The following description of a mansion of this period, at Midhurst, in Sussex, is given by Warton :—" We enter a spacious and lofty quadrangle of stone, through a lofty Gothic tower with four angular turrets. The roof of the gateway is a fine piece of' old f•et-work. There is a venerable old hall, with a noble oak-raftered roof, and a large high range of Gothic windows. Opposite the screen is the arched portal of the buttery. Adjoining the hall is a dining-room, the walls painted all over (as was anciently the mode soon after the beginning of the reign of Edward VI.,) chiefly with histories (out of perspective) of I Ienry VIII. ; the roof is in flat compartments. A gallery with window-recesses, or oriels. occupies one side of the quadrangular court. A gallery on the opposite, of equal dimensions, has given way to modern convenience, and is converted into bed-chambers. In the centre of the court is a magnificent old fountain. with much imagery in brass, and a variety of devices for shooting water. On the top of the hall is the original louvre or lan tern, adorned with a profusion or vanes. The chapel, run ning at right angles with the hall. terminates in the garden with three large Gothic windows." Hengrave Hall, Suffolk, was built, as we learn from an inseription on the outside of the curious oriel window, in 1538. It consists of an open court surrounded on three sides by a gallery, communicating with all the apm tments, and lighted by windows looking into tlp. court : on the other side is the hall, (3 1 feet by 7250 which is lighted by a bay and two other windows, also looking into the court. The principal part presents a very picturesque appearance, measuring about 160 feet in length. The building is of brick and stone, and the gateway, N% Ilia is in good preserva tion, is of peculiar design.
The manor-house at East Barsham, Norfolk, is composed almost entirely of bricks : it was commenced in the reign Henry VII., and finished in that of his successor. The following description is given by Mr. Bury :—'• The walls of the principal front are nearly on one plane, being broken only by the porch in the centre ; and octagonal turrets of different sizes are so disposed as to give a variety of outline to the combination. The hall is to the left of the porch by which it is entered : the great parlour and principal apart ments are beyond, or at the back of it. The windows are large. and must have given the rooms a cheerful appearance. The building consists of only two stories, except in one part, where another is added as a tower. The upper string courses are bold in moulding, and rich in cast ornaments and panels ; these are surmounted by moulded battlements with beautiful traceried panels. The stack of ten chimneys at the west end of the hall, and the turret-terminations, are fine in design and execution. " The building, which measures 140 by 5S feet, has a gate-house tower, about 40 feet in front of the porch (a paved court intervening ;) on this, if possible, a still greater degree of moulding and enrich ment has been bestowed ; comprising figures, armorial bear ings, battlements, and panelling, which are all executed in brick in a surprising manner."
Elizabethan, or Late Tudor.—Du•ing the whole of the above period, the influence of Gothic art had been disappear ing throughout the continent. As early as the middle of the fifteenth century, Brunelleschi had introduced that partial revival of the classical styles which has been denominated Italian, from the name of the country where it first made its appearance, and where it afterwards chiefly flourished. This revival had been practised throughout the continent, ere it reached this country, where the Gothic maintained its posi tion for a very long time, and even after the introduction of the Italian, gave place but slowly, and not without a severe and lengthened struggle. Our constant intercourse with the continent during the reign of Henry VIII., must have had considerable influence on the arts in this country, the effects of which are evident in the later buildings of this reign ; in the hall of Hampton Court Palace are introduced details of Italian design, and in many other buildings of the same or later date. The next reign brings us a step further in this direction. John of Padua, an Italian architect, was intro duced into England under the patronage of the protector Somerset ; and from his designs were erected the mansions of Sion House, and Longleat, Wilts. In the reign of Eliza beth, however, the Italian style of art began to make more rapid strides, and assume a position of equality with the Gothic. Early in her reign, the treatises of Lomazzo and Philibert de Lorme were translated into English, and a work upon architecture was published by John Shute, an artist and architect who had been sent out to Italy by Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. From this and other circum stances, it is not difficult to account for the change which came over architecture during this period. This change, however, was rather in matters of detail than in general construction, although a considerable improvement would seem to have been made in the internal arrangement of houses, which were altogether more commodious. Up to this time, the mansions of the nobility were usually only one story in height, and in plan greatly deficient in the require ments incidental to the improved social condition of the country ; but now we have lofty buildings, and considerable skill exhibited in the disposition of the apartments ; indeed, we have ample evidence that no building was now under taken, without the previous arrangement of a well-con sidered plan.
The plans of buildings of this reign were of varied cha racter, sometimes quadrangular, having three sides surroun ded with buildings, with the portico in the centre, the quad rangles being usually surrounded with an open arcade or corridor. This, however, was but one plan out of many others, some of which were exceedingly curious; for instance :—Longford Castle, Wiltshire, was in plan similar to the ecclesiastical device on which the doctrine of the Trinity was illustrated ; it was a triangular court surrounded with buildings, having a circular tower of the same height as the other parts of the building, at each angle, from each of which in the interior was carried a row of buildings meeting in the centre.