English Manor-Houses of the Early Renaissance 
FOUNTAINS HALL, YORKSHIRE 
was at the high tide of prosperity, d'liese houses 
are remarkable tor the way in which they preserved 
the Gothic building traditions (juite late into the 
Renaissance period. This is evidenced in the 
Beanacre house by the simple gable treatment and 
the label mouldings over the windows beside which 
the treatment of the entrance door seems rather 
out of place. The form of composition of this house, 
consisting of ad¬ 
vancing wings at 
the ends with a 
projecting porch 
in the center, is 
one that is fre¬ 
quently seen in 
mansions of Eliza¬ 
beth’s time and 
was once thought 
to have been origi¬ 
nated as a compli¬ 
ment to the great 
queen. But it has 
been proved con- 
clusively that 
houses were built 
on this E shaped 
plan long before 
Elizabeth came 
to the throne and 
that It developed naturally from the traditional 
arrangement of kitchen offices and servants’ quarters 
at one end and the family apartments at the other 
of the great hall, which served as a general living 
and dining-room. 
Coldham Hall is (juite a contrast to the humbler 
manor-bouse just discussed and illustrates the great 
effectiveness of the E shaped plan when applied to 
larger mansions. 
Ehe air of noble 
dignity possessed 
by this hne brick 
bouse is increased 
by the broad 
sweep of level 
lawn in front and 
the groups o f 
giant trees at each 
side. While the 
front is so well 
balanced as to 
satisfy the eye 
completely, it will 
be noticed that 
there is no at¬ 
tempt whatever 
at exact sym- 
metry. There is 
still less attempt 
199 
