Summer 2007, literally inches below the surface, the turf disturbed by a farm tractor revealed sections of stonework, these turned out to be the base walls to the Bay Window! Naturally I had to investigate, and as I revealed small sections of masonry, it was addictive to discover more!

Schematic View of the Bay

The pictures above and below are 3-D concepts of the Bay Window, huge by everyday housing standards, a modern studio flat would fit inside the dining room area! The bay was constructed of limestone, to match the earlier extension to which it was attached, however the feature pieces of stonework; jambs, cills, heads and coping were all made from sandstone., hence the different colouring in the two pictures. The windows were traditonal of sash construction and pieces of window ironmongery found on site during the excavations indicate a double pulley system was used. Given the full height of the windows this is not surprising, when you consider the weight of a fully glazed sash.

Three Sash Windows, placed at the front of the Bay

Length of Sandstone Window Jamb

Excavating the area was very beneficial as the finds discovered revealed the masonry used to construct the bay. The photograph above is of a piece of one of the window jambs, the piece in view has the elevation presented on face, the moulding would have been at the wall side of the jamb. The width of the face is indented by a step of roughly one quarter of an inch deep in the centre, to give definition to the window surround.

Corner Junction ~ Bay to South Wall

The stonework in the corner of the bay was disturbed, which seemed curious, until I discovered that beneath the paving [Original ground level] was a small rectangular box drain. It is probable that the corner had a lead drain pipe, which was salvaged during demolition. Thus the stonework was disturbed to remove it.

Mason's Mark on a Stone

The header picture shows a stone at the extreme right which was out of line with the rest of the course, obviously dislodged during demolition, but never removed as all the mortar was still intact, on inspection on the lower face was the inscription I V, presumably a mark put ther by the mason... his initials perhaps!

Corner Stone from the Foundations

The corner stone was set up with the stone above in the manner in which they were originally constructed, to measure the courses and review the top chamfer, a design feature of the plinth course around the whole centre section of the hall.

Plinth Stonework above Paving

Plinth Stonework above Paving

Schematic View of the Stone Surround to the Sash window