Detail of one of a pair of yetts in the basement Digital image of DF 261
SC 767378
Description Detail of one of a pair of yetts in the basement Digital image of DF 261
Date 11/1961
Collection Records of the Scottish National Buildings Record, Edinburgh, Scotland
Catalogue Number SC 767378
Category On-line Digital Images
Copy of DF 261
Scope and Content Entrance to Basement Corridor, Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries & Galloway This entrance, through a sturdy oak studded door reinforced by a massive iron yett, is the entrance to a basement corridor. The yett (Scots meaning 'gate') may date from the earlier mid-16th-century house, but is more likely to be of late 17th-century construction. It was a defensive device used on the inside of the outer wooden door, and constructed of strong iron bars to form a hinged openwork gate which could be secured by two heavy bolts, and padlocked. The yett, a type of Scottish portcullis designed to protect the doorway, is a reminder that Drumlanrig was constructed as a real castle. A similar yett protected another basement entrance, and a third yett guarded the main entrance to the house. The yett was constructed of wrought iron on a 'through and through' basis, where the individual iron bars pierced or threaded through other bars, and were themselves threaded through, making the gate impossible to dismantle. The same 'through and through' construction was often used to form grilles over windows. Drumlanrig Castle, one of the great Renaissance courtyard houses of Scottish domestic architecture, 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 Master of Works (builder) was William Lukup. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.
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