352 



STAIRCASES 



An important development in design occurred when the old- 

 fashioned solid string was abandoned, and the balusters rested 

 upon the steps themselves. This change took place about the 

 beginning of the eighteenth century, and there is an early 

 example at King's Weston, in Gloucestershire (Fig. 275). The 

 steps are very deep from back to front, so much so that each 

 step overlaps the second one above it. The nosings are carried 

 along the end of every step and returned back to the wall under 



the step above ; the 

 bottom edge of this is 

 finished with a mould- 

 ing which returns and 

 rests on the nosing of 

 the step below. A very 

 similar treatment is 

 adopted at Boughton 

 House, in Northampton- 

 shire (Fig. 276), but here 

 the edge of the soffit has 

 a moulding like the 

 nosing, but reversed : 

 the junction of the two 

 is masked by a wood 

 block. These blocks are 

 all painted with arms 

 of the Montagus and 

 their alliances, which 

 prompted Horace YVal- 

 pole to inquire whether 

 the chief staircase at 

 Boughton was intended 

 for the " descent of the Montagus." Another point to be noticed 

 in the King's Weston example is that the two bottom steps 

 are carried out sideways beyond the others and rounded off 

 with a bold sweep, and that the handrail is wreathed round 

 instead of finishing against a large newel. This is a treatment 

 which only became possible on the abandonment of the old- 

 fashioned newels and strings. 



A variation of the treatment adopted at Boughton may be 

 seen in an old house in Salisbury (Fig. 278), where the nosings 

 are still carried back some distance, but are supported by carved 



FIG. 276. Staircase at Boughton House, 

 Northamptonshire 



J. A. Gotch, del. 



