Common Oak 



341 



styles may be seen in the galleries of the South Kensington Museum, among which 

 that taken out of Sizergh Castle, Westmoreland, is, though rough in workmanship, 

 a good example of ornamentation with native wood. 



One of the most elaborate instances of room-decoration in woodwork of old times 

 is seen in the dining-room at Gilling Castle, near York, formerly the property of the 

 Fairfax family, now belonging to W. S. Hunter, Esq. It is a room about 30 by 20 

 feet, a:d is panelled with large panels of oak, in oblongs 2 feet 4 inches wide 

 and 3 feet deep, surrounded by heavy carved mouldings. Each panel is inlaid 

 with highly intricate and varied geometrical patterns in narrow lines of black 

 and white wood, which I believe to be bog oak and holly, inlaid in narrow lines, and 

 forming an elongated diamond in the middle of the panel. The four corners of each 



Fig. I. (i) Sapwood ; best taken off. (a) Feather-edged boards somewhat variable in width and thickness, but following 

 the natural line of cleavage on the medullary rays of the wood. 

 Figs. 2 and 3. Methods of quartering by the saw. 



panel are also inlaid with flowers done in similar wood. This work runs from 

 the ground up to about lo feet high, above which an elaborate decoration in 

 colour, containing many family trees and coats of arms, reaches to the ceiling. 

 Some good judges think this is the most beautiful room in England, but without 

 resorting to such minute and fanciful patterns, I may safely say that good plain oak 

 panelling, in which the stiles and rails are duly proportioned, and the silver grain 

 well matched in each panel, gives not only the handsomest and richest effect of any 

 wall covering I know, but is also the most durable, improving in colour with age, and 

 if done with one's own timber, affords an interest which no Italian frescoes or plaster 

 work can give. 



In the chapel, in the hall, and in the Earl's study at Powderham Castle, 

 Devonshire, are very good examples of pews and panelling, both of the linen 

 pattern and carved panels, but though the linen pattern was once a favourite 

 one, and is still copied by some decorators, it seems to me a mistaken notion 

 to imitate the folds of a textile material in wood, and especially in oak. 



