86 



OLD WEST SURREY 



hearth. The lowest of 

 the grooves was high 

 enough above the man- 

 telshelf to allow space 

 for ornaments, candle- 

 sticks, and some of the 

 lesser table gear, such 

 as horn mugs, brass 

 pepper-pots, and pewter 

 salt-cellars. The de- 

 sign of the rack passed 

 boldly through the 

 mantelshelf and finished 

 against the ceiling with 

 its own cornice returned 

 to the wall to right and 

 left, 



There was some- 

 times a ruder and more 

 coarsely-toothed rack, 

 that held the keeper's 

 gun or the farmer's 

 blunderbuss in the same 

 position above the fire- 

 place. 



Iron fire-backs were 

 in general use, at any 

 rate in farmhouses, but 

 they were not nearly so 

 good in design as in 

 the middle of Sussex, 

 where a class of back 



Large Iron Pot on Hanger 



