Ground-Rules of Welsh Houses: A Primary Analysis

Abstract

In 1670 Sir Henry Wotton's advice upon architectural design and practice was republished, the work being retitled The Ground-Rules of Architecture. Unusual though it may sound to us, the term ‘ground rule’ was to Wotton a normal expression which had been common parlance amongst building craftsmen for centuries. John Shute had ako used it in his title to a similar treatise some 107 years prior to the new publication. The expression must, therefore, have derived from an architectural era which antedated the Renaissance to which these two authors were making their literary contributions.