The Architectural Development of Horton Priory from its Foundation to the 17th century
The building stands on a low spur of land immediately to the south-east of a small tributary of the East Stour river (Fig. 1). Another small stream skirts around the south and south-western sides of the site to join the tributary south-west of the garden. Today the buildings are approached from the north-east via a drive leading off a lane a little to the east of the site, but it seems likely that the original approach during monastic times would have been from the west where a path still survives − it would be extremely unusual for visitors to have approached towards the eastern end of the monastic church.
[fg]png|Fig. 1 Site Location Plan.|Image[/fg]
The house appears always to have been a small establishment. In 1275/6 a Cluniac visitation of England found eleven monks at Horton − two below the proper number. Three years later, in 1279, a further visitation found thirteen monks. The buildings were then in an excellent state. The prior, who was English, had newly roofed the church and extended the cloister. At Lewes − the mother house − there were 50 monks in 1279, 39 in 1288, 33 in 1306 and 58 in 1391 [VCH Sx, Vol. 2, p. 66].
Sequence of Architectural Development
Period A: of the original mid/late-12th-century monastic buildings all that survive are the west range of the cloistral buildings and a fragment of the west wall of the church − all else was demolished following the Dissolution. What does survive is of high quality and architecturally important.
Period B: in the years around 1400 − probably in the late-14th century − the west range was remodelled in order to upgrade the prior’s lodgings. This work too is of exceptionally high quality and is a rare survival, complete with high-quality fireplace and windows and part of the roof.
Period C: during the mid/late 15th century a new timber-framed range was added to the north of the west range. This almost certainly projected further westwards than now and was continuously jettied along its northern face. An elaborate ceiling (now destroyed) was inserted into the prior’s great chamber.
Period D: in 1536 the monastic house was dissolved and soon afterwards the west range was converted into a secular dwelling. Modifications of the 16th and 17th centuries included the upgrading of the ground floor and the truncation of the Period-C northern range.[pg29]
Apart from removal of the Period C ceiling, little further work appears to have been undertaken until after 1870.
Period E: between 1870 and 1913, say c.1900, the southern end of the house was re-roofed and extensively remodelled.
Period F: then, in 1913/14 the architect, George Hornblower, designed extensive additions and made modifications to the existing house. No alterations of note have been made subsequently.
[These two later phases of development are not further covered in this paper.]
Architectural description: Period A (Mid/late-12th Century) Figs 2-7
Both the fragmentary remains of the west front of the church and the shell of the west range date from the 12th century and must have been constructed as part of the initial scheme of permanent buildings erected during the fifty years [pg30]
[fg]png|Fig. 2 Sequence of Development.|Image[/fg]
[pg31]
[fg]png|Fig. 3 Periods A and B Ground Floor Plan.|Image[/fg]
following the site’s foundation (in the 1120s). Whether the two structures are precisely contemporary with one another cannot be ascertained under present circumstances, the constructional details at the junction of the two being masked from view. There are differences in detail between the visible architectural features [pg32]of the two ranges, but these could reflect the difference in function and status of the two ranges as much as date.
[fg]png|Fig. 4 First Floor Plan, Periods A and B.|Image[/fg][pg33]
The Church
The remains of the church are extremely fragmentary, being limited to the southern end of the west facade. This was kept standing at the Dissolution merely because a period-C timber-framed extension to the west range had been built against it during the 15th century, an extension which it was felt desirable to retain when the west range was converted into a house. Despite its fragmentary nature, sufficient remains to give a clear impression of much of the church facade (see Fig. 5). The south-western corner of the nave (and by implication the north-western corner too) incorporated a stair turret, presumably giving access either to a triforium over the nave arcade or to a clerestory wall walk. The western face of the turret projects forward from the west wall of the south aisle, but it is clear from what remains that the western wall of the nave did not step back in similar fashion but was thickened to extend flush between the turrets. This allowed the central doorway to be recessed back within a multi-ordered semi-circular arch, with a similar arrangement to the window(s) above. Sufficient of the voussoirs to the main arch survive to allow an accurate calculation to be made of the radius of the arch, but to do so would require a detailed archaeological survey of the remains. (Such a survey is beyond the remit of the present report.) Even without a detailed survey it is possible to make a reasonably accurate judgement − it would seem that the outer order rose to the string course which ran across the facade at the junction between the second and third stages. From this the approximate width of the nave can be ascertained. As the entire width of the south aisle’s west wall survives, it is also possible to approximate the overall internal width of the church. From these details the approximate internal width of the nave can be estimated as c.6.6m (c.21ft 8in.) and the internal width overall the arcades and aisles as c.14.6m (c.47ft 10in.). In comparison, the internal overall widths of the nave and aisles at Lewes, Thetford and Castle Acre were 21.3m (70ft 0in.), 18.5m (60ft 8in.) and 18.0m (59ft 0in.), confirming Horton’s relatively small size.
