By the Rev. W. Symonds. 



191 



by modern ceilings, has been a fine one. The tie beams spanning 

 the whole breadth of the hall are supported by slightly arched 

 braces. The king-posts supporting the ridge-beam in each truss, 

 rise from the centre of these tie beams. 



At the sides of the roof good arched braces fixed in front of the 

 rafters, which are displayed, support the longitudinal beams in a 

 double row, forming an effective ceiling. *A few of these arched 

 braces have disappeared, but enough remain to show the original 

 design and effect. In the kitchen, over the modern east window, 

 is a small wooden corbel, apparently a relic of the original 

 woodwork. 



The entrance doorway on the north side of the building, in the 

 north-east corner of the hall, which would have led to the space 

 under the screens, is a fine one, though perhaps later in style than 

 the rest of the building. It has a well moulded drop arch of late 

 fifteenth century work, with bases, but no capitals. The drip 

 mould, which is fairly deeply cut, ends in square moulded terminals 

 containing Tudor roses. At the apex is a curious boss of rather 

 mysterious design, which gives the effect of a bundle of pointed 

 sticks, or perhaps the leaves or petals of a flower terminating beneath 

 in a small rose. On the top is carved a Gothic letter, apparently 

 a V. The upper part of this boss is left unfinished as if the central 

 rib of the roof of the porch was intended to rest upon it. The existing 

 porch is a structure of mean character, which rather blocks the 

 doorway, so that it has been difficult to get a satisfactory photograph 

 . of the archway. The old oak door retains its original iron hinge- 

 ends, and some ornamental ironwork of good design round the 

 key-hole, which has suffered severely from rust. 



There is rather a nice old stone fireplace in the bedroom over 

 Mr. Hodges' parlour, which appears to be older than the seventeenth 

 century partition in which it is now built, and which therefore may 

 have been removed from some part of the older building, but there 

 are so many examples in Sherston of old design lingering on into 

 periods of later work that this may be only another example of 

 the conservative instincts of the local masons. The window of this 

 bedroom has some good mouldings of the period, and the windows 



