SPEKE HALL, 



LANCASHIRE. 



; bricks were a practically lost building material 

 in Lngland t"n>m the time of" the Roman-.' 



f\ departure until the fifteenth century, and 

 then only locally came into frequent and 

 immediate use, our media-vat ancestor., where stone 

 was not easily obtained, used the oak of their woods 

 as the chief factor in their structures, unless, .is in the 

 castle, strength was essential, or, as in the church, 

 their religious sentiment inclined them to large outlay, 

 great substance and profuse ornament. Kven in the 

 Eastern Counties (some of whose houses we have just 

 had under review), although brick-making was early 

 reintroduced from the Low Countries and rapidly 

 became fashionable, much early work was done in 

 timber, as the older portions of the (iifTords Hall 

 quadrangle testify. Much longer did this material 

 reign supreme in the Wealden districts of Kent and 



Sussex, while in the North West, in the stonelcss 

 portions of the counties of Jjiuashire, Cheshire and 

 Shropshire, the native oak became early and long 

 remained the enduring substance of which c\i-n 



magnates erected their stately dwellings. Of th< 

 very considerable number survive, and several such 

 .is Agecrofi and Pitchfbrd have appeared in previous 

 volumes in our series. But we are glad to be able 

 now to present another example of a striking and 

 charming kind. 



Spekc Hall lies in I .ancashirc, seven miles 

 south-east of Liverptx)!, and is, beyond all question, 

 one of the finest of the remaining timber edifices in 

 this region of their highest development. It still 

 preserves the aspect of Tudor times. \- \cc MI 

 it to-day, so it was designed by those who built it. 

 It is no museum of styles. Begun in 14110, work \v.is 



