His Birthplace and its Influences. 27 



" The arms of the Machells were : Sable : 

 three greyhounds courant. Argent : collared 

 Or. On the gable of the present building 

 there is a carved stone with an escutcheon, 

 surmounted with a helmet, mantlings and 

 crest. The crest represents the head and 

 neck of a nondescript animal — it might be a 

 deer or goat with straight horns. The house, 

 as it now stands, appears to have been built 

 during the last twenty years of the seven- 

 teenth century, and the design probably arose 

 under the inspiration of Thomas Machell, the 

 Antiquary, who was a devoted admirer of Pal- 

 ladian architecture, which at that time was 

 supplanting our national style throughout the 

 country. It is a single, narrow, tenemented 

 building, with an extensive frontage, and rows 

 of numerous windows in the modern style. 

 There is a very fine black oak staircase with 

 twisted balusters leading to the second floor. 

 Here there is one apartment which affords 

 a good example of the style of high, oblong 

 panelling in soft wood used at the end of the 

 seventeenth century. Within the framework 

 over the mantel there is a painting on panel ; 

 it is in its original site, and represents a hunt- 



