The Elizabethan Style The Elizabethan style prevailed during the
reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England. Renaissance motifs were
mixed with Flemish decorative work, such as strapwork, and late-
Gothic mullioned and transomed windows. The Elizabethan style is
more symmetrical than earlier architecture. Elizabethan mansions
usually had numerous towers, gables, parapets, balustrades, and
chimneystacks. Pavillions, gardens, fountains, and terraces were
also popular. Corsham Court was built in 1582 for a merchant
Thomas Smythe who became part of the gentry. The windows and
gables at Corsham Court are characteristic of Tudor
architecture, while the columns around the entrance are more
classical in style. Longleat House of Wiltshire was built on the
site of a medieval priory a few miles from Lacock Abbey. The
owner Sir John Thynne, once a kitchen clerk, was knighted in
1547. When it was rebuilt after a fire in 1567 Longleat was
constructed in the newly popular Italian style and had over 300
windows. The builder was pr