stirling-1963-vol-1/05_256

Transcription

No. 192 -- CASTLES AND TOWER-HOUSES -- No. 192
side of the transe and at its lower end a square-headed
doorway gives access to an old window-embrasure, the
daylight of which has been enlarged. The doorway and
the wall in which it is set are insertions of the 17th
century, but the pointed window to the NW. of the door-
way appears to be of 19th-century date. Some of the
vaulting of the transe has been remodelled at various
times, and on its W. side it has been widened to give
improved access for vehicles. A straight joint in the
masonry about 16 ft. from its upper end seems to mark
the limits of the 14th-century work, its S. portion being
an addition of the 15th century. This upper portion of
the transe contains a locker in its E. wall while a doorway
in its W. wall gives access to a vaulted cellar of 15th-
century date. A window in its S. wall was blocked and
another inserted at a higher level in the same embrasure
when the ground level outside was raised in the 16th
century, and this second window is now also blocked.
In the SW. angle of the cellar there is a fireplace with
a segmental-arched head, and in the W. wall an aumbry
checked for a wooden door. At the NW. angle a doorway
opens into another apartment, now inaccessible because
of the debris that fills it, and in the E. wall there is
another aumbry. The N. wall is the original external wall
of the tower and dates from the 14th century. In the
vault there is a hatch, now blocked, which indicates that
there was originally an upper floor; this was replaced in
the 16th century by the service lobby, but the hatch
may have continued in use until the lobby itself was
demolished.
At the S. end of the transe there is a segmental-headed
archway wrought with a double chamfer on the arrises.
Above the arch rises the S. wall of the tower, most of the
masonry being of the 16th century although the upper
part of the wall may have been refaced at a rather later
date. A flight of steps rises against the E. wall of the
tower to give access to a doorway at first-floor level, above
which there is an original window now contracted in
width. The doorway leads into the single large apartment
that now occupies this floor of the tower. This room was
largely remodelled in the early 16th century, but the
large segmental-headed kitchen-fireplace, now blocked,
in the N. wall is of 15th-century date. The arrises of
the voussoirs of the fireplace are wrought with a broad
chamfer; above the arch may be seen the springing of a
vault, earlier in date than the present one and at a lower
level. The fireplace and the springing of the vault are
the only surviving remains of the extensive remodelling
of the first floor that took place in the 15th century, the
rest of the apartment dating from the early 16th century.
In 1955 part of the wall that seals off the fireplace recess
was removed, and a sink outlet, now blocked externally,
was found in the W. jamb of the fireplace (cf. Fig. 84);
as this outlet runs through the portcullis chases of the
gateway below, the portcullis must have gone out of use
by the date at which the fireplace was inserted. As
remodelled in the 16th century the apartment is divided
by two large segmental-headed arches and each division
is roofed with a barrel vault. In the E. wall of the S.
division there is another kitchen-fireplace, now blocked.
In the W. wall there are two service-hatches, while a
third, now blocked, remains beneath the springing of the
dividing arch. To the S. there is a mural recess at floor
level. To the W. of this apartment lie the remains of the
early 16th-century service-lobby which itself replaces
the upper floor or floors of the 15th-century W. extension
of the tower. This area is entered on the level of the first
floor of the tower and of the ground floor of the Great
Hall by a segmental-headed archway which springs from
the SW. angle of the Mint to butt against the E. wall of
the Hall. The apartments within are now roofless and
partially demolished, but enough remains to show that
the area was vaulted and contained an upper floor lit by a
large window on the S, one jamb of which still remains
over the arched entrance to the lower floor. The lower
floor was lit by a double window to the NW. The lobby
communicated with the kitchen on the E. by means of
the service-hatches, already described, and access to the
screens passage of the Great Hall may have been con-
trived by means of the turnpike stair in the NE. angle
of the Hall. The lower part of this stair was removed in
the late 18th century, when new doorways were formed
to the cellars beneath the Hall. On the second floor of the
Mint the evidence suggests that in the 16th century there
was a single large apartment, divided by an arcade of two
arches as on the floor below; these arches remain in
part, but the N. division was remodelled at a later date,
probably during the 17th century, while its wall-head
was raised in height by 2 ft. in the 19th century. In the
S. division an arched recess in the W. wall may once
have communicated with the upper floor of the service
lobby. The straight joint visible externally in the E. gable
may be connected with the 17th-century remodelling
of the upper part of the building, but is not readily
explicable in the absence of any corresponding feature
in the W. gable.

KITCHEN RANGE AND GRAND BATTERY (Figs. 71 and
84). In 1921 excavation by the Office of Works revealed
the kitchen range that was known to exist below the
Grand Battery, immediately inside the main NE. wall
of the Castle, although its vaults had been filled up with
earth in 1689 (cf. p. 188). The kitchens extend SE. from
the E. wall of the Mint, and it is possible that the SE.
end of the range adjoins the N. wall of the Elphinstone
Tower, although, if so, this part of the structure is still
inaccessible (cf. p. 196). The range is of one storey only,
except at its NW. end where it now rises to the height of
four storeys; if the remaining portion ever had an upper
floor this was removed when the Grand Battery was
constructed. The kitchens are built against the main NE.
wall of the Castle, which at this point appears to be con-
temporary with the Forework and may be ascribed to the
first decade of the 16th century. The range itself, which
is only slightly later in date, formed part of the scheme
for the provision of adequate kitchen and service facilities
for the Great Hall; it is thus contemporary with the
upper floors of the Mint as remodelled in the early 16th
century, and with the service lobby that stands between
the Mint and the Hall (cf. p. 213).

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