North facade, view of main entrance. Digital image of D 68451/cn

Description North facade, view of main entrance. Digital image of D 68451/cn

Date 13/6/2000

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

Catalogue Number SC 764734

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 68451 CN

Scope and Content Main Entrance, North Front, Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries & Galloway The main entrance is through a porch under the clock-tower in the centre of the north front, and opens off a terrace reached from the forecourt by a double staircase (foreground). The tower was richly carved by the Dutch masons, Peter Paul Boyse and Cornelius Van Nerven. Fluted Corinthian pilasters rise through two storeys on either side; carved swags under the upper window enclose a cartouche; and bunches of fruit descend on either side to end in heraldic shields. The triangular pediment above the entrance porch is carved with ladies reclining against shields, with a ducal coronet above and a grotesque head below. The entrance porch was originally secured by a yett, a massive hinged open-work gate made of iron bars. The porch led to a loggia or gallery (now a hall) which filled the centre of the north front at terrace level. From here on the 17th-century progression led through the inner courtyard of the house to the principal rooms in the south front. The kitchen premises and cellarage were on the north front, concealed at basement level under the terrace, and screened from view by an arcade which provided a covered promenade at ground level and supported the terrace above. 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/764734

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap