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Soulton Before The TudorsThe Wonderful Tudor World of the Lodges and the Hills

The 9 Grid and Soulton Hall

By 15 May 2024September 16th, 2024No Comments

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What follows in this blog is an outline of commercial consultancy undertaken for the Ashton family at Soulton Hall by BYRGA GENIHT Ltd.

The content below references the intellectual property of James D. Wenn. 

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What is a 9 Grid?

A 9 grid is a square that is divided into three rows and three columns of smaller squares.

A nine grid

A nine grid

This creates a total of nine smaller squares within the larger square.

It is what you play noughts and crosses within.

The 9 Grid at Soulton Hall: A Ubiquitous Pattern

The 9 grid motif is a recurring theme throughout the architecture and design of Soulton Hall. This geometric pattern can be observed at both macro and micro levels: from the grand scale of the building’s layout to the intricate details of its decorative elements.

Here are some examples:

Lamp Finials: The lamp finials on the post 1668 the roof line of Soulton Hall feature a 9 grid design, which you can see in the edge where there is an egg-and-dart pattern.

One of the oil lamp finials on the four corners of the cube of Soulton Hall

One of the oil lamp finials on the four corners of the cube of Soulton Hall

East and West Faces of the Cube of the current hall: The cube-shaped structure of Soulton Hall shows the 9 grid pattern on its east (most important) and west faces. This creates a visually striking and symmetrical effect.

Soulton Hall in the snow- we see a reb brick cube of a Tudoe building

The East front of Soulton Hall, the senior and only truly symetrical, face of the hall. Notice it is a square divided into a 3×3 grid of nine ‘squares’.

Dance Pavement: The dance pavement within the hall’s grounds incorporates the 9 grid pattern into its design.

a dark red cushion with the Soulton Hall dance pattern on it in gold

An embroidered chshion showing the pattern of The Dance Pavement at Soulton Hall.

Division of the Precincts: When viewed from above, the layout of the Soulton Hall Precinct reveals a 9 grid pattern in the division of its various courts. This is explained in the Lecture The Art of the Ever True, Revisited | Remembering Erkenwald at Soulton, at 1hr 10 mins.

Screeen shot of a lecture

Screen shot of a lecture The Art of the Ever True, Revisited | Remembering Erkenwald at Soulton

There is an obvious and deliberate and planned and repeated approach to the overall design, with this division of both squares and cubes.

It is holding a significant meaning or symbolism.

What is that? Well, to unock it we will nee to know some of what Plato says.

Plato’s ‘Timaeus’

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Your attention is called to the Lecture The Art of the Ever True, Revisited | Remembering Erkenwald at Soulton to see this set out in proper detail. 

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Plato’s Timaeus is a philosophical dialogue that explores the nature of the universe and its creation.

Plato

Plato

In the dialogue, Plato proposes a theory of the elements, which he associates with the five Platonic solids; he suggests that:

  • the tetrahedron represents fire,
  • the cube represents earth,
  • the octahedron represents air,
  • the icosahedron represents water,
  • and the dodecahedron represents the cosmos itself.
Plato believed that the dodecahedron was the most perfect of the Platonic solids, and that it represented the harmonious and orderly nature of the universe.
He argued that the dodecahedron was the shape of the cosmos.
But what kind of dodecahedron?
For reasons set out by James D. Wenn the view that is to be prefered is that it was a rhombic dodecahedron, which has very profound mathematical properties. Please note that a rhombic dodecahedron can be considered a Platonic solid in 4-dimensional space.
If you are wanting help to understand the form of this shape, we can build one easily in your mind.
The rhombic dodecahedron can be constructed from a cube by cleaving it from a point at its center that runs to ach corner.  This will give us 6 square-base pyramids of half the hight of the cube. If we then turn the resulting six square-based pyramids out on the face of an identical cube, we will have made the shape (incidentaly from another Platonic solid).
This very helpful video will be useful to you in understanding that.

…so what does this have to do with 9 grids?

Well, if you imagine a cube, you can cut parts of it away very simply, and you will be left wit this important shape.

Imagine three square beams, each the same size, intersecting at right angles. One beam runs vertically, another horizontally, and the third extends forward and backward. Think of them as a three-dimensional cookie cutter.

Now, imagine cutting away the portions of a cube that don’t pass through these beams. What remains is a hollow space shaped like a rhombic dodecahedron.

This visualization helps to understand the geometric relationship between the square beams and the rhombic dodecahedron. It’s like creating a unique shape by intersecting three simple elements.

If that sounds complicated it is shown in the video below at 20 seconds in.

The 9 grid motif and the cube structure of Soulton Hall, as well as the way the galleries allow sunlight to pass through the building, are not merely aesthetic choices.

They are deliberate design elements intended to convey philosophical meanings and draw attention to the rhombic dodecahedron.

In this way, the building provides yet another “sermon in stones,” using its architecture to communicate profound ideas about life, the universe, and our place within it.