Relatively small the church might have been, but what is certainly clear is that the facade was elaborate, being embellished with blind arcading bearing high- quality mouldings and carvings (see Plate I and Fig. 5).
The stair turret (Plate II) was accessed from the south aisle and was lit by slit windows. The aisle itself was lit by a plain round-headed window high in the west wall. Incorporated into the present west wall of the main staircase of 1913/14 is the western pier of the south arcade, which divided the nave from the south aisle. Part of the cushion capital survives, which indicates that the arches of the arcade sprang from a height of 3.65m (12ft 0in.) above present floor level.
The West Range
The west range has an internal width of 6.70m (22ft 0in.) and projects c.5.8m (19ft 0in.) beyond the western facade of the church. The north-western angle is strengthened by a clasping buttress, the top of which extends up to eaves level at reduced width to support a former gable coping (now lost). Five shallow buttresses are set at regular intervals along the western wall dividing the wall into five equal bays (see Figs. 3, 4 and 7). The remains of a string course (see below) indicates that the wall always extended to the south of the southernmost buttress, but how [pg34]much of this wall now dates from period A is unclear. Allowing for the sixth bay to have been at least as long as the other five, this would have given a minimum overall length for the range of 24.4m (80ft 0in.). At just above half height the wall is elaborated by a chamfered string course which extends across the buttresses, whilst above are the remains of a lesser string course extending between the buttresses. From what survives, and by analogy with other buildings of similar age, it seems likely that the lower string course marked the cill level of first-floor windows, whilst the upper course continued over the semi-circular heads of lost windows, doubling as a projecting hood mould.
[fg]png|Fig. 5 Period B Reconstruction Drawings. Longitudinal Section through West Range, looking East.|Image[/fg]
[fg]jpg|Plate I West doorway of Nave.|Image[/fg]
No 12th-century windows now survive within this wall, though drawings made late in the 19th century appear to show such a window (blocked) located between the southernmost two buttresses. The remains of this window were swept away after 1870 when the present replica period-B-style window was intruded.
Apart from a projecting chamfered string course in the east wall, which weathered the lean-to roof over the western cloister walk, the only Period-A features visible in the east wall are a relatively plain semi-circular-headed opening interconnecting with the former cloister walk towards the northern end of the range, and the head of a blocked window set high in the wall above, the latter visible from within the present northern bedroom. Within the north wall of the same room is a blocked Norman single-light window (also with round head) and beside it to the east a plain, square-headed wall recess.
The principal means of access to the range was from the north, via a doorway [pg36]towards the western end of the wall (Plate III). Now enclosed within the period-C northern extension, the round-headed doorway is of two orders with lozenge ornamentation to the arch of the outer order. Attached shafts with bell bases and broad-leaved capitals support the roll-moulded arch.
[fg]jpg|Plate II Stair turret in outer hall.|Image[/fg]
Regarding the period-A internal arrangement of the range nothing is known. Two stone cross partitions survive on the ground floor, but there are no architectural details to indicate an early date. If these partitions belong to period A, then the small northern ground-floor room is likely to have served as the monastic parlour.[pg37]
[fg]jpg|Plate III Norman doorway leading to West Range.|Image[/fg]
Period B (c.1400, probably late 14th Century)
All recognizable period-B alterations are limited to the prior’s lodging on the first floor of the west range, which was now thoroughly renovated and re-roofed. To judge from the design of the one extant internal doorway, it may have been at this time, too, that the ground-floor stone cross walls were built and a chimney built into the east wall − if not, then the doorway and fireplaces were merely inserted into earlier features.[pg38]
Unfortunately, except for the west wall, the southern half of the range was rebuilt in c.1900, though some at least of the first-floor layout at the southern end can still be recovered from what little survives. In comparison, the northern end of the lodgings survives in a very complete form (see Fig. 4). Of the first-floor rooms, that at the northern end was both the smallest and most plain. Probably serving as the prior’s private chamber, mortices in the crossbeam of its southern wall indicate that it was formerly lofted over, the chamber above being partially within the roof space (see Fig. 5).
