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Detail of yett on interior of entrance doorway Digital image of DF 271

SC 767381

Description Detail of yett on interior of entrance doorway Digital image of DF 271

Date 11/1961

Collection Records of the Scottish National Buildings Record, Edinburgh, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 767381

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of DF 271

Scope and Content Main Entrance, Front Hall. Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries & Galloway This entrance, through a sturdy oak studded door reinforced by a massive iron yett (Scots meaning 'gate'), is the main entrance to the house. The yett, a defensive device used on the inside of the outer wooden door, is a hinged openwork gate constructed of strong iron bars which could be secured by two heavy bolts, and padlocked. The yett is a reminder that Drumlanrig was constructed as a real castle. It was designed to protect the doorway, and acted as a type of Scottish portcullis. It was made of wrought iron and constructed 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. This yett was possibly in use either in the earlier castle on the site, or in Tibbers Castle, a late 13th-century castle which lay within the Drumlanrig estates. It was more likely, however, to date from the late 17th century, and constructed on the instruction of the builder as an added precaution against intruders.. 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.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/767381

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap

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Attribution: © Crown Copyright: HES (Scottish National Buildings Record)

Licence Type: Full

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