Stair Parts Fig. 124 St. Lawrence, Jewry
The carving (Stair Parts Fig. 123) is almost certainly the worrk of Grinling Gibbons. St Lawrence is one of the best furnished of \`'rev's churches, but many others possess admirable fittings such as pulpits, pews, organcases, galleries with carved stair parts balustrading and doorways, boldly designed and richly decorated, which show what a high excellence the joiner's art had achieved under Wren, Gibbons, and their chief craftsmen
The Brewer’s Hall Grand Staircase with Carved Stair Parts
Stair Parts Fig. 125 Brewer's Hall
One of the most interesting of the city halls is that of the Brewers' Company, in Addle Street. It has undergone restoration and some amount of alteration, but the principal floor accessed by a magnificent Grand Staircase with impressive carved stair parts, which contains the hall and council chamber, still retains much of its original flavour. The walls are panelled in large panels (Fig. 125), the hall is entered through a screen with a splendid doorway (Fig. 126), and the council chamber has a fine fireplace. This is as good an example as could be found of the manner of panelling and decorating large rooms which prevailed at the time it was built, namely, 1673. The Stationers' hall has as fine a screen staircase with carved stair parts and doorway as those of the Brewers, and indeed most of the city halls, in spite of modern renovations, retain good work of this period, among the less known examples of which is the rich panelling at Girdlers' Hall, in Basing hall Street (Fig. 127).
Stair Parts Fig. 126
Stair Parts Fig. 127-Girdlers Hall, London
Stair Parts Design at Stapleford Park., Leicester
Outside London there was a large amount of work done during this period, with carved stair parts much of it fresh and interesting. Staple ford Park, in Leicestershire, a house with a long history and possessing some unusual detail of the date of 1633, was considerably altered and enlarged about the time of Charles II. by Bennet, Lord Sherard, who was in possession from 1640 to 1700. The exterior is plain, but in the interior are two rooms, with charming woodwork ; the door of the dining-room is illustrated in Stair Parts Fig. 130, and that of the library in Stair Parts Fig. 129. The two doors differ, but they are alike in that each is. placed on' a slight projection which causes a break in the main cornice of the room. The dining-room has large panels with a boldly carved collection moldingthe staircase has carved stair parts. The door has a broken pediment in the gap of which is placed a shield connected by heavily swags to the surrounding work. This was a common feature of the period. The library door is of much the same type, but instead of a shield there is a bust. The panels on the walls are formed by a bold moulding, which is broken backwards and forwards into a pattern that recalls the busy treatment of Jacobean work.
Stair Parts Fig. 128 The Deanery, Wells
(left) Stair Parts Fig 129-Stapleford Park
(right) Stair Parts Fig 130-Stapleford Park
In the Deanery at Wells is a fine panelled room attributed to Sir Christopher Wren, and certainly after his style if not actually designed by him. The walls are divided into bays by heavy Ionic pilasters, the spaces between which are filled with large panels. Here, too, the bolection moulding is carved, as well as several other members, the whole effect being rich and handsome (Stair Parts Fig. r28).