east-lothian-1924/05-082

Transcription

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

rangular rib-vaulted chamber with narrow
windows looking northwards and to the
south, and a larger window, probably an
insertion, facing west. At the south-west angle
are the remains of a fireplace, and a mural
passage opposite leads to a garderobe with a
soil flue and lamp recess.
The eastern end of the court has been vaulted
over to form a pend at ground level ; the
stubs of the vault ribs are seen on the wall
at either side. The pend is complete from
beyond the entrance to the great tower to its
termination in the well chamber, and from it is
reached a postern in the angle of the tower and
curtain.
The original mode of access to the upper
floor is hard to determine. At this height the
rooms in the southern towers intercommunicate
by a mural passage, and the level is now reached
by 16th century wheel staircases. The remains
of a fore-stair against the south wall of the
court suggest that there was an entrance on
the first floor over that portion of the pend
which has been destroyed. On the other hand
the vaulted and angled passage adjoining the
eastern wheel stair is undoubtedly contem-
porary with the oldest portion of the building.
The first floor of the great tower was once
the principal apartment of the castle. It is
similar in shape to the lower storey and has a
lofty vaulted roof, from which the ribs have
disappeared. The windows have lintels ex-
ternally and are comparatively wide ; they
have apparently been enlarged at a later period,
but the most easterly, which is extremely
narrow and has a pointed ogival head, is also
secondary ; in the sill is a slop drain. The
three larger windows have stone seats in
the ingoing.
The fireplace in the north wall is greatly
destroyed. It has a recessed shaft in each
jamb rising from a 13th century Gothic
base to a plain bell capital. The abacus
of the capital is elaborately moulded and
enriched with a nail-head ornament and
is corbelled out to receive the lintel, which has
supported the projecting hood. A mural
passage at the west of the fireplace leads from
this chamber to the upper floor of the oblong
tower and gives access to a small mural
chamber and a wheel stair ascending to the
now ruinous upper storey of the building. The
upper chamber in the oblong tower is covered
with a rib-vault. The windows are narrow
internally, and the heads are contracted by
corbels, giving a shouldered appearance. The
upper floor of the smaller circular tower is
ruinous, open to the weather, and can only be
reached by a ladder. A mural passage leads
off it to a garderobe. The well chamber is
open to this floor also and is reached from the
passage by which the hall is entered.
The curtain walls show entrances on the
east, south and west, but whether these latter
occupy the site of the originals cannot be stated.
That in the south wall - the main entrance -
appears to be a later construction probably of
the 15th century. The massive piers within
which the entrance lies, are built against and
project outwards from the curtain. The piers
are joined at the head by an obtusely pointed
arch of two members at such a height as would
permit the draw-bridge being drawn up within
the jambs. There have been angle turrets
with machicolations at the exterior angles, but
of these only the corbelling remains. The
projection in the south-west angle is a
garde-robe. The mortice on the ingoing
of each jamb probably housed a transome,
on which the drawbridge rested. Above
the outer gateway there is an empty space
for an armorial panel, and immediately below
is a small grated window. The outer and
inner gateways have semicircular heads.
In the soffit between them there is a
circular machicolation. Beyond the inner gate,
in what has been a vaulted trance, the port-
cullis chases are seen. On either side of the
trance is a small vaulted chamber. The
eastern of these has a fireplace and slop drain,
and is lit by extremely narrow windows ; one
is cruciform in shape, the other has a shouldered
pointed head.
The eastern range of buildings is mainly a
15th century structure. The lowest storey
forms a cellarage partially excavated from the
rock and ceiled with a lofty barrel vault (fig.
59). It is subdivided by cross partitions, each
compartment so formed having its own entrance
from the courtyard. The southern chamber is
provided with two great ovens, a well and a
[Marginal note] well is 13th century.
drain. North of the cellars and at the court-
yard level there is an apartment which has
been used as a chapel. It is entered from the

[Page] 19