stirling-1963-vol-1/05_252

Transcription

No. 192 -- CASTLES AND TOWER-HOUSES -- No. 192
access by a doorway in its S. wall to a second large cellar
which communicated with the Hall above by means
of the great turnpike-stair and was also accessible from
the Upper Square by an entrance-doorway in its W. wall.
To the S. there lay a third large cellar, and this too had
its own entrance from the Upper Square although it also
communicated with further cellars adjoining it on the S.
The principal entrance to this S. group of cellars was
by a doorway, situated beneath the W. bay-window,
which led into a corridor giving access at its E. end to a
large cellar which occupied almost the full width of the
main block of the Hall. A doorway in the S. wall of the
corridor led into a small cellar situated beneath the W.
bay-window; this cellar has a cupboard in its S. wall
and also a trefoil-shaped light, now blocked. There were
two doorways in the E. wall of the large cellar, the S.
one leading down steps into a small apartment situated
beneath the E. bay-window, and the N. one into a
turnpike-stair which gave access to another small cellar
set below the E. bay-window at an intermediate floor-
level. The window-like aperture in the W. wall of this
last cellar probably served as a borrowed light. A doorway
in the S. wall of the large cellar led into a small cellar
in the SE. angle of the building; this communicated in
turn with a corresponding cellar in the SW. angle which,
however, also had an entrance-doorway of its own to
the W.
The original internal arrangements of the Hall itself
have been almost entirely destroyed, but the principal
features of the plan may be deduced from such evidence
as survives (Figs. 77, 78, 79). The scale of the
building is most impressive, the Hall having measured
126 ft. 6 in. in length, 37 ft. in width and approximately
54 ft. in height. During the banquet that followed the
baptism of Prince Henry in 1594, a model ship, 40 ft. in
height, is said to have stood within the building. ¹ The
entrance-doorway at the N. end of the W. wall no doubt
led into the screens, above which there was a gallery
known as the Trumpeters' Loft. ² At its S. end there was
probably a dais, lit from the bay-windows to E. and W.
The original disposition of the fireplaces is not altogether
clear. The plan of 1719 ³ shows three large fireplaces, one
in the centre of the S. gable and one in each of the side
walls, the two last set almost opposite to each other a
little to the N. of the bay-windows. This agrees well with
the account of Loveday, who, visiting the Castle in 1732,
wrote of the Great Hall, "here are 3 Chimnies". ⁴ This
arrangement makes reasonable provision for the heating
both of the dais and of the main body of the Hall, but
does not allow for two chimneys - one in the N. gable
and the other in the E. wall a little to the N. of the
turnpike stair - both of which appear in the earliest views
of the Castle (cf. Pls. 57, 58), and the resulting problem
is unlikely to be solved unless the building is gutted at
any future time as a preliminary to restoration. The roof
was of hammer-beam construction, like that of the Great
Hall of Edinburgh Castle. ⁵
The Hall was well provided with stairs, but apart
from the great turnpike on the E. side of the building
these are now inaccessible or incomplete. Besides the
small stair in the NE. re-entrant angle of the E. bay-
window, which has already been described and which
did not communicate with the Hall itself, there were
two turnpike stairs at the N. end of the building, one
in the NW. angle and the other in the NE. angle of the
Hall. Both communicated with the screens passage. The
former, which rose to the full height of the building,
probably gave access to the Trumpeters' Loft as well as
to the parapet-walk. The NE. turnpike was probably
used as a service stair; it communicated only with the
undercroft, although access may have been provided at
this level to the service lobby on the E. side of the Hall
(cf. p. 215). The great turnpike on the E. side of the
building, which is the only stair that remains substantially
intact today, rises to the full height of the Hall. From
ground level to the threshold of the Hall itself the treads
occupy the full width of the stair-turret, giving the stair
a radius of about 4 ft 3 in. The treads, and probably the
newel also, were renewed in the 18th or 19th century.
Above the level of the Hall the original stair remains
intact and rises to the wall-head, but does not occupy
the full width of the turret as its radius is only about
3 ft. 7 in. About half-way up this smaller stair there is a
small platform, which formerly gave access to an arched
opening to the W.; this is now blocked up, but a stone
seat remains in the N. jamb to suggest that the opening
once formed the entrance to a small gallery or oriel
overlooking the Hall. In the S. jamb there is a trace of
another stone seat, and above it a break in the masonry
reveals a garderobe vent which presumably served a
garderobe on the parapet-walk. The only other features
of interest that can be seen in the Hall today are the
upper parts of the bay-windows (Pl. 90). The arched
heads of the window recesses are supported by massive
ribs which spring from moulded pilasters, now all more
or less mutilated.

THE CHAPEL ROYAL. The Chapel Royal (Fig. 83)
stands on the N. side of the Upper Square, and in part
occupies the site of an older building, the foundations
of which are known to extend to the S. and SE. of it.
These foundations, which are indicated in Fig. 83, may
be associated with the earlier chapel that is known to
have stood within the Upper Square (cf. p. 185). Those
that lie beneath the Chapel Royal were in part revealed
when a portion of the floor was renewed in March 1959;
the foundations that lie outside are marked by a setting
of paving-stones. The Chapel Royal, which was built
in 1594, is of considerable interest as being one of the
few ecclesiastical buildings erected in Scotland at this
period. ⁶ It is oblong in shape, measuring 112 ft. 6 in.
by 37 ft. 3 in. over all, and its major axis runs approx-
imately from E. to W. The site falls away sharply from

1 Nisbet, A System of Heraldry (1816 ed.), ii, 158.
2 M. of W. Accts., ii, 162.
3 National Library of Scotland MS. 1645, Z 2/18.
4 John Loveday of Caversham, Diary of a Tour in 1732,
Roxburghe Club, 124.
5 Inventory of the City of Edinburgh, p. 21.
6 Post-Reformation Churches, 34f.

-- 211