1844.1 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



221 



lias been ilcjiosileil in your LordsIiips'Library for more han twelve months 

 I will now stale the ailvanta^es which I suppose to accrue from the alteration 

 in question. First of all, a great economy of space, othenvise wasted ; the 

 removal of the refreshment rooms to a more convenient situation near the 

 libr.iries; the acr|uisition of a pirand hall of apiiroaeh, suitable to the dignily 

 of the House of Peers, and available for state trials, which seems desirable, 

 since M'estminstcr Hall is now to become the main public entrance of the 

 new palace, for the due accommodation of spectators in witnessing the pro- 

 cession of the sovereign to and from the house, for conferences of the whole 

 houses, and for the purpose of affording the means of encouraging the 

 higher departments of art in the decoration of its walls > the acquisition of 

 two fine rooms to the south on the principal floor, being available either for 

 the Queen's robing room andante-room, or if the ordinary entrance to the 

 house be by the Victoria Tower, one might be for marshalmen and others in 

 attendance upon Peers, and the other for a committee room or writing room ; 

 also the acquisition of several rooms and other accommodation on the ground 

 floor for the record establishment. Those are the advantages which I pre- 

 sume to accrue from this alteration of plan. 



On being questioned as to the authority he bad for any alterations 

 which were not tbe immediate consequence of direct orders from the 

 Government, Mr. Barry informs the Committee tliat he bad the 

 authority of the Woods and Forests Board, in writing, and that he 

 could produce the same. And here it may be as well to state at once, 

 that at a subsequent stage of tbe investigation, Mr. Barry did hand in 

 a quantitv of correspondence with different public boards and func- 

 tionaries, as well as give evidence of tiu'a race communication with, 

 and instructions from others, fully substantiating bis assertion that he 

 had received orders to make certain additions and alterations, and 

 that all the subsequent ones in detail, against which the present out- 

 cry was made, had been the necessary and inevitable result. Over 

 and over again did he reiterate that be had received general orders to 

 do certain things and make certain arrangements, but that he did nlo 

 think himself cidled upon, nor was he required to explain to any one 

 bow these orders were to be managed in detail. Yet still did some 

 members of the Committee, with stolid pettinacity, persevere in ask- 

 ing him what right he had to make tliis change, and by what authority 

 he introduced that alteration, and whom did he consult on thi' other 

 deviation from the original plan, which original plan we have already 

 observed was as vague and ill-defined a matter to ground an inquiry 

 on, as it is possible to conceive. 



Oh! but tlien there is a staircase which is the greatest stumbling 

 block in the whole concern — their Lordships cannot get over it for the 

 life of them; and they ask liow many steps are in it, and what deptli 

 is each step, and the length of the tread, and the height of the top 

 from the ground floor; and they are dissatisfied with it because it 

 consists of 2tJ steps, of a rise of 5 inches, and a tread of 16 inches 

 each, without a landing or break in tne middle. And although Tdr. 

 Barry tells them that in tlie Palace of Caserta was tlie finest staircase 

 be had evi'r seen with a flight of 27 steps unbroken ; and in the ScaLi 

 Reggia, in the Vatican, considered the finest staircase in the world, 

 there were two flights of 40 steps each, and that in tbe University of 

 Genoa there was a staircase of 24 steps, and in the Ducal Palace of 

 the same city, one of 39 steps in one flight; their Lordships will not 

 "seriously incline" unto this unlucky staircase in the New House of 

 Peers, and challenge Mr. Barry to point out a single instance of such a 

 one in London. Will our readers believe, that any man, or any set of 

 men, could require iu this metropolis a precedent for any extraordi- 

 nary matter of architectural taste ? This question of the staircase has 

 haunted the Committee through all its proceedings — up it will start 

 like a ghost in tbe middle of every other detail, and its tread and 

 height, and unbroken flight come over their Lordships with as many 

 anticipations of fatigue as a pickpocket's dream of the treadmill. On 

 the very 2nd last day's examination down comes the staircase again 

 after the following fashion. And we crave our readers' admiration 

 for the brilliancy of the architectural imagination that could faucv an 

 analogy between the stairs under the York column and that intended 

 for the House of Lords. 



And you slill persist in saying that a flight of twenty-six steps is not at 

 all objectionable ?— I should prefer leaving itentirely as it is. I have given the 

 subject a great deal of consideration, and I am satisfied, under all ihe cir- 

 cumstances, that it is better to leave it as designed. 



You have mentioneit a great number of instances abroad ; but you have 

 not mentioned a single instance of one in London "—Because it has not oc- 

 curred to me ; but those noble lords who have been in Italy »ill doubtless 

 recollect the fine staircases I have mentioned, particularly that of tbe 

 Vatican. 



But the Committee must know the size of the steps, which you did not 

 mention the other day. Can fyou mention any staircase in London which 

 you would recommend the Committee to, look at, to show that your opinion 



is good ?— I am not aware of any staircase in Lon Ion where the width and 

 rise of the steps accord with those which I propose. I could give your 

 Lordships a correct idea of what the proposed stcircase would be, by having 

 a model erected on the spot. I could have it done in wood, so that your 

 Lordships might juilge for yourselves. 



Is not the reason why this slaircase under the Duke of York's column, 

 going out of Saint James's Park is han.lsome, and does not offend the eye, 

 first, that it is broken two or there times, but, secondly and chiefly, that it 

 forms a grand pedestal to the column ; and would not that staircase, even 

 Willi tlioe breaks, be an unsightly object, if it were not a pedestal to the 

 column ?— I should say. with deference to your Lordship, that the steps 

 alluded to are not convenient, owing to their want of width in the tread, and 

 that if the two landings which divide the flights had been given to the 

 increase of the width of the treads of the steps it would have been far pre- 

 ferable. 



Mr. Barry defended his staircase, step by step, to the last, an- 

 nounced bis intention of leaving it unaltered as be had planned it, 

 provided the discretion was left in his hands, and told their Lordships 

 that having ascended staircases in all parts of the world he had found 

 that the most convenient of all was one with a rise of 5 inches and a 

 tread of IG, and this, he contended, required scarcely more ett'ort than 

 was necessary to walk from one end of a room to the other. The ab- 

 sence of any landing in the centre, be also thought was calculated the 

 more to prevent the possibility of tripping. 



Amongst the others objections taken, was one to the position of 

 the Queen's Robing Room, but this Mr. Barry proposed to meet by 

 providing one not ex icily at the back of the Throne, but adjoining the 

 lateral corridor of the House ; his reasons for such an arrangement are 

 explained in his reply to the following question. 



How comes it that you never made these inquiries respecting the import- 

 ance of having the robing room in a pariicular place until the plans were so 

 far advanced that you could not place it there without an inconvenience? I 

 beg to stale the inquiry was made in time, as the plans are not so far ad- 

 vanced but that tlic change may be made wiih the greatest facility. I had 

 the honour the other day of going over the whole building with Prince 

 Albert, and it was a .source of regret with His Royal Highness that there was a 

 great want of large spaces for fresc.i paintings. On my pointing out, however, 

 to his Royal Highness, that an opportunity might be afibrderl of obtai ing 

 large spaces in the now proposed roUn.g room at ihe throne end of the ho se , 

 he was pleased to express his satisfaction at the change. That is one reason 

 I have for proposing a room of this magiiituile, which is much larger than 

 the room required by tbe original instructions, whicli w.as to be tliirty-sii 

 feet by twenty-four feet. The room which I now propose to be called the 

 painted chamber, or Queen's rofjing room, will be fifty feet by thirty-two 

 feet, and thirty feet liigh, and it would immediately ailjom the throne end 

 of the ijouse. 



That their Lordships' proceedings upon this enquiry have probably 

 been the cause of serious inconvenience and loss to many parties, may 

 be suspected from tbe intimation here conveyed. 



It appears to be highly desirable that the works of the Victoria Gallery 

 should be stopped till the Coramiltee has decided upon the plan ?— I h ive the 

 pleasure lo state that I have aniicipated your Lordships' wishes in that le- 

 ,';pect, by stopping that portion of the work ; but it is right that I should at 

 the same time state that I have done so at considerable inconvenience to ihe 

 contractors, in consequence ofthenuml)er of hmids they have now in em- 

 ployment, and the vast quantities of stone which are continually pourmg in ; 

 and therefore if any change is to be effected in that portion of the building it 

 is of absolule importance that it should be decided upjn as speedily as possi- 

 ble. 



After another question or two on the old subject of the authority 

 he had for making [be alterations referred to, and again explaining 

 that they were the consequence in details of direct orders received 

 from Government, the examination goes on thus : — 



For what object have tlie alterations with reference to tlie Victoria Gallery 

 and the staircase been made ? — That alteration has been made for ihe reasons 

 I have already staled, but mainly with reference to tlie waiming an i venu- 

 laiing arrangements. It is necessary the roof should communicaie in ihe 

 same level from the outside of tbe building to the central toner, rather rising 

 than otherwise, but forming one continued communication in the roof. 



The whole way from the outside walls to the cen reol the building? — Yea. 

 1 m^y liere perhdps lie allowed to state, that I think the governmeNt lia:, ex- 

 ercised a sound discretion in not interfering with the mode of eflecting various 

 changes that have been made in the internal arrangemenis of ihe building, 

 and in leaving the entire responsibility with me. as being better acqua nied 

 than any one else with the principles and details of the plan of ihe entire 

 Ijuildmg, to carry them inio effect in tbe most judicious and eScetive manner. 

 { jln the contract made with Messrs. GrisscU and Pelu is it not stated that no 



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