 the kitchens and household offices. The ordinary Manor House 

 of this period contained a pair of irreuglar two storey wings 

 attached to the ends of a large hall. Sometimes the building 

 enclosed a quadrangle, having in front a wall or outbuildings, 

 and a gatehouse, and the whole surrounded with a moat. One 

 wing contained the few family rooms and the other the household 

 offices. The best houses had several rooms set specially apart for 

 sleeping, but the arrangement was not improved. In the North 

 of England from the early part of the 14th century down to the 

 Union of the two Crowns of England and Scotland under James 

 I. no residence was safe without a tower, and these were gener- 

 ally provided. Timbered houses consuming an immense amount 

 of the finest oak were erected — a specimen of one of these build- 

 ings may be seen at Salmesbury. Mr. Croston thinks the great 

 Hall and its adjuncts were erected towards the close of the 14th 

 century. 



In the 15th century houses of all materials, plans and sizes 

 occur, sometimes quadrangular, sometimes an irregular court with 

 tower gateway used for the entrance or vrith octagonal towers on 

 each side. In the Northern counties towers were still in use by the 

 smaller proprietors, and castles adapted both for habitation and 

 fortification by the greater lords. The timbered houses now 

 very often become half timbered, or the walls were continued to 

 the eaves of the building, the gables being of wood as in the liall 

 of Little Mitton. This period is a time of transition, the serfs 

 had attained the independence of hired labourers and owing to 

 the improvement in the social condition of the people and the 

 establishment of the authority of public law the men-at-arms and 

 retainers were less in number, and so the great hall in future was 

 not required of such magnitude though it still continues the 

 principal apartment. The Dais was frequently omitted. Bay 

 windows now became characteristic features, and the reredos or 

 brazier gradually gave way to the fire-place in the wall or the 

 ingle nook. Tapestry was used for the walls, and occasionally 

 the ceilings were divided into panels with carved bosses at the 

 intersections. 



