In examining the outside of Offerton Hall, the first thing to be noticed is a small projection from the back or western side. It is a quadrangular tower, and contains the stairs which supply the two upper floors of the building. As will be imagined from the outer appearance, the stairs are not spiral, but go in short, straight flights, with proper landings. The steps are of stone; first, six steps and then a landing; in nine more steps you get to the first floor; after this, six steps and a landing, then, the uppermost floor or garret. The staircase is really a detached room, and you can only get into it by opening a door. Taking the word in its etymological meaning, a staircase is a “case” which holds a “stair” or ladder. In some old Lincolnshire houses the “stair” is in fact a ladder inside a little closet, like a voting compartment, in a corner of one of the rooms. At Garner House, about a mile from Offerton, the winding stair, now of wood, but formerly of stone, is in a round turret at the back of the house; half of the turret is visible outside, the other half is concealed in the wall. Offerton Hall is one of those buildings which have escaped the practical joke of “restoration.” It consists of a “house-place” or large central room, with a projecting wing on either side—a form which was very common in the seventeenth century. In the angle formed by the “house-place” and the southern wing is a yellow-washed stone porch, about two feet deep. Just above the entrance to the porch is a tiny window, with diamond panes and angular top. Below, in an incised panel, the letters M.G. are carved, and, just beneath those letters, R.G. 1658. Although the plan of the house is consistent throughout, it was not all built at the same time, and the two pairs of initials may represent two different owners or builders. Ralph Glossop, of Offerton, appears in the Hope Easter Roll for this very year 1658, and also Edward Glossop, of the same place.[62] A list of the freeholders of Derbyshire made in 1633[63] shows that Ralph Glossop was the only freeholder at Offerton in that year. According to Hunter’s large _Pedigree Book_, printed by the Harleian Society, Ralph Glossop, of Offerton, married Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Jeremy Ward, of Ashop, in Derbyshire.[64] This Ralph Glossop is not, like his neighbour Thomas Eyre, of Highlow, described in the list of freeholders as an esquire, and accordingly Offerton Hall would seem to have been the residence of a substantial yeoman. [62] _Derbyshire Archæological Journal_, vol. xi., p. 21. [63] _Op. cit._, vol. vi., p. 7. [64] _Familiæ Minorum Gentium_, 647.