A first-floor hall with external staircase set over an arcade is representative
of a solar, or possibly, a French-style hall as introduced in the time of Edward
the Confessor. The existence of such halls pre-dating Edward's time is made
evident by the story of Saint Dunstan's escape from a similarly described hall.
At a council in Calne, Wiltshire, when the chief councillors of state were assembled
on the upper floor of the building, St. Dunstan said: "Since in my old
age you exert yourselves to the stirring up of old quarrels, I confess that
I refuse to give in, but commit the cause of His Church to Christ the Judge."
As he spoke the house was suddenly shaken; the floor of the upper room in which
they were assembled collapsed, and the enemies of the Church were crushed by
the falling timber. Only the beam, on which Archbishop Dunstan, was sitting held
firm.
The palace of King Olaf as described by Snorri Sturluson, although written at
a later date, gives a good idea of such a hall. In Olaf's palace, the great
heated room, with doors at either end was where the king sat with his chief
officers on either side and opposite, all drinking their ale by the light of
the flickering fire. The company were arranged longitudinally down the building
with the king in the middle.