Ashburnham House - The Staircase, ca.1882

From: Henry Dixon & Son

RA Collection: Art

"The Staircase, the most remarkable feature of the house, has always been deservedly admired for the ingenuity of its plan and the beauty of its design. It is surmounted, as Batty Langley states, by way of an oval dome and lantern. Sir John Soane had some very large drawings made of the Staircase, in illustration of his lectures at the Royal Academy. In more than one passage of these lectures he speaks in terms of high praise of the Staircase. The drawings and manuscript lectures are preserved in the Soane Museum. There are also in the Library of the Royal Institute of British Architects carefully measured drawings of this Staircase, and engravings of it are given in Britton and Pugin's Public Buildings of London . Those of Ware and Batty Langley have already been mentioned." [see 06/245]

The above description, by Alfred Marks, was taken from the letterpress which accompanies the photographs.