400 APPENDIX 



concerned in the design, and it is tolerably clear that Pratt had 

 a large hand in the matter, not only from Sir Mark Pleydell's 

 express intimation, but also from Sir Roger Pratt's own note- 

 books. It will be remembered that Jones died in 1652, but the 

 house was not finished until some years afterwards, probably 

 in 1664. Roger Pratt has entries in his note-books that in 

 December 1656 he gave Sir George Pratt's man a tip of two 

 shillings, in April 1659 he gave to six maids and two boys of 

 Sir George two guineas, and in January 1662 he gave a dinner 

 to Sir George and his lady at a cost of ,5. 95. Such hospitality 

 may presumably be attributed partly to the ties of consanguinity, 

 and parti}- to those of architect and client. 



Sir Roger Pratt has notes relating to Coleshill under the 

 year 1664, which, in addition to those concerning the ceilings 

 mentioned in Appendix I. deal with the proportion of the 

 windows. These, he says, seemed somewhat narrow, either 

 because not sufficiently splayed on the sides, or because the 

 wooden frame and the iron one took so much from the glass. 

 The windows were at that time iron casements, not sashes as 

 they are now ; and they were all alike in this respect, including 

 the dormers in the garrets and the turret. One remark is rather 

 puzzling in which he speaks of the heads of the windows of the 

 dining-room being 5 ft. below the ceilings, for the vertical 

 distance between the windows of the ground and upper floors 

 is only about 7 ft. from glass to glass. 



The testimony that the windows were casements and not 

 sashes is interesting, so too is the detailed description of the 

 casements and of the devices to exclude the weather. The 

 window-bars were | in. thick and i in. broad ; the casements 

 ^ in. thick and 2 in. broad. They were hanged upon three 

 strong hooks, the opening-rod being i in. thick with five rings 

 to hold it ; there was an iron plate with a pin let into the wood 

 to hold the hook of the rod. A little piece of iron was put over 

 the rebate of the casements to keep out the wind, and a little 

 border of lead was nailed close to the casements on the bottom 

 and sides, as well as a strip over the heads outside. Further 

 there was another border inside to prevent the rain, which beat up 

 under the casements, from flowing down upon the baseboard. 



Let us hope these precautions were adequate, and that it 

 was not necessary to lay out another $ on a dinner to placate 

 Sir George and his lady, and to drown the memory of reproaches 

 urged with cousinly freedom. 



