It is true that there is a court at Montacute, but it is enclosed by an open balustrade and not by solid buildings; it is there for delight and not for defence, and everything in the planning shows that the builder considered he could occupy his house in security. [Illustration: 48.--MONTACUTE HOUSE, SOMERSET. WEST FRONT, WITH COURT AND GARDEN-HOUSES (1580).] On the top floor, over the hall and running from end to end of the building, is the gallery; it is lighted at each end and down so much of the side as is not blocked by the wings of the house, which of course it cuts off from the staircases and the other rooms. The treatment of the elevations is as symmetrical as that of the plan (Fig. 48). The area of window space is in excess of that of wall space, the strings are of some depth and of classic profile, and the whole appearance contrasts strongly with that of Hengrave. Along the topmost floor in the spaces between the windows are eight statues, which, with a ninth in the central gable, are said to represent those Nine Worthies whom Holofernes and his companions tried to represent in a more dramatic manner before the Princess of France and her lively attendants. [Illustration: PLATE XX. MONTACUTE HOUSE, SOMERSET. PART OF ENTRANCE FRONT SEEN FROM WING.] It has already been observed that the plan of Montacute is shaped roughly like the letter =H=. This type of plan is very frequent, and is the same in its essence as the [sideways letter] =E= plan, of which many writers have made more than is needful. The [sideways letter] =E= plan is in fact the same as the =H= with the side strokes curtailed. To make a just comparison, either the centre stroke of the [sideways letter] =E= should be omitted or it should be added to the cross of the =H,= inasmuch as it represents the projecting porch, which was present equally in each arrangement. The fact that the [sideways letter] =E= plan resembles the first letter of Elizabeth is probably a coincidence merely, and not a compliment to the queen. At the same time it would have been quite in accordance with the spirit of the time to have taken such a way of expressing loyalty, only in that case we should have expected to find fewer plans of the =H= variety, and more of the other; but as a matter of fact there are few, if any, houses with a perfectly straight front such as the back of the [sideways letter] =E= demands. [Illustration: 49.--BARLBOROUGH HALL, DERBYSHIRE. PLAN OF PRINCIPAL FLOOR (1583).]