part of it has been rebuilt in other materials, as is the case in so many other old halls. The roofs are covered with the old grey' or stone slates, and are now of a beautiful colour. 6 "In Nash's Mansions of the Olden Time, and in numerous other works, interesting views are given of portions of this building, such as the gatehouse, the interior of the courtyard, and the bay window of the great hall. Looking across the courtyard to the north we see the great hall, with its fine porch and bay window. The easterly wing contains family apartments and the domestic chapel. "The house is built in the form of an irregular quadrangle. It is built fairly four-square with the points of the compass, so that the chancel of the chapel faces east. The gatehouse was doubtless intended to be built at right angles with the family wing, but the builders of these old halls seem to have had very hazy ideas of geometry, and the corner in question forms a very decided acute angle. The site being level, the usual means of defence under such conditions was adopted, and so we find here a rectangular moat, measuring externally about ninety yards by eighty yards.' It is still quite complete and full of water. "The gatehouse is of unusual size, and is a singular agglomeration of apartments. It is detached from the rest of the house, except at the south-east corner of the quadrangle, where the junction is just wide enough to allow of a narrow door of communication on the bedroom floor. An examination of the architectural features of this block of buildings leads us to the conclusion that it is of later date than the great hall and contiguous apartments, and it seems not improbable that this south side of the quadrangle was This is a common size for the moats of the Counties Palatine, though they are often quite square on plan. built as an after-thought, so as to enable the Moretons to entertain their guests in the lordly and hospitable style which prevailed during the Elizabethan epoch. The great hall, indeed, would have proved quite inadequate for the magnificent scale of the banquets of this period. In all probability this composite structure replaced an earlier and more humble gatehouse. "Flanking the boldly projecting main entrance porch on the left hand is the two-storied garderobe; on the right-hand side is a strong wall. These erections were manifestly contrived to protect the main entrance to the house from those attacking it, who might have crossed the moat unobserved. Passing through the porch, which is richly carved, and contains an old stone mounting block, we enter ́a passage, on the right hand of which is the porter's room; on the other side of the passage is an ante-room leading to the garderobe. Beyond the ante-room, at the west end of this block of buildings, is a good-sized kitchen, containing a fireplace of large dimensions, and in connection is a scullery or pantry. The probable use of these apartments was to provide refreshments for the guests in the rooms above, the older kitchens being so far away. "The first or middle floor of the gatehouse is reached from the courtyard by a staircase with winding steps attached to a central newel-post. This staircase is carved out of the ante-room referred to above, and lands us in a similar anteroom with garderobes connected with it. To the east of the ante-room on the first floor is a fine apartment, thirty-one feet long and nineteen feet wide, which may have been used as a supper-room. It is lighted by a square oriel window looking into the courtyard, and by another similar one looking out to the east. The ceiling is divided into twenty-eight compartments by nine ceiling beams. A little room over the porch communicates with this apartment. "The two secret apartments or hiding-rooms are in the little wing at the back of the gatehouse at its north-west corner. They are each about nine feet square, and in all probability served, one as the sitting-room and the other as the bedroom of the unfortunate priest or other fugitive who had to be concealed from his pursuers. The only access to these two rooms is by a sliding panel in the north wall of the apartment over the kitchen; but some pressure must have been applied to a stout priest to get him through this narrow aperture. Of such neat manufacture is the panelling, that much time might be spent by the pursuer in discovering that any part of it was moveable, or that anything like a door existed in it. In the westernmost of these secret rooms is a blacklooking abyss or shaft, about four feet by three feet, and down this hole the fugitive is said to have descended to the subterranean passage under the moat. Mr. Myott, the agent of the property, informs me that this underground passage, passing under the moat, has been followed up for some distance, a chimney sweep having been employed for the purpose. This passage leads in the direction of a mound which stands not many yards from the south-west corner of the moat. I have not personally investigated the facts relating to this underground passage, but in the nature of things it is not improbable that such a means of escape did once exist. On the ground floor a bricked-up doorway suggests that at one time there was a means of escape from the dark shaft into the garden. It is a noticeable fact that there are small doorways in the walls of all the rooms in the eastern wing and in the rooms of the |