Further to my previous inquiry about the plaster arch in the tall thin
hall, here is a pic of the plaster arch that I was thinking of
removing.
Someone mentioned that it might be structural - how might I tell?
It's solid and has a crack on the left where it has shifted down
around half a centimetre with movement of the building. You can see
the bonding on the right where the corbel used to be, and on the left
where the corbel has gone but also part of the arch.
The cheapest and easiest thing I could think of was to saw off the
arch on the left to match the level on the right, and just make it
good, but it will be virtually half an arch by then so might just look
silly, plus there is the issue of the crack in the arch.
As to whether it is structural, up and to the right you can see the
first floor landing which runs alongside the front bedroom wall -
directly up and behind the arch is the winder staircase to the second
floor (going round to the left). Both walls to the sides of the arch
are structural. I'm guessing its not structural because the bottom
rail of the balustrade you can just about see in the pic is mounted on
a long wooden beam or something - maybe this goes right across with
the arch underneath it?

Here is a pic - any advice gratefully received!

http://tinyurl.com/3yqhnj