Smithells Hall 
THE CHAPEL 
SMITHELLS HALL 
the first floor, supported on an arcade of 
oak columns, forming a veranda to the 
lower rooms, which is one of the most 
picturesque features of this old part of the 
house. 
Idle quadrangle, though preserving its 
medieval appearance to some extent, shows 
really very little of the ancient work, which 
is chiefly seen in particular details. A good 
portion of the house was rebuilt about the 
time of the reign of Henry VII, and in 
more recent times the restorers have not 
hesitated to replace old work by new. The 
timber front over the veranda, on the west 
side of the courtyard, is frankly modern 
work, carried out, of course, on the lines of 
the old, while the black and white work on 
the north side of the quadrangle is nothing 
less than paint on plaster ! 
In late Elizabethan or early Jacobean times, 
after the great hall and the east wing had 
been abandoned, new apartments were added 
piecemeal on the west side of the house, but 
apparently without any general plan, the 
result being a singular jumble of arrange¬ 
ments. I'he old portion of the house being 
allowed to remain, the result at Smithells is a 
house of unusually large size, low and long. 
The modern work was carried out by the late 
M r. George Devey, architect, of London, and 
comprises practically the whole of the western 
end of the buildings and the gardens. It is 
in very happy harmony with the older work 
though a little hard in places, notably on the 
north or entrance front. 
The house is approached from the park 
on the north side along a short wooded drive 
between rhododendron bushes. 'This brings 
one to a wide gravelled space formed by the 
angle of the building. All that is seen of 
the house from this point is quite modern, 
but it has been designed on the old lines, the 
upper part being of wood and plaster. 'I'he 
wooden balustrated parapet to the entrance 
portion is, perhaps, the least satisfactory 
feature of the design. 
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