Eighteenth-Century Exterior Details
Stair Parts Fig. 229 Eighteenth-Century Chimneys
Stair Parts Fig. 230 Chimney and Dormer Window at Kirby Hall, Northamptonshire
Some compensation was afforded, however, by the introduction of the cupolas or lantern lights which were prevalent during the last half of the seventeenth century and the first few years of the eighteenth. There is an interesting drawing of such a feature for Whitehall by Inigo Jones in the Worcester College collection (Fig. 232). It is entitled in Jones's writing-" June 1, 1627, for the Cloke house Whight hall." Webb made use of the same kind of feature, and so did Wren and his contemporaries.
Stair Parts Fig 231. The Stables, Neville Holt, Leicestershire
There is a fine example on the stables at Neville Holt, in Leicestershire (Stair Parts Fig. 231), a building of great interest, possessing doorways of curious seventeenth-century detail; and another good specimen is at Trinity Hall, Cambridge (Stair Parts Fig. 233). The old hall was altered about the year 1742, when it was described as " very gloomy and dark," and as being "roofed with old Oak Beams, very black & dismal from ye Charcoal weh is burnt in ye middle of ye Hall; and over it in ye middle of ye Roof was an old awkward kind of Cupulo to let out ye Smoak." The new cupola was considered, presumably, more elegant and less awkward than the old one. The reference to the ancient method of warming the hall by a fire in the middle of the floor is interesting, as showing how long the old practice lingered in places where those in authority were averse to change. A further example is shown in Stair Parts Fig. 234.
Clock Towers
Stair Parts Fig. 232. Clock Turre, Whitehall
Stair Parts Fig. 233 Cupola at Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Stair Parts Fig. 234 Cupola at Caius College, Cambridge
While fancy still played a part in the work of local masons, the little date-stones shown in Stair Parts Fig. 235 were built into some unpretentious houses in the Midlands ; but a hundred years later the diligent pursuit of correctitude had banished such touches from the work of architects, and masons had lost the feeling which gave rise to them. They are, however, quite suggestive, and provide ideas for the perpetuation of the owner's name and the date of his work-facts which are of interest in respect of all buildings. The example from Amersham is rather more ambitious, but hardly more successful (Stair Parts Fig. 236) Another feature of interest to be found on many an eighteenthcentury house is the sundial. A specimen from High Wycombe is shown in Stair Parts Fig. 237, but almost every market town, and not a few villages, can produce examples as good. Sometimes an appropriate sentiment or an apt quotation was inscribed on the dial, but the number of cases where this occurs is not quite so great as the literature on the subject would lead one to suppose. In those days
when no cheap watches were to be had, when indeed a watch was handed down from one generation to another as a valuable possession, sundials were
of real use, even though they told none but sunny hours. " The Art of Dialling" was a recognised branch of polite learning, and an intricate subject it was;
dealing not only with horizontal and vertical dials, but with those which
faced in some other direction than due south. Dial stones may sometimes
be seen with one side brought slightly forward, so that the face is not quite
parallel with the wall in which it is set. This is an expedient to make the
face look due south, in order to simplify the setting out of the lines.
Needless to say that when the sun was relied on to tell the hour of the
day, the introduction of " Summer time "would have been impossible;
for the power to set back the shadow on the dial, as it was set back
on that of Ahaz, has never been given to man.
Date Stones
Stair Parts Fig. 235. Seventeenth Century Date Stones
Date Tablets and Sundials
Stair Parts Fig. 236 Date Stone from Amersham Buckinghamshire
Stair Parts Fig. 237 Sundial From High Wycombe Buckinghamshire