east-lothian-1924/05-170

Transcription

PRESTONKIRK.] -- INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS IN EAST LOTHIAN. -- [PRESTONKIRK.

1 Act. Parl. iii., p. 256, No. 73 ; Reg. Mag.
Sig. 1605 No. 1581 ; 2 Scotich. Lib. iii., cap.
xxix. ; 3 Liber Vitæ Eccl. Dunmel. (Surtees
Soc.) p. 68 ; 4 Papal collector ; 5 Theiner Vetera
Monumenta, pp. 109, 113 ; 6 Act. Parl. iv., p.
294 ; Inq. Spec. Hadd. No. 233 ; 7 Parl. Records
(1804) p. 378 ; 8 Milne-Home MSS. Nos. 596,
608, 81, 462 and 614 ; 9 Act. Parl. iii., p. 265 ;
iv. 294(a).

vi. S.W. 11 July 1913.

CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC STRUCTURES.

145. Markle.-This construction stands 3/4 of a
mile north-west of East Linton station ; on the
[marginal note]
Plan
wanted.
north the railway cuts through the site. On
the south-east there is a high rocky bank with
level and partially marshy ground at base,
which skirts an outcrop of rock lying to its
north and west. The outcrop has been sur-
rounded by a ditch flanked by outer and inner
ramparts to form an enclosure of some 850
feet from north-east to south-west by 450
feet from north-west to south-east, which was
probably entered from the south-east. The
ditch is greatly wasted, and the railway cutting
has destroyed the north and north-eastern
portion of the enclosure, but on the north-
north-west and west it still has a depth of
about 6 feet and a width of 20 feet. Along the
parados of the north-north-west portion a
stone wall about 3 feet thick can be traced ;
south of this, within the enclosure, where the
rock is naturally terraced, and at a point about
midway along the site there is a vaulted
structure, oblong on plan with its major axis
80° magnetic, which measures 31 1/4 feet by 15 1/4
feet within walls averaging 3 feet 3 inches in
thickness. The east gable still stands to its
complete height, but the outer walls are frag-
mentary. The gable has been heightened to
receive a very acutely pitched roof. The
masonry suggests the the structure has either
been built out of old material or that it had
become so ruinous that a complete recon-
struction was necessary. For the most part
it is of rubble obtained on the site, but there
is an admixture of light-coloured freestone on
the lower portion of the east gable. At ground
level the gable is penetrated by a lintelled
doorway of freestone with a splay wrought on
the jambs. On the inner face towards the

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south-eastern angle there is a window which
has been built up. It has an ecclesiastical
appearance and seems to have been a lancet
light with a deeply splayed ingoing ; the free-
stone jamb is splayed like the door. There is
no trace of a similar light in the correspond-
ing angle ; instead a single corbel projects
internally some 5 feet above the entrance,
but what purpose it served is obscure. There are
two scarcements, one above the doorway and the
other above the window. The former suggests
that the building was floored at that level
while the latter probably received the wall
couple of the roof.
The bank against which the structure is built
runs north-north-east and south-south-west and
appears to have been walled, with circled
towers projecting northwards at the north-
eastern portion, and to have had cross walls
running from it south-eastwards. Between the
cross walls are the ruins of a second structure,
which was at least three storeys in height,
of 16th century date and oblong on plan. It
measures 75 1/2 feet from east to west by 41 1/2
feet from north to south. On the east there is
a rubble wall about 2 feet 7 inches in thickness
by 44 feet in length, mainly built in the local
igneous stone but containing a small percentage
of freestone ; the dressings are of red freestone.
At the northern end of this wall there is a
stone channel widening internally, which was
an let for water ; adjoining it to the south
are the remains of a cupboard recess ; the
north wall has contained a kitchen fireplace.
The upper storey had a wooden floor. A
window and a small recess are the only features
at this level. The window is lintelled, and the
[marginal note]
rounded arris.
arrises of jambs and lintel are rounded off.
The upper portion of the jamb ingoings are
grooved, and the lintel and sill are morticed
for two vertical iron bars. Fifty feet west is
another portion of the building forming three
sides of a rectangular tower, circled internally.
It has an interior diameter of 14 feet 8 inches
and shows signs of rebuilding. An oblong
structure projects southwards from the tower ;
it measures 36 feet by 11 feet within walls
from 2 1/2 to 3 feet in thickness. This last may
be later than the structures mentioned above.

HISTORICAL NOTE.-There was a chapel at
Markle or " Merkill " dedicated to S. Mary
(S. Maria de Merkill), the patronage of which

Transcriber's notes

The feint note at the top left margin of the page is the reverse impression of the marginal note on the next page.