Ionic order that the Doric column had its initial basis in the proportions of the male body, while Ionic columns took on a "slenderness" inspired by the female body. Though he does not name his source for such a self-conscious and "literary" approach, it must be in traditions passed on from Hellenistic architects, such as Hermogenes of Priene, the architect of a famed temple of Artemis at Magnesia on the Meander in Lydia (now Turkey). Renaissance architectural theorists took his hints, to interpret the Ionic order as matronly in comparison to the Doric order, though not as wholly feminine as the Corinthian
Lostock Hall Gatehouse demolished in 1824. The gatehouse, a Grade II* listed building, is all that now remains of the hall. The main front is of ashlar and the other three sides are covered with thin coursed rubble. The central arch was originally open, which a man could ride through, is now built up with a doorway. Originally there were no windows on the ground floor, but two sash windows have been introduced between the Tuscan columns, one on each side of the door. The upper floor windows are flanked by pairs of widely spaced Ionic and Corinthian columns. Above the first-floor window