GOTHIC VILLA FURXITURE. 10«9 placed against what was called a reredoss, in the middle of the floor, the smoke ascending to the roof, and escaping there by one or by several openings, sometimes luffer-boarded, to keep out the rain. The timbers of the roofs were framed with pendants, carved, and more or less emblazoned with heraldic insignia. The " top beam of the hall," and the " roof-tree " of the Scotch houses, both terms signifying a beam of timber now seldom introduced in roofs of such massive dimensions as formerly, were common toasts botli in Wales and Scotland. 2150. The Furniture of the Hall consisted chiefly of clumsy oak tables covered with carpets ; of benches or forms of the same material ; of cupboards for plate and various articles for the dining-table ; and in the centre the reredoss, or fire-iron, one of which may still be seen in the hall at Penshurst, near Tunbridge Wells, in Kent. Against this fire-iron the faggots were placed which made the fire, and they were surrounded l)y 2003 /Ti Ik 2004 _.'.?. a raised rim of stone or tile, on which lay a fire fork and tongs. We saw this interesting hall in 1828, and Mr. Britton, who examined it in 1832, describes it at length in his very interesting Sketches of Tunbridge Wells. " The south side of the court is occupied by the fine old baronial hall, which, though disfigured and mutilated, is still an apart- ment of magnitude and architectural interest. It measures about sixty feet in length by nearly forty in width, and at least sixty in height. It is open to the roof, where there was a louvre, or lantern, for ventilation. Beneath it, on the floor, is the original fire-hearth, with a large andiron for sustaining the blazing log." The designs for hall furniture which follow are not to "be considered as servile copies of what actually existed in the Tudor times, either at Pens- hurst, or any where else, but as an exemplification of that style of Architecture applied to articles suited to modern habits of society. 2151. Benches. Fig. 2003 is a hall bench, designed by Mr. Lamb. In the preceding part of this work will be found two figures of hall benches, from existing specimens, both copied from the work of Mr. Hunt (see figs. 1346 and 1347.) 2152. Chairs. Fig. 2004 is a hall chair, also designed by iMr. Lamb, who observes " that the heraldic devices on it should be painted in their proper colours." 2153. Tables. Hall tables, as we have already observed, were of a simple massive construction, displaying little ornament. The top was generally of oak planking, two or more inches thick, and the frame supporting it consisted chiefly of two massive horizontal top rails, joined to massive pDlars. Sometimes there were both top and foot rails, but in the more massive designs the latter were entirely wanting. SuBSECT. 2. Gothic Furniture for Parlours and Dining-rooms. 2154. Sideboard. Fig. 2005 is an oak sideboard, which may be either executed in that wood, or in deal and painted and grained in imitation of it. 6 N
