east-lothian-1924/05-138

Transcription

NORTH BERWICK.] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. [NORTH BERWICK.

small vaulted chamber, 13 feet by 8 feet
2 inches, and on the north a vaulted passage
admitting to a straight stair, which in turn
led to a wheel-stair in the thickness of the
north curtain wall. The wheel-stair ascended
from the first floor level to the parapet
walk of the curtain, but it was built up circa
16th century, when a new stair tower was built
in the north-east re-entering angle of the
Mid Tower. Only the ground floor of the
Mid Tower had a stone vault ; the other
storeys had wooden floors, and each comprised

[illustration inserted]
FIG. 106. Pit, Tantallon Castle (No. 106).

a single apartment, from which led off small
rooms in the piers of the forework and garde-
robes in the thickness of the wall going east.
The principal apartments of the Mid Tower
have fireplaces with moulded jambs and pro-
jecting hoods and were mainly lit by the
windows in the east wall.
The main curtain walls, on either side of the
gatehouse tower, are over 12 feet thick above
an offset towards the base and are 107 feet
and 96 1/2 feet respectively in length. The north-
eastern portion is built on a continuous line,
but the north-western part is dog-legged. In
the former portion are two staircases, and in

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the latter portion three, the third being the
original stair serving the gatehouse building,
which stair was partially built up in the 16th
century. The other stairs enter from the
courtyard and rise to the parapet walk. Small
mural chambers open off the staircases; but most
of these are or have been built up. The con-
tiguous arching and lintelling of the stair
passages is noteworthy. A lean-to structure
had been erected against the inner face of the
south-eastern portion of the curtain. It was
originally of a single storey, at the south-east
end, the rest being two-storeyed, but subse-
quently an additional floor was inserted.
The circled terminal towers are very ruinous.
They are the same height as the gatehouse
building, and most of the apartments in the
south-east tower have, at one time, been
vaulted, but the vaults were apparently not
original. The lowest storey of the north-
west or Douglas tower is complete below the
ground level and comprises a dark vaulted pit
(fig. 106) with a ventilation flue to the north
and a garderobe with soil flue, which is reached
from a mural stair in the north-eastern angle
of the chamber. The lowest storey of the
south-east tower is also complete and is
vaulted, but the vault is not original. The
gun-loops to south-west and south-east are
later insertions. A mural chamber to the east
of this floor, with which it communicates, is a
garderobe with soil flue. The floor levels of
this tower have been altered, and there seems
to have been a good deal of reconstruction in
the 16th century.
The north curtain, which was surmounted
by an allure or walk beneath a penthouse, is
incorporated in a building two storeys high,
of which only the western half remains. It
contains a series of vaulted chambers at
ground level and a hall on the floor above.
At the eastern end was a bakehouse having
two circular ovens, lined with tiles, set over
the cliff. Only the throats of the ovens re-
main. The vaulting of the basement as well
as the partition walls are manifestly later than
the lateral walls, which are contemporary with
the oldest building. The north wall on the
lower floor has narrow windows, a fireplace
partially obscured by a partition wall and a
garderobe at the north-eastern angle. The
south wall has a central doorway mainly