Courtyard, view of north wall with five arched windows from south Digital image of D 47036/cn

Description Courtyard, view of north wall with five arched windows from south Digital image of D 47036/cn

Date 26/4/1999

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number SC 764728

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 47036 CN

Scope and Content North Wing, Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries & Galloway, from the inner courtyard The castle, built of pinkish local sandstone, is constructed round an open courtyard, with a circular staircase tower in each corner (right and left). The courtyard façade of the north wing has moulded string-courses above each of the two floors, and a balustrade at the roofline. The ground floor forms an arcade, glazed over by William Elliott in 1813, with fluted Doric pilasters and pediments over the end arches. There are sculptured pediments over the upper windows, and the Douglas emblem, a winged heart, above the central arch. The ground floor of the north wing was originally a loggia or arcaded gallery, open on one side to the courtyard. Its function was to provide cover for guests arriving at the north front of the house, who would then proceed through the arches to the inner courtyard, and from there to the main entrance on the inner face of the south range. Drumlanrig Castle, one of the great Renaissance courtyard houses of Scottish domestic architecture, stands within extensive parkland amongst the hills of Nithsdale. The mansion was built between 1679 and 1690 for William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry, incorporating part of a mid-16th-century house and the remains of a late 14th-century Douglas stronghold which originally stood on the site. The architect was almost certainly James Smith who had worked on the construction of Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, and the builder was William Lukup who is buried in Durisdeer churchyard nearby. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/764728

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap