THE KING'S HOUSE 105 



VIII) which were over the Verderers' Hall and 

 also the scullery and servants' offices adjoining 

 them on the side of the street. They threw this 

 latter accommodation into the hall, enlarging it 

 to a size which had never been required up to 

 that day, and never has been since, and placing 

 thereon a barn-like roof abutting on the old house 

 a destructive alteration as barbarous in character 

 as could be imagined. But they could not even 

 do this properly. The walls of the upper story, 

 which had to come down to enable the barn roof 

 to be completed, were good 16-inch brickwork, 

 and they were pulled down to some 8 feet from 

 the ground I cannot think why. But instead of 

 being built up from that level in the original 16- 

 inch work, a brickwork of only 11 inches was put 

 in, with lath and plaster on the interior, to make 

 up the appearance of the new work to the width of 

 the old walls they were superimposed upon. Still 

 worse, mullioned windows were put in to replace 

 the old ones destroyed doubtless originally built 

 with stone, but the present mullions are a des- 

 picable sham of brickwork covered with plaster. 



Mercifully, sufficient of the beautiful oak 

 panelling which lined the upper rooms was pre- 

 served to form a dado round the newly constructed 

 " ancient Verderers' Hall." A more rank impos- 

 ture does not exist! save only for the ancient 



