118 THE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY STAIRCASE 



Staircases had also changed in the character of their detail ; 

 they were still arranged in straight flights, but we have already 

 seen at Coleshill that they sometimes formed a more imposing- 

 feature than in Jacobean days ; in that instance the staircase is 

 doubled, each portion being of equal importance, and they occupy 

 a considerable part of the entrance hall. This double arrange- 

 ment was by no means of universal adoption, it depended upon 

 the space at command, and at Ashburnham House, Westminster,. 

 for instance, where space was restricted, a single staircase was 

 ingeniously planned, but was treated in a monumental manner. 

 The design is attributed by some to Inigo Jones, and it is almost 

 certain that it must be either by him or by Webb. The house 

 was originally fashioned out of some of the old monastic build- 

 ings, and had been used as a dwelling for many years before the 

 time of Elizabeth. It was known as the Dean's House, and was 

 occupied by a succession of tenants. In 1621 a lady became 

 the tenant ; she was succeeded in 1628 by Sir Edward Powell,, 

 who obtained a lease in 1629. The question of the tenancy is 

 important as it sets limits to the number of those who would be 

 likely to embark on considerable alterations. In 1640 the house 

 was transferred to trustees for the benefit of Sir Edward's wife. 

 Then came the Civil War, and the next tenant who appears is 

 William Ashburnham, who, already in occupation, obtained a 

 forty years' lease in 1662. As he was an ardent royalist, it is 

 supposed that he could not have taken the house previous to- 

 the Restoration. 1 



The choice of the individual who caused the new work to be 

 done appears to lie between Sir Edward Powell and William 

 Ashburnham, for Lady Powell's trustees of 1640 would not be 

 likely to undertake anything of such magnitude, and it is 

 improbable, although not impossible, that it was done during 

 the Civil War or the Commonwealth. The reasonable dates lie,, 

 therefore, between 1629-1640, and 1662-1672, in which latter 

 year Webb died. On the whole, the character of the work points 

 to the later period ; it looks as though it were the outcome of 

 longer experience than the earlier period could have supplied. 

 It should be borne in mind that the treatment of the ceiling, 

 with the open cupola above it, resembles that of one or two- 

 drawings made by Jones and Webb for Wilton and elsewhere. 



1 "Ashburnham House and the Precincts of Westminster Abbey," by 

 Harry Sirr, Journal of the R.I.fi.A., 8th January 1910. 



