One of the most important features of the house is its superbly carved staircase of elm and oak, which rises from the ground floor to the top of the house.  The sturdy, simply moulded oak handrail is supported by square oak newel posts carrying urns overflowing with carved fruits and flowers.  One the base of each newel post is a Tudor Rose.  The balustrade is filled by magnificently carved and pierced panels of acanthus design, popular at the Restoration.  All this very rich carving was smothered under many coats of paint which in the restoration was laboriously stripped off, and the woodwork sealed and polished.

The flight of stairs from basement to ground floor level is not part of the grand staircase.  In the restoration of the 1958/9 period, the opportunity was taken to replace the old and worn dark stairs with a new hardwood staircase.

At first floor level, the staircase is separated from he landing by twisted balusters surmounted by an arcading which has been continued on one wall of the landing.  The staircase carving reached its climax in a wonderfully exuberant panel on the top floor.  An unusual feature in the days when fine staircases usually gave way to less elaborate and utilitarian access to servants' quarters and nurseries.  This may indicate that the staircase was imported from elsewhere, a theory supported by the variation in the way the floor and ceiling levels are incorporated round the stair-well.

Guildford House Gallery
155 High Street
Guildford
Surrey
GU1 3AJ

Tel: 01483 444740
Fax: 01483 444742
Email: guildfordhouse@guildford.gov.uk