184 NOTE ON AN OLD HOUSE AT TIDDLETOWN. 



Perpendicular domestic type. The larger house had no 

 external door, but was entered from a passage running 

 through the smaller building on the east side. I am doubtful 

 as to which was the older portion, but am inclined to think 

 that the eastern one was the first built. At each end of the 

 passage there was a stone doorway with a depressed arch of 

 Tudor pattern, the front doorway having G.S. 1573 rudely 

 scratched upon one of the jambs. 



Within the N.E. angle of the larger house stood an inter- 

 esting oak newel staircase lighted by a small cruciform 

 aperture. Over the principal window in the S. front there was 

 a relieving arch, the voussoirs of which were of the curious form 

 shown in the accompanying sketch. The masonry was very 

 good, especially in the front, which was faced with alternate 

 courses of flint and ashlar. 



Mr. Ponting tells me that among the stones removed from 

 this building he found a fragment carved with Norman 

 chevron and nail-head ornament, and a late 13th century 

 jamb-stone with the filleted roll. These may possibly have 

 formed part of an old church which stood before the present 

 one was built. 



There is a tradition that these buildings once belonged to 

 a branch of the old Stile or Style (later, Styles) family who 

 in former times had held a position of importance in the 

 parish. It is possible that the initials scratched upon the 

 jamb of the doorway are those of George (eldest son of John 

 Stile), who lived about the date indicated 1573 and may 

 have become the occupier of the property. 



