INDUSTRIES 



and windows. Of the remaining examples of 

 this none appear to be earlier than the end of 

 the 1 6th century. 



About this date a more elaborate form of 

 plaster ornament appeared in Bishop's Stort- 

 ford and the neighbourhood. This consisted 

 of rectangular and diamond-shaped panels cast 

 in low rehef from moulds giving such ornamental 

 forms as a Uon rampant, a crown, a fleur de hs, 

 a two-headed eagle, a species of carbuncle, and 

 others. These appear to have been inserted in 

 plain or combed plastering, but in all the ex- 

 amples which remain the surrounding plaster 

 is of doubtful antiquity and in many has been 

 covered with rough-cast up to the margin of 

 the panels. Cases occur at Bishop's Stortford, 

 Braughing, Albury, Stanstead Abbots, and 

 elsewhere. At Much Hadham is a small house 

 where some of these forms are used internally 

 as ceihng decoration. It would appear hkely 

 that these are all the work of one craftsman 

 or ' shop ' with head quarters in Bishop's Stort- 

 ford. Plaster is also used at this period to 

 represent stone dressings on brick buildings ; 

 the grammar school, Buntingford, provides an 

 example of this. 



At St. Michael's Manor House, St. Albans, is 

 a moulded plaster ceiling with moulded panels, 

 foUate ornament and the initials I.G. (for Sir 

 John Gape), and the date 1586. Another 

 ceiling in No. 54 Holywell Hill, perhaps a little 

 later in date, is ornamented with moulded ribs 

 and circular plaques containing heads of a crude 

 classical character. Similar heads to these 

 appear to have existed, originally, in the ceiling 

 of the hall of Hatfield House, c. i6ii, but were 

 replaced in the 19th century by paintings. 

 Hatfield House contains many elaborate plaster 

 ceilings, for the most part of doubtful antiquity, 

 but the ceiling of the long gaUery retains its 

 original form and is a good example of the 

 elaborate interlaced strap and arabesque work 

 of the 17th century. The sequence of examples 

 of internal work is continued in a house at Ware, 

 on the south side of the High Street, in which 

 is a room on the first floor, with a plain barrel 

 ceiling of plaster and lunettes at each end 

 decorated with elaborate arabesques in low 

 rehef. These bear the initials I.H.S. and the 

 date 1624. 



By the middle of the century a new form of 

 external decoration in plaster came into use. 

 The wall surfaces were cut up into panels of 

 rectangular, L-shaped, circular and oval form, 

 and of comparatively small size, by raised 

 mouldings in a manner which closely corresponds 

 to the woodwork of the period. A shop in the 

 High Street, St. Albans, which is dated 1665, is 

 an example of this type of decoration. Internal 

 work of about the same date occurs in the back 



rooms of a shop in the High Street, Ware ; the 

 ceilings here have square and round panels, 

 formed by flat-reeded mouldings, containing 

 shields with a hon passant between three 

 crosslets ; the same shield appears in plaster 

 over the fireplace in one of the rooms. 



Toward the end of the century the tendency 

 to increase in size which is shown in the car- 

 penters' panelling appears also in the plasterers' 

 house fronts, but the heavy bolection mouldings 

 of the wooden panelUng were not attempted in 

 the plaster work. In their place the panels 

 were marked off by narrow bands of running 

 foliate ornament in very low rehef. The combed 

 work also appeared, or reappeared, and was 

 much used for the decoration of the panels 

 themselves, the styles and rails being left plain. 

 The outside of St. Michael's Manor House at 

 St. Albans is a good example of this style. At 

 the same time other and quite different forms 

 of plaster work appeared. A house in Hitchin, 

 No. 17 Tilehouse Street, has quoins of plaster 

 and rough-cast walls, and there is similar work 

 at The Causeway, Braughing. Elaborate 

 modelled work in relief was also used. A small 

 house at Ashwell, dated 1 68 1, has ornament of 

 this type in the form of dolphins and acanthus 

 fohage. An example of more elaborate work 

 of this kind is provided by a house of consider- 

 able size in Fore Street, Hertford. In this case 

 the ornament is mainly in the form of acanthus 

 volutes, originally designed to cover the whole 

 wall surface ; later alterations have caused 

 considerable damage. 



During the early part of the 1 8th century 

 the panelled plaster fronts with combed panels 

 and plain styles and rails continued, but the 

 strips of running ornament went out of use and 

 plain headings took their place. A dated 

 example of this occurs at Hitchin, where a 

 iSth-century house was refronted with plaster 

 in 1729. The use of timber for building became 

 less and less common at this time, and in con- 

 sequence external plaster work of the 1 8th 

 century is usually in the nature of repairs to 

 earlier buildings. 



The internal plaster work of the i8th century 

 offers no features of local pecuHarity, but at 

 Moor Park, Rickmansworth, are examples, 

 possibly the finest in England, of elaborate 

 modelled work in high rehef. The ceiling of 

 the white drawing room carries the plasterers' 

 art, perhaps, to the highest possible point of 

 elaboration and richness. 



In recent years, following the revivalist 

 movement of the end of the 19th century, the 

 local ' combed ' work has been essayed again 

 with some success. Some examples of this, 

 as of most other styles, may be found at 

 Letchworth. 



267 



