Late Georgian Staircases 1765-1811

The plan of the standard town house allowed for little change in the position or structure of the staircase stair parts baluster spindles and Newel Posts during this period.  The greatest development is in the from of balusters spindles and newel posts.  Finials, Wood continues to be the chief material used and almost all staircases are now open-string, with a stepped profile rather than a straight one.  The barley twist balusters spindles of the earlier Georgian period go out of fashion after 1760, replaced by simple tapering uprights, carved and turned for a circular profile and planed for a square profile.  The handrail is flatter and finishes in a smooth turned circle of wood; this tops a simple carved newel post.  Tread-ends are similarly restrained and have often no more than a plain curve as decoration.  Most staircases were fir or pine, painted in flat drab; the grandest were polished oak or mahogany.

Carved Balustrading Panels comes more popular in the middle of the century.  Acanthus leaves, wreaths and Greek key patterns abound.  Stone staircases are found only in grand town houses.  Both William Chambers and Robert Adam designed dramatic imperial staircases, which rise in a single cantilever flight from the entrance hall to a hall landing, then divide into a double sweep.

Area steps, leading from the street to the basement, were adopted in many new town houses, providing ready access for tradesmen and services.

Regency and Early 19th Century Staircases 1811-1837

The staircase continued to be one of the great indicators of status in a British house.  The construction, workmanship and materials conformed to a precise scale of values.  In the grandest houses the main flights of the staircase would be built of oak or mahogany, cantilevered from the wall, with steps defined by a bold moulding or “nose” and the stair-ends either plain or ornamented with a carved detail. Stone stairs were provided with a graceful mahogany handrail, spindles balusters  By this date wrought iron and steel stair baluster were largely superseded by a great variety of cast-iron elements.  Pattern books make it clear that classical motifs were most highly regarded. 

The stairs of more modest houses (and the upper flights and secondary staircases of better houses) were of wood, similar to the austerely elegant type of the latter part of the 18th century.  Generally of “open-string” construction, these have a   stair parts handrail, baluster spindles and newel posts finials usually of mahogany, handrail which flows sinuously from top to bottom.  The plain balusters are placed two to a step.  Ornamentation is usually confined to simple carved mouldings below the nosing and to turned detailing on the newel posts, which take the form of attenuated columns.  All the parts except the handrail were pained in dull tones or in a wood-grain finish.  A plain, narrow drugget was usually nailed to the steps.

Federal & Empire Staircases 1780-1850

Straight, quarter-turn and dog-leg staircases were the common form in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.  The pattern books of William Pain and others introduced carved located in the curvilinear or polygonal projections of houses.  In Neo-classical architecture the staircase was a significant feature of the entrance floor, whereas in Classical Revival houses it was considered a waste of space and was less prominently displayed.

In most houses simple turned or square balusters supported a thin handrail; newels could be twisted or attenuated columns or tapering square posts.  The motifs decorating the stair-ends were plainer than those of the Colonial period.  In grander houses the balustrade would be mahogany or, less usually, staircases which would be in attenuated Neo-classical form.  There are rare instances of cantilevered stairs.

Balusters spindles are carved mainly in the classic column style in Grand Greek Revival houses occasionally had double staircases or generously proportioned single stairs with stair parts in Mahogany or oak which rose from the entrance hall and were crowned by domes or skylights.  Separate servant’s stairs led to the upper floors.  Detailing generally was well-crafted but heavier: stair parts turned or tapered balusters spindles and handrails were thicker and newels were heavily turned or decorated with carved acanthus leaf scrolls.

British Victorian Staircases 1837-1901

Victorian terraced/row houses usually have “dog-leg” staircases because they were inexpensive to construct and economical on space.  They are generally made from a softwood, such as pine, and in early-Victorian houses frequently have plain square-sectioned stick baluster spindles  As the period progresses, increasingly elaborate turned carved balusters spindles and newel posts appear.  These were mass-produced and were readily available from builder’s merchants, together with broad mahogany or oak moulded handrails.

The edges of stair treads and risers were often painted, stained, or grained and varnished to resemble oak.  A strip of carpet was used as a runner up the middle of the stairs, and was held in place by brass or sometimes wooden rods.  The carpet was moved up or down a couple of inches at each spring cleaning so that the wear was even.  The backstairs and those in modest households would often be covered in floor cloth or linoleum with polished brass protective nosings to the treads.

In large houses the staircase will often be “open well”.  Such stairs may by made from stone or marble with intricately worked oak or mahogany  balustrades balusters spindles newel posts and finials and a polished mahogany handrail. By the late 19th century there was a large range of designs for balustrade panels, baluster spindles newel posts and finials  carvings and turnings to choose from .  Stair treads are usually cantilevered, and if carpet was used  stair rods were fitted.