Interior Detail of stair and balustrade. Digital image of PB 1337

Description Interior Detail of stair and balustrade. Digital image of PB 1337

Date 1963

Catalogue Number SC 760053

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of PB 1337

Scope and Content Second-floor stair and balustrade, Traquair House, Scottish Borders This shows a stone stairway with hand rail and a balustrade below. This has been cut to represent the silhouette of turned wooden balusters, and dates from the 17th century. There is no room for a real balustrade in this tightly curving area, so a representation has been fitted to give a similar effect. The upper floors and basements of country houses were usually the domain of the servants, as these areas were often the coldest and least accessible in the house. Lower servants would usually share a simply-furnished room, and try to make it more comfortable by making rag rugs and quilts, which they could make in their spare time from scraps of wool and material. Traquair is the oldest continually inhabited house in Scotland, with its origins in the 10th century. It was the site of a royal hunting lodge in the 1200s, but the house as seen today is based around a c.1512 tower-house with many later additions. The flanking service wings were built in 1695 to designs by architect James Smith (c.1645-1731), who also designed the wrought-iron screens round the courtyard in 1698. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/760053

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap