The most significant of Gaunt's buildings is his great hall. The great hall replaced an earlier sequence of great halls on the same site, and was strongly influenced by Edward III's design at Windsor Castle.[16] The hall consists of a "ceremonial sequence of rooms", approached by a particularly grand staircase, now lost.[17] From the great hall, visitors could look out through huge windows to admire the Great Mere or the inner court.[18] The undercroft to the hall, used by the service staff, was lit with slits, similar to design at the contemporary Wingfield Manor.[4] The roof was built in 1376 by William Wintringham, producing the widest hall, unsupported by pillars, existing in England at the time.[19] There is some debate amongst historians as to whether this roof was a hammerbeam design, a collar and truss-brace design, or a combination of the two.[19][lower-alpha 2]