By C. 1L Talbot. 



17 



Architecture of the Middle Ages, many years ago, 1 it is curious 

 that the owner should, quite recently, have been unaware of the 

 interest of the building. 



At Easton, in the parish of Corsham, there is a house which 

 retains a chimney of the fifteenth century, and has a wing which 

 was untouched sixteenth century work, and apparently perfectly 

 sound. To my sorrow, one day, I observed the lower windows of 

 this Elizabethan part cut out, and windows with wooden frames 

 substituted. I could not help mentioning it to the owner, who was 

 much annoyed at what had been done, and proposed to have the 

 mullioned windows replaced. I advised against that, as it would 

 not be the same thing, and would probably displease his tenant. 



Just before the late Meeting of our Society at Corsham, in 1895, 

 a range of old building, in that town, of the seventeenth century, 

 that I had been in the habit of looking at with interest, for years, 

 every time I passed, was modernised, with wholesale destruction of 

 the ancient features. This was on the same estate, but not in the 

 lifetime of the same owner. I very much doubt, however, whether 

 the present owner would have approved of the proceedings, if his 

 attention had been called to them. This suggests the reflection 

 that it would be an advantage, if agents and sub-agents were 

 required to have some knowledge of the value of old work. 



The explanation of the unnecessary destruction that goes on is 

 mainly ignorance, of one kind or another, and herein such a society 

 as ours may be of considerable use, by diffusing information. We 

 have done an appreciable amount of good already, and we might 

 do a good deal more. A great deal of personal supervision is 

 necessary, in building operations, in order to save all that can be 

 saved. Workmen can be got to be very careful, when they know 

 that is what the employer wants. 



There was formerly in the village of Lacock, but not on my own 

 property, an old thatched house, used as a farm house, which re- 

 tained a fifteenth century chimney. This was not visible from the 



1 In 1859, Domestic Architecture of the Middle Ages, vol. iii.. )>. 338. 

 VOL. XXX. — NO. LXXXIX. B 



