THE HOUSE OF GODOLPHIN. 415 



wall forms a projecting ledge, apparently the masonry of the 

 old window seat. From this alone it seems clear that the interior 

 of the rooms must have been on the southern side of the wall, 

 the present buttresses having been added to support that wall 

 after the destruction of the rest of the building ; but still further 

 evidence is afforded by the door-way. Looked at from the 

 court-yard, i.e. the northern side, it consists of a pointed arch 

 with simple mouldings, supported upon two stout jambs which 

 are entirely covered with trefoil-headed stone panelling. The 

 closed door stands immediately behind, i.e. south of, these orna- 

 mental jambs, and the short passage through the wall behind is 

 a quite plain stone entrance. If the apartments were on the 

 northern side of this door, the whole of the ornamentation would 

 look into the room, and the external entrance would be perfectly 

 plain and bare. If, on the other hand, the apartments were on the 

 southern side, then the whole of the ornamentation would be ex- 

 ternal, facing the incoming guest, as would naturally be expected. 

 In confirmation of my opinion, I would ask you to compare this 

 door-way with that at the entrance of the south porch of Breage 

 church. The resemblance between the two is carried out into 

 minute details, even to the pattern of the stone panelling upon 

 the jambs ; and it will be seen that all the ornamentation faces 

 the person entering. Finally I may point out that any building 

 extending from the south wall over the court yard must inevit- 

 ably block out the light from the windows of the dining-hall. 

 For all these reasons I look upon it as practically certain that 

 the present wall marks the northern face of the old house, which 

 once extended back over the empty space now taken into the 

 farm-yard. Here all traces of building have been completely 

 removed, with the exception of one blocked-up window at the 

 western side, in line with the west wing, and no conjecture as to 

 the original disposition of rooms is possible. I should like, 

 however, to call attention to a large circular slab of smooth 

 stone (now cracked) let into the ground immediately opposite the 

 door- way, and jnst at the top of the few stone steps to which the 

 doorway leads. It was not unusual in the paving of large halls 

 to mark the principal centre, or the spot where the hall branched 

 into subordinate galleries, by a circular device, often a coat-of- 

 arms, wrought on the stone flooring. There is at present in the 



