Do you use the word “hall,” “hallway,” or something else to describe the connecting space between rooms?

When it comes to Regency-era manor houses, the terms used are a bit different than what we now use, so even if the words sound less than natural to our modern ears, it’s important to know the right words our storybook heroes and heroines would have used (and what they emphatically would not have used).

Let’s first address the elephant in the room, and then we can break down the terms: “hallway” or “hall” was NOT used in this era to describe the connecting space between rooms. The term "hallway" didn't exist, and "hall" meant something quite different, not a shortened version of "hallway." Our heroines never tripped blithely down the hallway to their bedchambers, for example. “Passage” is the correct usage. For example, “The heroine ran crying down the bedchamber passage.” Never, ever “hall” or “hallway.”

Hall

• This term was used in the 18^th and early 19^th century to refer to the main entrance of the house (no matter how grand or modest).

• In smaller houses, this was the area immediately inside the door.

• Example: He crossed the hall to the drawing room. The butler waited in the hall to greet the guests.

• Note: This was not a hallway or passageway, but an entrance space, possibly even a large room, such as the Great Hall in a castle (used as the grand entrance and for dining, typically)

Hallway

• This is a late 19^th century term used in American English, popularized between 1875-1880. Brief appearances do occur prior, such as an 1855 usage in Lady’s Newspaper.

• This term would not have been said during the Regency era and certainly not in England.

Passage or Passageway

• This is the term used for what modern reader might think of as being a “hallway,” but this is the period-authentic term used.

• Most rooms connected one to the other without any sort of passage, or modern “hallway.” Even for bedchambers, the rooms might have led off of the long gallery rather than any sort of “hallway.” Our concept of a “hallway” wasn’t architecturally a thing. But in the instances when there might have been a long connecting space like a modern “hallway,” it would be called a “passage” or “passageway.”

• Example: She hurried along the passage leading to the guest chambers. She slipped along the bedchamber passage.

Corridor

• This was in use by the 17^th century, but it had a specific usage during the Regency era. It did not refer to an everyday passage, rather it was specific to military and academic settings, and in some cases used as a technical or architectural term in a grand house.

• It would be appropriate as the connecting passage between parts of a house, especially with new additions not original to the house (and so a corridor would need to be added to connect the two sections of the house—old to new).

• Example: His footsteps echoed down the corridor that led to the state apartments.

Gallery

• This is a long connecting space, typically used for hanging portraits or stretching across the length of a grand home with feature windows to enjoy the views and host events during rainy days or foul weather. It is often wide and elegant, but could be narrow, depending on the build.

• Could have different names, depending on its usage, such as the long gallery, the minstrel gallery, the portrait gallery, etc.

• Example: They strolled through the portrait gallery.