WOObSFORb CASTLfe. ^5 



question are kitchens and seem to be intended to serve the 

 ground floor south hall of Stafford's work rather than the first 

 floor north hall of de Bryan's. This view is, perhaps, 

 strengthened by certain corbels so placed outside these kitchens 

 as to give the idea of a lean-to covered way from the said 

 kitchens to or towards the south hall. These kitchens and the 

 small room south of them are rubble-vaulted, like those to the 

 north of them. The larger of these kitchens has a fine fire-place 

 arch, filling the whole width of the room, 14 feet. Of course 

 this is not so wide as many other such arches. For instance, one 

 in Gaunt's kitchen, Canford Manor, is several feet wider. But 

 this Woodsford arch is well worth examining, being very well 

 and boldly framed. It consists of two 6ft. loin, by 3ft. stones 

 and a key, all joggled at each joint. The soffit edge is 

 chamfered. The other kitchen has a like, but smaller, arch, and 

 with the stone painted. The large one is of excellent colour. 

 Passing over the next room we come to the south hall, now the 

 stable. As a mediaeval hall this differs in shape from our ideal 

 even more than does the north hall. This south hall is a square 

 of 20 feet. At each of its southern angles there seem to have 

 been stairs of some kind to the south-west and south-east 

 towers, respectively. How this could be managed without 

 greatly hurting the look and use of the hall is puzzling. But 

 mediaeval ingenuity and taste may have been equal to the 

 problem. And how was the hall roofed ? On the south and 

 east walls there are corbels. The north wall is built out, as for 

 a corbel-ledge. The writer in Hutchins does not put his view 

 about these features very clearly. But he seems to think that a 

 smaller room, rubble vaulted, once terminated the building to the 

 south. Then they pulled down that vault, of which the corbel- 

 ledge is one of the springs. The opposite wall was rebuilt 

 further to the south, with corbels for a timber roof. Certainly it 

 is very possible that these corbels took the struts and wall posts 

 of a hammer beam roof, the fellows to which would rest on the 

 continuous ledge on the north side. The corbels on the east 

 wall may have had something to do with stairs to the south-east 



