OS1/11/34/85
| List of names as written | Various modes of spelling | Authorities for spelling | Situation | Description remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROSLIN CASTLE | Roslin Castle | Revd. [Reverend] Mr. Brown Fruch Manse Roslin and several published accounts of Roslin |
This building stands on a huge mass of peninsulated sandstone rock. The site altho' [although] in the highest degree pleasant and romantic appears to have been ill chosen to withstand a siege after the invention of gunpowder, as it is overlooked by heights on every side. The only entrance in ancient times was by a bridge of one arch over a deep gully & still standing with fragments of the old Gateway. The structure in ancient times must have been of great size & massiveness, but in the present age the once famous Castle of Roslin is the remains of a large pile, haggard & utterly dilapidated. The more ancient parts now consist of a tremendous triple tier of vaults with a comparative modern mansion reared above. A spacious stone stair case conducts to the different floors from top to bottom, but the usual entrance to the vaults is by the west side through the garden. A passage of 70 feet conducts to a spacious kitchen with a chimney of great width a bakehouse and other accommodations well adapted for a baronial household. The remaining vaults which are very numerous and are all of the same construction on the different tiers, are small & ill lighted with circular apertures (facing the east) for discharging arrows or missiles. About the year 1100 William St Clair obtained from Malcolm Canmore the lands of the barony of Roslin & possibly he was the first constructor of the oldest fragments of the surviving ruins. The early barons lived in great splendour. Here Sir William St. Clair a nobleman possessed of great property and a princely revenue kept a great & splendid court and was royally served at his own table in vessels of gold & and silver. Much of the antique appearance of Roslin Castle is now gone, there being only some huge fragments of walls & battlements remaining on the North side, on the south a comparatively modern mansion has been reared on the old foundation, over the door of which is the date 1622. In the area in front of the new building, an immense heap of the rubbish & ruins of the great N.W. [North West] Tower is now covered with grass & brushwood |
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[Page] 85Plan 12 D Trace No. 3
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