[3] Rhodes's Peak Scenery, Part iv. p. 4.--One of the oldest
of these structures at present in the kingdom, is Moreton
Hall in Cheshire, which, though a highly-ornamented
building, is entirely composed of wood, and was erected at
a time before stone was generally used even for the lower
apartments. The earliest date about this ancient remain is
1559.

[4] Hist. Middle Ages, vol. iii., p. 420.

The "Hall" before us may but ill accord with the present idea of one
of these ancient residences; but, to explain away this error, it may
be necessary to show in what respects the earliest "halls" (of which
but few specimens are extant,) differed from those which remain in
considerable numbers, to this day. A passage to this point will be
found in Mr. Hallam's valuable work. "It is," observes this able
historical writer, "an error to suppose that the English gentry were
lodged in stately or even in well-sized houses. Generally speaking,
their dwellings were almost as inferior to those of their descendants
in capacity as they were in convenience. The usual arrangement
consisted of an entrance-passage running through the house, with a
hall on one side, a parlour beyond, and one or two chambers above, and
on the opposite side, a kitchen, pantry, and other offices."[5] Such
was the ordinary manor-house of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries,
as appears not only from the documents and engravings, but as to the
latter period from the buildings themselves, sometimes, though not
very frequently, occupied by families of consideration, more often
converted into farm-houses, or distinct tenements. Larger structures
were erected by men of great estates, during the reigns of Henry VI.