DOI Artikel:
Jones, Sydney R.: Haddon Hall: an old English home
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19430#0037
HADDON HALL
the delicate pierced traceries. Heraldic devices occur with fre-
quency, the most evident being the boar’s head and the peacock,
the crests of the Vernon and Manners families. Two char-
acteristic rainwater-heads, illustrated on page 16, are from the lower
courtyard. They are shaped like little castles and have projecting bays,
while each flat surface is decorated with a pierced pattern, the rare
quality of which can be seen by the drawings. Behind each decorative
head is an inner casing to receive the rain-water, and the deep shadow
from it enriches the effect of the pierced work. The square pipes and
sockets have the same good qualities as the heads, and are similarly
adorned with patterns and crests in relief. A number of devices, exe-
cuted in pierced lead, are given in detail on page 15.
Evidence of another handicraft is
seen in the internal woodwork. The
interior of Haddon Hall is as interesting
as the exterior, and many of the rooms
are rich in wainscoting and other ex-
amples of carpentry. Earliest in point
of date is the hall screen, itself a Gothic
feature, constructed of substantial ma-
terial and ornamented with cusping and
tracery. Of equal interest, though
later in period, are the oaken fittings of
the dining-room which bear the name
and date “ Monseigneur de Vernon,
ano dni 1545 ” carved in Gothic char-
acters. This room, lighted from the
west by a long window of many lights,
and from the south by a deep bay,
wainscoted throughout in oak, with
ornaments and heraldic shields carved
on the frieze, and having a low ceiling
divided by five stout moulded beams,
gives a wonderful impression of a room
and its fittings as it appeared in Sir
George Vernon’s day (pp. 22 and 23).
It is improbable that the whole of the
woodwork belongs to his time—for ex-
ample, part of the carved upper cor-
nice is certainly earlier—but the gene-
ral arrangement remains much as he
left it, and is remarkably beautiful. The
27
CARVED OAK PANELLING AND FRIEZE IN DINING-ROOM
the delicate pierced traceries. Heraldic devices occur with fre-
quency, the most evident being the boar’s head and the peacock,
the crests of the Vernon and Manners families. Two char-
acteristic rainwater-heads, illustrated on page 16, are from the lower
courtyard. They are shaped like little castles and have projecting bays,
while each flat surface is decorated with a pierced pattern, the rare
quality of which can be seen by the drawings. Behind each decorative
head is an inner casing to receive the rain-water, and the deep shadow
from it enriches the effect of the pierced work. The square pipes and
sockets have the same good qualities as the heads, and are similarly
adorned with patterns and crests in relief. A number of devices, exe-
cuted in pierced lead, are given in detail on page 15.
Evidence of another handicraft is
seen in the internal woodwork. The
interior of Haddon Hall is as interesting
as the exterior, and many of the rooms
are rich in wainscoting and other ex-
amples of carpentry. Earliest in point
of date is the hall screen, itself a Gothic
feature, constructed of substantial ma-
terial and ornamented with cusping and
tracery. Of equal interest, though
later in period, are the oaken fittings of
the dining-room which bear the name
and date “ Monseigneur de Vernon,
ano dni 1545 ” carved in Gothic char-
acters. This room, lighted from the
west by a long window of many lights,
and from the south by a deep bay,
wainscoted throughout in oak, with
ornaments and heraldic shields carved
on the frieze, and having a low ceiling
divided by five stout moulded beams,
gives a wonderful impression of a room
and its fittings as it appeared in Sir
George Vernon’s day (pp. 22 and 23).
It is improbable that the whole of the
woodwork belongs to his time—for ex-
ample, part of the carved upper cor-
nice is certainly earlier—but the gene-
ral arrangement remains much as he
left it, and is remarkably beautiful. The
27
CARVED OAK PANELLING AND FRIEZE IN DINING-ROOM