75S 



STAIRCASE. 



STAIRCASE. 



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staircases ; neither has much light been thrown upon the subject by 

 the discoveries of Pompeii. Scarcely any indications even of upper 

 floors to the houses have there been found, and what few traces of 

 staircases, or rather of stairs, remain, show them to have been exceed- 

 ingly incommodious, fitted only for obtaining access to an upper loft, 

 or to the roof, and not at all adapted for constant communication 

 between dwelling apartments on different floors. It may, therefore, 

 very safelybe taken for granted at least until some direct evidence to 

 the contrary shall be found that the houses of the ancients were in 

 this, as well as in many other respects, greatly inferior to our own, 

 and had nothing whatever corresponding to the modern staircase. 

 Nearly the same may be said with respect to the ancient domestic 

 architecture of our own country, where, even in residences of the 

 highest class, the staircases were generally very confined, placed within 

 turrets, and exceedingly steep and narrow : narrow not only as regards 

 the actual width of passage up and down, but as regards the diameter 

 or space occupied by the whole, there being no well, or central opening, 

 but the steps winding around a solid newel ; so that, in ascending or 

 descending, a person is continually revolving, without any " foot paces " 

 for resting upon, and cannot see whether he will encounter any one 

 else. Turnpike was a term formerly applied to staircases of this kind ; 

 also rise, from their spiral or screw-like shape, whence the more 

 modern appellation of corkscrew stairs, corresponding with the Italian 

 gcala alia lumaccia,QT scala aUa chiocciola, with the French cacalier 

 d limafon, and the German wendeltreppe. 



It was not till about the time of Elizabeth that staircases began to 

 be planned more commodious!^ in this country, and were made a deco- 

 rative feature in the interior of a mansion. But though they were 

 greatly improved, the flights being made wider, and the steps parallel to 

 each other, with intermediate landings or resting-places between the 

 several flights, and although considerable decoration was bestowed 

 upon them, the walls being panelled, and the parapet of the stairs 

 formed either by richly carved balusters or open fretwork, frequently 

 with heraldic figures of animala on the pedestals at the angles of the 

 different flights, the staircase itself was usually inclosed within a 

 comparatively small area, so as to admit of no general view of the 

 whole of it, there being very little open space, or well, as it is termed, 

 sometimes none at all. The staircases at AMennaston, Berks ; Crewe 

 Hall, Cheshire ; and Knole, Kent, may be taken as examples of the 

 kind. At a later period, staircases in mansions of a superior class were 

 made disproportionably spacious, being upon a scale as to size with 

 which the apartments themselves were not at all in keeping. 



The planning of a staircase is generally considered one of the most 

 difficult matters in internal architecture, and it is certainly one that 

 requires great consideration. Yet there is no particular difficulty, 

 except where, as is generally the case in moderate-sized houses, the 

 architect is cramped for room, more especially if, while restricted in 

 that respect, the ascent from one floor to another is greater than usual. 

 The number of stairs, and the space required for the convenient arrange- 

 ment of them, are easily estimated when the height of the ascent from 

 one floor to another is given, and the dimensions are determined for 

 the risers and treads. Stairs are technically described as consisting of 

 riter* and treadt, the former being the fronts or heights of the steps, 

 and the other their Bat surfaces or breadths. Stairs are further dis- 

 tinguished as being Jlyen, those which ascend straightforward ; and 

 vimlrrt, which having their treads triangular, coming quite to a point 

 at their ends near the balusters, afford no footing there, and ought 

 consequently to be avoided whenever it is at all practicable to do so. 

 '''/ is a consecutive series of stairs in the same direction, or 

 between one quartcr-tpacc or half-space (palier) and another, which last 

 are short intermediate landings, serving to lessen the fatigue of a con- 

 tinuous ascent, by subdividing it into shorter flights. For the area 

 containing, or rather constituting, the staircase itself, we have no 

 distinct term in addition to the general one, similar to the French cage, 

 the Italian yaM/ia, and the German Ireppenham. 



We proceed to notice the most convenient proportions of the stairs 

 themselves a to height and breadth for their length. As to the 

 breadth of the flights, that is comparatively arbitrary : it should never 

 be much less than 4 feet, so as to allow two persons to pass, except 

 in back-staircases ; but it may be as much more as the space will 

 permit, or the effect aimed at in the design may require. The best 

 general, and what may be considered standard, proportions, are 6 inches 

 for the risers and 12 inches for the treads; though from 64 to 7 inches 

 may be allowed for the former, and only ten for the latter, in secondary 

 staircases. In those of a very superior kind, on the contrary, the 

 risers do not exceed 5 or even 4 inches (less height than which last 

 would be more fatiguing than convenient), and their treads are then 

 made from 14 to 16 inches. The height, therefore, to the landing 

 of the floor to be reached being given, it is easy to calculate either 

 how many risers of a certain number of inches will be required ; or 

 what must be the dimensions of the risers and treads, in order to 

 amend within the space allowed. Supposing the first-mentioned 

 height to be 14 feet, and the risers 8 inches, two risers will be equiva- 

 lent to 1 foot of ascent, and consequently twenty-eight risers will be 

 required, or twenty seven treads, the upper landing being the tread to 

 the last riser. In such case, hardly less than an area of 20 by S feet, 

 on the level of the upper floor, would be sufficient for the staircase, 

 unless there were winders instead of quarter-spaces, or of a single half- 



ARTS ASD SCI. DIV. VOL. TO. 



