With the eighteenth century the treatment of staircases grew more dainty. The handrail, newels, and balusters lessened in size; the outer string disappeared, and the balusters rested on the ends of the steps themselves. The whole effect became lighter. In Austin Friars, London, there was a house of the date of 1704 (now destroyed) which had a fine staircase, illustrated in Fig. 212, where these changes are apparent. It will be seen also that the handrail is ramped, that is, curved upwards at each turn in the staircase in order to attain the proper level for being mitred round the top of the newel. In earlier work, it would have been carried in a straight line till it stopped against the newel, but as the newels are here twisted, there is no plain surface to receive it, and accordingly ramping becomes a necessity. The twisting of the balusters was a common device, more common than that of twisting the newels. [Illustration: 211. Staircase from Sudbury Hall, Derbyshire.] [Illustration: 212. Staircase from a House in Austin Friars, London, 1704. (Now destroyed.)] Occasionally the treads and risers were themselves ornamented, the treads being inlaid with various patterns, and the risers being panelled. There is a fine example of this treatment at the Hall at Glastonbury in Somerset,[5] of the date of 1726 (Fig. 213). The inlay is of mahogany and a light wood let into the oak of the treads. The first quarter-landing contains a panel with a monogram and date. It is obvious that no carpets were contemplated for such staircases as these. The newels and balusters in this instance are slightly carved as well as turned; and the bracket at the end of each step is also carved, thus helping considerably towards the general richness of effect. Later in the eighteenth century skill in the construction of staircases developed still further. It seems a comparatively simple matter to build one in short straight flights with a stout string to carry the steps at either end of them. It is rather less simple to cut away the outer string so as to let the ends of the steps project as in Figs. 212 and 213; the difficulty, however, is minimised by keeping the flights straight. But it required greater skill, both in setting out and in construction, to depart from straight flights altogether, and to contrive a staircase in one continuous elliptical sweep from floor to floor. One of the earliest examples of this method of design, of about 1700, is at Drayton House in Northamptonshire, but it became quite fashionable in the middle of the eighteenth century, and many specimens still survive in large houses in the Bloomsbury district of London, some in stone and some in wood. [Illustration: 213. Staircase at the Hall, Glastonbury, Somerset (1726). The dated inlaid panel is seen in the plan in the centre of the square landing at the top of the first flight.] [Illustration: 214. Staircase in Baddow House, Essex.]