fife-kinross-clackmannan-1933/03-534

Transcription

DOLLAR.] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. [DOLLAR.

its rear-arch is semi-circular, and originally
there were seats on each side of the embrasure.
A 'dog-legged' garderobe, containing a seat
with its vent and a slop sink or urinal, lies
beside the fireplace in the thickness of the north
and east walls.
On the third floor an entrance has been broken
from the new turnpike through the thin wall of
a mural chamber. This tiny chamber is ceiled
with a pointed barrel-vault and has a small
window, which now opens into the staircase.
The main chamber, which occupies the full
extent of the third floor, is ceiled with an
elaborate barrel-vault with surface-ribs of
three members (Fig. 503). On the under surface
of the vault are carved two grotesque masks of
Renaissance type, with mouths open, probably
for the suspension of lamp-chains. Corre-
sponding as they do to those occurring in some
of the courtyard buildings, these details show
that the vault was inserted in the late 16th or
early 17th century. The chamber has been well-
lighted from three sides. Originally there was
a window on the south. This was built up
when the vault was constructed, and to replace
it a new window was cut through the north wall.
An original window, provided with a seat,
remains in the east wall and what was once a
similar window in the west wall has been en-
larged in the 16th century. The jambs of the
fireplace, which is in the east wall, have moulded
capitals, but the pier supporting the lintel is
modern. A 'dog-legged' garderobe occupies
the north-eastern angle, and in the south-
western angle is the old turnpike.
ENCLOSURE. - The enclosure is entered from
the north. On this side the outer wall is just
high enough to receive the roofs of the one-
storeyed lean-to buildings which stood against
it within the courtyard. The entrance, dating
from the later 16th century, or the begin-
ning of the century following, has an external
projection and is protected by a 'gun-hole' on
each side. The gateway has a semi-circular
head, jambs and head being wrought with a
bold, quirked edge-roll, and an unusually large
bar-hole. It opens into a transe, covered with a
segmental vault of ashlar and provided on the
east side with a bench and a locker. On the
west side is the original doorway into the lean-to
which fills the south-western angle of the en-
closure. There was a lean-to on the east side
of the entrance also, but this has been de-
molished and replaced by a modern structure.
The wall continues low for some distance along
the west side of the enclosure, but it rises at the
southern end where it becomes the gable of the
south range. On the south and on the east
the walls of the enclosure are at the same time
the back walls of buildings containing several
storeys, and they are therefore high. That on
the south has been surmounted by a parapet-
walk and has had a 'round' at either end.
The walk has been continued across the east
gable of the south range and probably ran the
whole length of the east wall, but the alterations
have been so considerable as to leave no trace
of its presence. The masonry of the enclosure-
walls is of rubble. That on the north has a
chamfered base-course, while that on the south
has two chamfered offsets not far from ground-
level. The upper of these offsets return round
the head of the transe which gave access to the
garden.
The south range, which is now ruinous,
occupied the full width of the enclosure and
has been three storeys and a garret in height.
Moreover, the ground here falls away both to
the west and to the south, and some excavation
has been necessary on the courtyard side of the
range, to secure a level foundation. The
excavated area has been roofed in, forming a
corridor outside the two lower floors. This
terminates at each end in a turnpike rising
approximately from the level of the courtyard,
which, however, at the east is midway between
the ground-floor and the first-floor of the
building. Above the entrance to the western
stair is a 'saving' lintel, bearing three shields,
but any charges these may have displayed are
now entirely obliterated. The upper part of the
stair-tower takes an octagonal form; on the
side towards the courtyard it contains a space
for an armorial panel. From such detail as
remains, this western stair may be dated to the
late 16th or early 17th century, and the arrange-
ment and masonry of the block which it serves
would suit that time, although the lower part of
the outer wall is perhaps rather earlier.
On the ground-floor of the south range (Fig.
509) are five vaulted cellars - the vaulting of
which, however, may not be original - and the
vaulted transe, which was built to give access to
the garden but is now closed up at the courtyard

[Page] 324

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