space between the two flights. The number of risers required is 

 ascertained by reducing the given altitude of ascent to inches, and 

 dividing it by the height of the risers : thus, taking the altitude as 

 before (14 feet), and the risers at 5 inches, there must either be 33 

 risers a trifle more than 5 inches each, or 34 a trifle less. Rondelet 

 gives the following very simple formula for calculating the dimensions 

 of the treads and risers respectively, namely, calling h the riser, and t 

 the tread, 2A-M = 2 feet; it is based on the principle that the ordinary 

 length of a pace is equal to 2 feet, and that the effort exercised in 

 lifting the leg vertically is double the effort required to move it 

 horizontally. 



Palladio, and others following him, have laid it down that the stair- 

 case ought to be seen immediately on entering a building ; but it is 

 impossible to establish any positive rule for what must depend upon 

 particular circumstances, and this is by no means the best general 

 arrangement. In a public building or place where strangers go in and 

 out without inquiry, it may be desirable that the staircase should 

 present itself at once ; but certainly this is not the case in private 

 mansions. On the contrary, it is in every respect better that the 

 staircase should be kept out of view until the first vestibule has been 

 passed through, and that it should be placed in a position as remote 

 from the entrance into the house as the plan will admit, both in order 

 that the approach to it may be lengthened, and that, in case it has any 

 architectural pretensions at all, it may strike the more by not coming 

 into view at once. At all events, only the lower part of the staircase 

 no more than is sufficient to indicate its situation should be visible 

 from the entrance, otherwise it will be inconveniently exposed ; and if 

 there are doors to several rooms on the upper landing, persons passing 

 from one to the other would be seen from the hall. It is therefore a 

 great error to place the staircase, as is sometimes done, in the first or 

 entrance hall of a mansion, because, in addition to the inconvenience 

 just pointed out, such hall must be made the height of two floors, and 

 consequently, if otherwise suitably proportioned to such height, it will 

 be the most spacious and loftiest room, and so far be attended by a 

 degree of effect which, instead of being afterwards increased or kept 

 up, is greatly diminished. Such arrangement also cuts off the com- 

 munication above between the rooms on one side of the hall and those 

 on the other, except there is a gallery or continuation of the landing 

 carried over the entrance. 



Even when kept apart from the entrance-hall or other vestibule, a 

 staircase will always be sufficiently striking in proportion to the rest 

 of a house, because it will produce greater architectural effect, and be 

 loftier than the rooms themselves. We are now speaking only of what 

 is usually termed a " grand staircase," leading up no higher than the 

 principal floor, so that the whole of the space from the level of the 

 landing is perfectly clear, and there are no nights leading up higher, 

 for if there were, the space over head would appear encumbered and 

 confused. There is in fact no part of an interior which accommodates 

 itself more readily to architectural character and display, or which 

 admits of greater variety of design both as to plan, section, and decora- 

 tion, than a staircase of the kind just referred to. If the house itself 

 be not upon a very large scale, there is danger of doing here rather too 

 much than too little. In regard to altitude,. there will here always be 

 greater magnitude than elsewhere ; if therefore corresponding magni- 

 tude of area be given to it, the staircase will overpower everything 

 else, cause the rooms to appear small by comparison, and appear in 

 itself too large for the house. It is therefore desirable to make the 

 area, at least the visible area of the staircase, rather less than more than 

 that of any of the principal rooms. It is also rather a solecism to atfect 

 magnitude of space in other respects corresponding to that of height. 

 While it serves as a contrast to the apartments, loftiness or excess of 

 height, as compared with length and breadth, is as much an appropriate 

 characteristic of a staircase as it is of a tower. Its altitude therefore 

 from the bottom of the first flight to the ceiling, may very properly be 

 made between two or three times the breadth. Accordingly it will be 

 found expedient to enclose the landing, if continued quite round the 

 staircase, not merely by a screen of columns, but in such manner as to 

 shut it out from view, with only partial openings at intervals, in order 

 to avoid too much spaciousness on that level, and to keep the cage of 

 the same size from bottom to top. Of such staircase upon a large 

 scale there is an example at Taymouth Castle, the seat of the Marquess 

 of Breadalbane, which is about 40 feet square by 100 feet in height, 

 with an upper corridor surrounding it, with open arches. 



One of the most simple and effective yet least common arrange- 

 ments of a staircase, is that which may be described by the term 

 avenue itaircaie, the stairs being continued in a straight line, though 

 broken by epacea into a succession of flights, within what would else 

 be a level corridor or gallery ; and occupying its entire width. There 

 is something particularly noble and majestic in a staircase of this kind, 

 for although it may be narrow, considered as a gallery, it looks 

 unusually spacious as a staircase, the jliyht itself being wider than 

 those of staircases placed within a much larger area ; besides which, 

 the whole is more regularly disposed, and forms a more striking piece 

 of perspective. Still, simple as such plan is in itself, it is by no means 

 adapted to general application, because, although it requires only 

 moderate width, it requires considerable length, short flights, and 

 ample spaces between them, and stairs with low risers and broad 

 treads ; otherwise, the descent, as viewed from above, being in a 



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