caithness-1911/05_197

Transcription

[Page] 114 HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION.

PARISH OF THURSO.

May 1597 being 70." In the centre of the slab is a shield bearing
impaled arms, - the dexter obliterated; sinister, a cross engrailed.
Surmounting the shield has been the motto VIVAT POST FUNERA
VIRTUS.

421. On the W. side of the S. transept, close to the S. window, a
slab much effaced, built into the wall, marks the burial-place of James
Sinclair of Borlum, his wife Elizabeth Innes, and his eldest son.
The inscriptions on both the above tombs are given at length in
Henderson's Caithness Family History, pp. 303 and 255.

422. Chapel, Brims. - About 140 yards N. of the tower of Brims
are the remains of a mortuary chapel or mausoleum. It measures over
all 28' x 24', with walls 3' in thickness. The entrance is from the E.
and by a square-headed doorway, with a bead-and-hollow moulding
on jambs and lintel. The interior is vaulted, and is lighted by a small
square aperture in the W. wall. It is a structure of late date.
O.S.M., CAITH., iv. Visited, 8th August 1910.

423. Chapel, Thurso. - Along the Victoria Walk and about 1/2 m.
W. of Thurso, are the remains of a chapel. The gables have been
reduced to the level of the side walls, the doors and windows
built up, and the interior used as a burial-place. It measures over
all 44' 3" x 19' 8". In the S. wall have been two round-headed
windows with continuous bead-and-hollow mouldings, measuring 2'
x 3' 8", and a larger window has occupied the centre of the E. gable.
O.S.M., CAITH., v. Visited, 21st September 1910.

CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC STRUCTURES.

424. Brims Castle. - This castle is situated on the top of the
rocks on the W. side of the Brims Burn where it flows into the sea,
and is now occupied as part of a farm-house. The keep is a small
rectangular building, measuring over all 23' x 17' 6", with a tower
10' 6" square, containing a newel stair projecting northwards at the
NE. angle. The entrance doorway is in this tower at the first floor
level where the stair to the second floor and attic floor begins. The
thickness of the walls of the keep at the basement is 4' 6". The
keep or main building is two storeys in height and contains a single
room on each floor. It is finished with a span roof and crow-stepped
gables. At the point of junction of the stair tower with the main
building on the E. is a small rounded turret supported on continuous
mouldings, finished with an upper ornamented band of chequers and
overlooking the position of the original entrance. The usual narrow
staircase in the thickness of the wall at the SE. angle has connected
the basement with the hall above, and a hatchway existed in the
hall floor, measuring about 3' 6" x 2' 6", through the vaulted
basement.
To the northward of the tower is a small courtyard with buildings
on the N. side, and a probable kitchen of later date than the keep,
about 14' 6" x 8' 8", filling up the space between the tower and the
keep, while a later two-storeyed building has been erected to the E.
Giving access to this courtyard from the W. is a round-arched gate-