Any one unable to visit the actual building and desirous of getting an idea of their peculiar charm, aye and the splendour, of these fine old halls of Cheshire, would be well-advised to turn to that artist’s views of Bramall, of Adlington, and of Moreton, which constitute a trio of half-timbered treasures not perhaps surpassed by any buildings of their kind in any other county, or indeed country. By right of seniority, as well as by reason of uniqueness, Baguley or Baggily Hall, in the neighbourhood of Stockport, claims first consideration. In Parker’s _Domestic Architecture_, remarking upon the difficulty of finding timber houses of the fourteenth century, Baggily is referred to as a “rare example.” [Illustration: BAGGILY HALL: SECTIONS THRO’ LARGE HALL SECTION SHEWING KITCHEN END SECTION SHEWING SPERE OF SCREEN. ] [Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE HALL: BAGGILY HALL, CHESHIRE.] On this account and because of its intrinsic interest, it is now illustrated by two sectional views and by a sketch of the interior showing the purely Gothic spirit of its open-timbered roof, and giving an idea of the massiveness of its oakwork. There being but few surviving specimens for the purposes of further illustrating the period between the reign of Edward III., when Baggily was built, and that of Elizabeth, certain almshouses from Commonhall Lane, Chester, dating from about the time of Henry VII., may with advantage be here adduced. Unfortunately they are no longer standing, but, before they were pulled down some forty years ago, drawings were made which have rendered possible their reconstruction by means of this sketch; and by the reproduction of the window details to show the distinctive character of this earlier type of timber work. [Illustration: ALMS HOUSES: COMMONHALL LANE, CHESTER, PULLED DOWN ABOUT 1870. ] [Illustration: ALMS HOUSES: COMMONHALL LANE: CHESTER PULLED DOWN ABOUT 1870. ] It is on reaching the spacious times of Queen Elizabeth that there is no longer any paucity but a positive profusion, and there ensues an _embarras de choix_ in the examples available. Her reign and that of her immediate successors constituted what may perhaps be called the classic era of half-timbered architecture. A period of not much more than a hundred years sufficed for the style to attain its zenith and reach its decline and passing in the seventeenth century.