The Norman House. 133 



flanked by a small attached tower, now in ruins, under which 

 the stream flows. The ground floor was divided in half by a 

 wall, whilst the outer walls, thicker on the east and south sides, 

 where more exposed to attacks than on the north and west, are 

 pierced with deeply- splayed loopholes looking out on the stream. 

 On this side was the hall, where lord, and guest, and serf, alike 

 ate and drank, and slept on the floor. The other western half 

 was divided into chambers and cellars, the kitchen probably 

 standing in the courtyard. 



******* 



The Norman House. 



Above, approached by two stone staircases from within, and 

 not, as in most cases, from without, was the principal dwelling- 

 room, the solar, lighted on each side by three double lights, 

 carved on their outer arches with zig-zag and billet mouldings, 

 and on the south by a circular, and on the north by a fine 

 double window, once richly ornamented, but now nearly destroyed. 

 The fire-place, the only one in the house, is set nearly in the 

 centre of the east wall ; and above it still stands, in the place of 

 the old smoke -vent, the beautiful round chimney, one of the 

 earliest in England, like the fire-place, hid in ivy. 