To the south, divided from the northern chambers by a timber-framed partition, was a large room measuring 7.05m (23ft 2in.) long by 6.71m (22ft 0in.) wide. Having side walls 3.40m (11ft 2in.) high, open to the roof above and heated by a monumental fireplace located half way along its eastern wall, this would have been an extremely impressive hall-like room − indeed it is still impressive today, despite now being ceiled over. Notwithstanding its hall-like appearance, this was not the prior’s hall, but his great chamber − the room in which he received privileged guests. In addition to a now blocked high window immediately to the south of the fireplace (and perhaps another to the north) the room was lit by two tall transomed two-light windows in the west wall, both fitted with window seats. Both windows still survive in perfect condition.
A doorway at the western end of the north wall allowed inter-communication with the prior’s private chamber beyond, whilst a similar doorway in the south wall gave access to the great chamber from the Great Hall to its south, which hall may have doubled as the priory’s guest hall. Of this once impressive room, larger still than the great chamber, only the timber-framed high-end wall now survives, complete with its moulded dais beam. As with the great chamber, the hall appears to have been lit by two two-light transomed windows in the west wall, in this instance without window seats and spaced more widely apart, for no window was fitted between the two buttresses which separate the extant windows − indeed the earlier period-A window in this location was blocked. Whether the Great Hall extended to the southern end of the range, or whether there was another room beyond is not known. If the room functioned as a traditional hall with high and low end (as the extant dais beam suggests) then normal access to the hall would have been from the southern end.
Wall Design
The two period-B first-floor partitions are both of timber-framed construction and incorporate a crossbeam with cambered tiebeam above (see Fig. 6). Studs above and below the crossbeams divide the walls into large panels, the panels beneath the dais partition between the hall and great chamber being noticeably larger than within the partition dividing the great chamber from the northern chambers. Save for a stopped chamfer running along the lower leading edge of the cross beam, the northern face of the latter partition is entirely plain, whilst the faces of both partitions facing into the great chamber are elaborated. In the case of the northern partition the lower leading edge of the crossbeam is moulded with ogee and hollow-chamfered orders and these mouldings return down the end studs and around the door surround. Above, the central stud and that over the doorway [pg39][pg40]incorporate hollow-chamfered projecting fillets. The northern face of the southern partition is also moulded, but here all the upper studs have projecting nibs and the moulding is continued across the tiebeam. This is also the case with the south face of this partition (which served as the dais partition of the hall) and here the face of the exceptionally deep (390 mm) crossbeam is moulded throughout its depth (see Plate IV), the principal order being a deep cavetto set towards the upper part of the beam − all typical of the early years of the perpendicular period. Beneath the beam [pg41][pg42]the hollow-chamfered central stud of the partition contains a face mortice 500 mm up from the floor, apparently for a former fixed dais bench.
[fg]png|Fig. 6 Period B Reconstruction Cross Sections, West Range.|Image[/fg]
[fg]jpg|Plate IV North wall of hall.|Image[/fg]
[fg]png|Fig. 7 Period B Reconstruction Drawings. West Elevation.|Image[/fg]
Windows
Apart from one jamb and the remains of a segmental rear arch, all details of the blocked window in the east wall of the great chamber are hidden by its later blocking.
In contrast, the four first-floor windows in the west wall survive in good condition (Fig. 7). As noted, the two serving the great chamber have window seats, the remainder do not. A fifth window, second in from the south, is of identical design but represents an insertion of 1913/14 (see architect’s plans dated June 1913; see also the engraving on page 81 of Archaeologia Cantiana, x (1870)). Transomed, with two lights each above and below, the windows have square heads set beneath hood moulds with returned stops. The upper lights incorporate cinquefoil cusped ogee heads with open cusped spandrels above, whilst the lower lights also have cusped traceried heads with open spandrels (Plate V).
[fg]jpg|Plate V Window in west wall of Great Chamber.|Image[/fg]
No other windows are obviously of period-B date, though the head of the first-floor window within the Period-D western wall of the northern extension may be reused from this period. Three two-light square-headed windows shown on the ground floor of the west elevation in the 1870 engraving are said to have been of 15th-century date, though all have now been destroyed (Archaeologia Cantiana, x).
Doorways
At the western end of the northern ground-floor stone partition (between the northern undercroft and the undercroft beneath the great chamber) is a blocked stone doorway with two-centred arched head facing south. The jambs are continuously moulded with a double quarter roll, stopped at the base by pyramidal stops. The northern rear arch, shown in Fig. 6a, is segmental and plain. Similarly moulded two-centred doorways, but constructed in timber, survive at the western end of the two timber-framed first-floor partitions. Both are formed by jointing curved timbers called durns into the timber frame (Plate IV).
Floors
Those sections of the first floor which are old date from period D, evidently having been inserted to replace the earlier, more primitive floors when the ground-floor rooms were converted into the principal dwelling rooms after the Dissolution. Whether the floors they replaced dated from period B, or whether the original Norman floor survived until this date are not known.
The only known floor to have dated from period B was that to the northern upper chamber, over the prior’s chamber. This was removed when the prior’s chamber was heightened, but is still evidenced by blocked haunched mortices in the northern face of the crossbeam within the chamber’s south wall. The size of the blockings indicates that the joists, which spanned from north to south, were of 210 x c.170mm scantling and were set at 420mm centres − very typical for a medieval floor of this period.[pg43]
Stairs
Location not known.
Chimney
One of the principal features of the period-B work must be the chimney which serves the great chamber and the room beneath. The stack, which projects into the former cloister walk (Fig. 4), may pre-date the fireplaces, both of which belong to period B.[pg44]
That on the ground floor has been badly damaged and heavily repaired, but retains its jambs and the springings of its segmental arch. Above it is a heavy corbel table which carries the jambs and hearth of the slightly-projecting first-floor fireplace. The fireplace is a masterpiece of its period (Plate VI). The opening has a segmental arch supported upon moulded jambs which are flanked by shafts rising from moulded bases and supporting projecting candle brackets. Above the arch the deep spandrels are ornamented with geometric designs, and above that an embattled overmantle supporting a slightly-projecting hood. The cap has been rebuilt.[pg45]
[fg]jpg|Plate VI Fireplace in Great Chamber.|Image[/fg]
Roof
The roof survives over the northern chamber and great chamber only, the southern end having been rebuilt in c.1900 using textbook kingpost trusses of softwood. That section over the northern chamber has been badly mutilated and the present collar purlin is formed from a reused rafter. In contrast, that section over the great chamber survives complete. Both are of identical construction with soulaces and ashlar pieces to each rafter couple (Plate VII). The outer and inner wallplates over the eastern wall are set more closely together than over the west wall and as a result the ashlar pieces along this side of the roof are noticeably shorter than on the west. The southern crownpost within the great chamber survives, but that at the northern end has been rebuilt in modern times to its original design. Both had four- way headbracing in addition to two-way footbracing to the tiebeams. Studs rise within the partitions and are housed past the braces of the crownposts (in similar manner to those within the approximately contemporary great hall at Brede Place in Sussex). The southern crownpost (and doubtless the northern, too) incorporates a nib on its southern and northern faces. That on the northern face terminates at the springing of the northern headbrace − that to the south is continuous and had the brace morticed into it. The freestanding longitudinal braces are curved and of heavy, typically early 150 x 200 mm scantling. Likewise, at 180 mm x c.95 mm, the rafters are heavy. The great chamber incorporates projecting cornices against its inner wallplates, as too did the Great Hall (the latter evidenced by mortices) but no cornices were fitted within the lesser-status northern chamber.[pg46]
[fg]jpg|Plate VII Great Chamber roof looking south.|Image[/fg]
Period C (Mid/late-15th Century) (Figs 8-10)
A period of enlargement when the west range was extended northwards by the addition of a low timber-framed extension. The range was truncated on its western side during period D and almost certainly formerly extended westwards for an unknown distance. The continuously-jettied north wall is noticeably canted out of square, suggesting that it might have been aligned against a path leading to the west wall of the church (see Figs 9 and 10). Doorways intruded into the extreme northern end of the period-A west wall of the range suggest that the south wall of the new range was wrapped around the end of the earlier structure, perhaps in the form of a linking turret only. Apart from the intrusion of doorways linking the existing west range to the new extension, the only other modification which appears to have been made at this period was the insertion of a ceiling into the great chamber. For details of the doorways and ceiling see below.
Wall Design
The only period-C wall to survive is the first-floor section of the north wall, facing the west front of the church (Fig. 8). This is of standard timber-framed construction with a jowled post at its eastern end, against the west front of the church. The wall itself is of close studding, ruling out a date for the extension prior to the middle years of the 15th century.
Windows
Today the timber-framed north wall is dominated by a large central window, but this is secondary to the frame and was probably inserted during period D. Immediately to the west of this window survives the cill and chamfered surround to a period-C window which was truncated and blocked when the western part of the range was demolished and its west wall rebuilt in stone during period D.
Doorways
As part of the Period-C extension four new linking doorways were intruded. One, on the ground floor at the northern end of the Period-A west wall, is today very fragmentary. Above it, on the first floor is a second doorway and beside this, cut through the western end of the period-A north wall is a slightly larger doorway linking to the new northern chamber. The fourth door gives access from the chamber to the spiral staircase in the west wall of the church. All of those on the first floor are of stone and all have continuously-moulded double-hollow-chamfered jambs and two-centred heads.
Floors and Ceilings
Most of the first floor of the extension was destroyed in 1913/14 when the interior of the range was converted into a double-height outer hall, but that part carrying the jetty was retained to give a narrow first-floor gallery. The joists measure 210 x 120mm in scantling, confirming a pre-Dissolution date for the extension.[pg47]
[fg]png|Fig. 8 Period C Reconstruction Drawings. Longitudinal Section through northern end of the West Range, looking East.|Image[/fg]
It was during this period that a ceiling was inserted into the great chamber in order to modernize the room. Unfortunately, the ceiling was removed in c.1835, when part was removed to London. To quote Charles Baily writing in 1870:
This ceiling was of oak ribs, dividing the whole surface into panels, which were board- ed, and each panel was about four feet square, and was handsomely painted, with the Crown of Thorns surrounding the sacred monogram IHS. The crown was formed of three thorn branches plaited together, one was painted white with black spines, the other two were brown, edged and dotted with yellow. The sacred monogram was in red. The timber heads of the partitions [i.e. the period-B tiebeams] which enclose the room being cambered, shew us that the ceiling was slightly raised along the centre of the room’ [Archaeologia Cantiana, x, 1870, pp. 88-89].
The article includes an engraving of one of the panels.
Stairs and Chimneys
No known modifications.
Roof
The roof to the extension was entirely rebuilt in 1913/14, though earlier drawings show the general shape to have been retained. In order to form a convenient link between the roof of the new range and that of the earlier west range, the latter [pg48]was extended northwards to abut against the south face of the church turret. The 19th-century drawings currently within the house show the eastern wallplate of the new section of roof to have been supported from beneath by a heavy bracket, the wallplate being freestanding due to the offset location of the western wall of the aisle in relation to the east wall of the west range.
Period D (c.1540 and 17th century) (Figs 9-10 and Fig. 11)
When the monastic house was dissolved in 1536 it was first leased out and then granted in fee in April 1538. All but the western range − which was converted into a dwelling − was doubtless demolished soon afterwards.
Being already in use as the lodgings of the prior, it was an easy matter to convert the western range to secular domestic use. Although priors and abbots often continued the practice of first-floor living − as was the case at Horton − such an arrangement was not favoured for secular use. As a result, some modifications were undertaken to give suitable ground-floor rooms (Fig. 9). However, the layout was amply suited for modification, the room beneath the great chamber having been converted into a ground-floor hall and the ground-floor room to its north modified to form a parlour. The area beneath the monastic Great Hall was divided up, the northern part becoming an entrance area. The layout of the central part is uncertain, but probably functioned as service rooms, whilst the southern end was converted into a kitchen. The ground-floor layout thus formed was very typical of that found in purpose-built larger houses of the period. The arrangement at the southern end of the range was swept away during the alterations of c.1900 (and perhaps 1913/14 too) though they are described by Baily in his 1870 article. It is likely that the monastic first-floor Great Hall (see Fig. 10) was similarly divided up, but of this Baily is silent.
[fg]png|Fig 9 Period D Reconstruction Ground-Floor Plan.|Image[/fg]
[fg]png|Fig 10 Period D Reconstruction First-Floor Plan.|Image[/fg]
Either as part of these immediately post-Dissolution alterations, or sometime during the later 16th or 17th centuries the western end of the period-C timber- framed northern range was demolished and replaced by a new section of western wall. Additional chimneys were also inserted into the structure.
The height of the new period-D window serving the parlour chamber indicates that at this period the chamber was heightened by removing the upper floor.
Wall Design
The new wall built across the western end of the truncated period-C range is of rubble masonry and incorporates a projecting first-floor northern end supported on stone corbels. The ends of the horizontal timbers within timber-framed northern wall are built into the stone wall.
No other Period-D walls now survive, though that which divided the Period-D (assumed) service rooms (described in 1870 as a ‘parlour’) from the Period-D kitchen was described by Baily in 1870 as follows:
This kitchen is separated from the parlour by a timber partition, in which there are two doorways with arched heads; it is constructed with thick and thin planks of oak, framed together alternately, after the fashion of the time when the English throne was occupied by King Henry VI (Archaeologia Cantiana, x, p. 86).[pg49]
What is being described is a post-and-muntin screen which, it must be admitted, sounds more reminiscent of the late-medieval period than c.1540, though such a late date is by no means impossible.
Windows (See Fig. 11)
Within the west elevation the style of the window serving the Period-D parlour 50 chamber indicates that the earlier window within this wall was replaced at this date. The window is of two lights with depressed four-centred heads set beneath a square-headed hood moulding with returned stops. The spandrels are plain.
The engraving of the west front published in 1870 shows three now-destroyed two-light windows on the ground floor (Archaeologia Cantiana, x, p. 81). These were said by Baily to have been of 15th-century date, though given that the ground-floor was updated during Period D, the possibility of them having been intruded at this period cannot be ruled out. Even if their design was 15th century, it is possible that they were refixed from sections of the monastic buildings demolished at the Dissolution. This was certainly the case with the first-floor two- light window inserted into the new section of western wall serving the truncated northern chamber. The lights have two-centred cinquefoil heads which have been reused from a transomed window. There is no hood mould. The present modern window immediately beneath replaces an earlier opening, apparently of smaller proportions, but partly hidden from view in the c.1870 engraving.[pg51][pg52]
Doorways
It is possible that a timber doorway with depressed four-centred spandrel head refixed in 1913/14 towards the northern end of the ground-floor corridor represents one of the two doorways contained within the timber-framed partition mentioned in 1870 as dividing the kitchen from the next room north. In addition to these two lost internal doorways, Baily states that:
The ways into the present house thus formed [out of the monastic west range] are by doorways of late Gothic forms on the east and west sides of the central compart- ment’ [ie the entrance hall to the south of the period-D ground-floor hall].
Thus, the entrance hall functioned as a traditional cross passage at the lower end of the new hall. Both doorways have since been destroyed and there are no clear illustrations of the doorway in the eastern wall. However, that in the western wall is illustrated in the c.1870 engraving as having a semi-elliptical arched head with continuously-moulded jambs, all typical of the mid-16th century (see Fig. 11).
[fg]png|Fig. 11 Period D Reconstruction West Elevation.|Image[/fg]
Floors and Ceilings
As noted, the upper floor over the old prior’s chamber (at this date made into the parlour chamber) was removed in order to heighten the room. In addition, the floors over the new hall and parlour were removed and replaced, presumably in order to upgrade them to a form befitting the ceilings within rooms of quality. Both floors are of central-girder construction with bearers against the walls, and each is framed as a single bay. Being long for a single bay, the ceiling over the new hall is subdivided into two sections on the west of the girder and three on the east. The sub-division is achieved by incorporating heavier-scantling king joists, those on the east being located in order to flank the hearth of the first-floor fireplace. Within the hall the girder, king joists and common joists are hollow-chamfered-and-cyma moulded, whereas over the parlour the joists are double-cyma moulded, but the central girder is merely stop chamfered. The common joists within both rooms are closely spaced and measure 160-170mm wide − typical of the mid-16th century.
Baily mentions that in 1870 the kitchen (at the extreme southern end of the range) retained its timbered ceiling, but whether this dated from period D, or survived from an earlier period is unknown. The floors at this end of the building were swept away either during the c.1900 or 1913/14 alterations.
[pg53]
Stairs
Baily notes that in 1870 the entrance hall (cross passage) contained ‘... a staircase, somewhat in the style of those in use in the time of King James I’. From its location, this was indeed likely to have represented a 17th-century insertion, but where the mid-16th-century stairs were located is not known.
Chimneys
Of the chimneys inserted during period D, only that incorporated into the new western wall of the period-C extension survived the late19th- and early 20th- century alterations. It is of one flue with its projecting western face carried upon a corbel table. The upper parts are of brick, dressed in stone. Its fireplace, serving the northern chamber, is today blocked, but is plain with a heavy flat stone lintel.
Roof
No known Period-D alterations.
Acknowledgements
The authors carried out the interpretative survey into the upstanding remains of Horton Priory in December 1997 as part of their employment with Archaeology South-East, Institute of Archaeology, University College London, who were commissioned to undertake the work by Mr and Mrs Bonsall.[pg54]