There is something close to unique about the ancient stone windows of Old Sir Rowland’s house at Soulton.
Instead of a simple right-angle intersection, the stone mullions meet with a distinctive small square block (where they have not been disturbed by later changes).
Window in Soulton Hall with the block intersections (it has a quotation from A Midsummer Night’s Dream showing next to it)
This detail goes beyond aesthetics and hints at a connection to geometrical harmony.
Why?
Imagine three tilted square beams of light intersecting like this:
- one is traveling up and down
- another is traveling left and right
- another is traveling backwards and forwards.
When arranged in a specific way, these beams can form a shape known as a rhombic dodecahedron. This geometric solid, with its twelve diamond-shaped faces, was apparently very important to Sir Rowland.
This animation may help:
We said nearly unique. There is one other person who did this: Thomas Tresham. He did the same thing, but at Liveden where he did this he used the later fashion of ovolo molding. Ovolo moldings are convex, resembling a quarter egg in profile. At Soulton Hill used the older, simpler champhered style.
Tresham was notoriously interested in codes in buildings. He was clearly carrying on traditions and ideas expressed by Sir Rowland Hill.
These matters were first identifided in modern times by James D. Wenn and are explained in detail in the lecture below:
