SHALLCROSS AND YEARDSLEY HALLS. 1 89 



it worth while to refer to the biography of Gibbs to see whether 

 he could possibly have been so far away from London, the 

 centre of his labours, at this period of his life as to design a 

 hall in Derbyshire. It was therefore pleasant to find that in 

 1723 he came to Derby to rebuild the large church of 

 Allhallows, save the fifteenth century tower, completing the work 

 in 1725. Therefore, as he came into Derbyshire fresh from 

 finishing Ditchley, we may almost assume that the owner of 

 Shallcross seized the opportunity of securing the services of 

 so famous an architect of the times. Gibbs, when men thought 

 it a far journey from Oxford to the Peak, would have little 

 hesitation in re-using his plans and detailed drawings for a 

 second house so far away. Moreover, the Shallcross of that 

 day had been Sheriff, and was a Justice of the Peace ; as 

 such he would attend the Grand Juries at Derby, which, as 

 Mr. Bowles told us in our previous volume, were summoned twice 

 a year. Thus he would naturally be brought in contact with the 

 famous architect between 1723 and 1725. The explanation of 

 this curious similarity therefore seems to be nearly complete. 



The building contains a large entrance hall divided from the 

 main corridor by three deep arches, which are repeated on the 

 upper floors, where they form doorways or cupboards. 



The room on the left of the entrance, now used as a dining- 

 room, is panelled from floor to ceiling, and though it has been 

 altered from time to time, as the necessities for new doors 

 suggested themselves, enough of the old panelling is left to 

 show that it is of a much earlier date than the house, and very 

 probably was brought from the Elizabethan building. 



On the right of the entrance hall there has been a doorway, 

 now blocked up, which at some time led to the kitchen and 

 servants' quarters, but which, however, was probably not in 

 the original design. 



Facing the entrance through the before-mentioned arches is 

 the door leading to the drawing-room — a fine room, with an 

 entrance from the garden and commanding a view looking up 

 Taxal Valley. On either side of the drawing-room are rooms 

 probably used as breakfast room and boudoir, and a doorway 



