A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



wing which remained was altered and added to and 

 completely renewed externally. From plans la and 

 sketches of the old building prior to its demolition 

 it would appear that the house must have been 

 altered during the 17th and perhaps 1 8th century, 

 but the entrance gateway in the centre of the east 

 side of the courtyard, now partly incorporated in the 

 West Lodge referred to below, appears to have been 



untouched, 



The old pla 



the las 

 of the 





pulled 

 existed 





though 



be traced in the present build- 

 detail of the 16th century now 

 :cept a plain tablet fixed in the entrance 

 porch, which bears the arms of Sir Rowland Lytton 

 and the date 1563. In the centre of the east front 

 was the porch entering directly into the screens, on 



Plan adapted firm em iJlaitrafiea ta Excazwnfhm 

 Guta&n £? Jw&a and i/u-nce into fftrk (DritMa- MJ. HS:S ^6M/M y 



Grovnd Plan of Knebworth Hou 



^hich still remains, and on the 

 5 the library, now occupied by 

 t the north-west corner was the 

 main staircase, now the library ; this portion of the 

 building was probably a later addition to the 16th- 

 century house. At the north end of the hall was the 

 dining parlour, now a modernized drawing room. 

 The south end of the wing was occupied by the 

 domestic offices, but all that portion facing the west 

 has been formed into a long picture gallery ; a back 

 staircase at the south-east angle still retains its old 

 , but the stair is modern. A modern south 

 ving has been added. The hall, which is of the 

 extent as formerly, and which is carried up 



icuriion from dmcrton lo London and thence into 

 Add. MS. 33641, fol. aoi j Gent. Mag.tiov. 1790. 



the right was the hall, > 

 west side of the hall ws 

 a modern stair, 



positu 



two stories, underwent considerable alterations 

 during the 17th century. It has a coved ceil- 

 ing with moulded oak principals, ribs and cornice 

 and carved brackets. The spaces between the 

 timbers arc plastered. It was probably put up under 

 the original open-timber roof early in the I 7th cen- 

 tury. The screen belongs to the same period, and 

 behind it, over the screens, is the musicians' gallery. 

 The oak screen is in three bays with semicircular 

 arched openings. The central opening, which is the 

 entrance, is flanked by caryatides formed of demi- 

 human figures on tapering pedestals, the panels of 

 which are carved. The spandrels of the arches are 

 filled with pierced ornament. Above the arches it 

 a bold entablature with moulded cornice and carved 

 frieze and brackets, surmounted by the oak front to 

 the gallery, which is carved with 

 an open arabesque pattern. Each 

 side arch is partly filled with solid 

 panelling surmounted by a broken 

 pediment with moulded cornice ; 

 in each panel is a cartouche con- 

 taining arms of the Lytton and 

 allied families. 



The other three sides of the 

 hall arc covered with deal panel- 

 ling, the design of which it 

 attributed to Inigo Jones, and 

 which may date from about 1650. 

 The north end is an elaborate 

 design with detached fluted 

 Corinthian columns dividing the 

 end of the hall into three bays, 

 with an enriched entablature with 

 moulded cornice ; this is broken 

 over the middle bay by a round- 

 arched pediment with moulded 

 cornice and panelled soffit; in the 

 side bays are doors opening into 

 the drawing room, formerly the 

 dining parlour of the old house. 

 The east and west sides of the hall 

 are panelled in a more simple 

 manner, with fluted Corinthian 

 pilasters as divisions ; in the centre 

 of the west side is a plain fireplace 

 with a large picture panel over, 

 surmounted by a moulded cornice 

 and pediment. The whole of the 

 woodwork, both oak and deal, has 

 been recently scraped and cleaned 

 d left in its natural colour. The 

 Endows in the east wall only. 



1805 



The dra 



1 lighted by 1 



, 7 thc=, 



from else 



ig room has been completely moder 

 a quantity of old panelling, chiefly of the 

 .tury, in some of the rooms on the upper 

 st of which appears to have been brought 



Part of the original gateway of the old house, 

 which was pulled down in 1 8 1 1 , was incorporated 

 in the West Lodge of the park on the Hitchin road, 

 and the fact is recorded on a tablet, dated 1816, on 

 the walls. The lodge is in two parts, connected by 

 the old arches which span the drive. Two old 

 windows and a turret doorway have also been reset 

 in the walls of the lodge, which have been partly 

 built with old thin bricks at the back. All the old 

 work, which is of clunch, belongs to about the 



