Duntreath Castle - The
Seat of the Edmonstone Family
Duntreath Castle is situated on a level site in the
bottom of the Blane valley, a mile and a half NW. of Blanefield; near by on the
SW. there runs the Blane Water, and on the NE. the ground begins to rise to the
steep slopes of the Strathblane Hills. Much of the original building has long
since been removed, but in the 17th century (infra) the castle
must have been a very imposing one, as it then consisted of a tower and a
quadrangular set of buildings enclosing a central courtyard.4 Now,
however, only the tower survives, together with part of a large Victorian
edifice (infra) most of which was demolished in the summer of
1958.
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The estate of Duntreath5
originally formed part of the earldom of Lennox, but at some time prior to
1364 it was granted to Murdoch, son of Malcolm, Earl of Lennox, by his
brother Earl Donald. At Murdoch's death, his daughter Isabella succeeded to
the estate, but in or before 1434, after the execution of Earl Duncan, James
1 made it over to his brother-in-law, William Edmonstone of Culloden, who
had married Lady Mary Stewart, second daughter of Robert III. The grant,
however, was not finally confirmed until 1452, when James II erected
the estate into a free barony, the charter then granted being in favour of
the younger Sir William in fee and heritage, and in life rent only to his
father. It has remained with the Edmonstone family ever since. |
From the foregoing facts it seems
reasonable to infer that the Edmonstones were unlikely to have begun to build
until after 1452, and that the first of their con structions was the
tower, which to judge from its architectural treatment is characteristic of the
latter half of the 15th century.
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Burke, Landed
Gentry (1862-3 ed.), 634.
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The Scots
Peerage, iv, 345.
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Burke, Landed
Gentry (1862-3 ed.), 633 f.
-
Cast. and Dom.
Arch., iv, 212 if., from which Figs. 104 and 105 are reproduced.
-
The historical
matter utilised in this article has been derived, unless otherwise stated,
from Strathblane, 72 ff.
The tower (Fig. 106,
P1. 113 A), is a
tall rectangular structure measuring 47 ft. by 26 ft. 9 in. over all. Its walls,
which are constructed in random rubble of creamy yellow sandstone, average 4 ft.
in thickness, and the SE. gable incorporates the end wall of an earlier building
as high as the second storey. The quoins and the margins of the voids are
dressed, and the latter, inso far as they are original, are small and boldly
treated with broad chamfered margins. The building contains three main storeys
and an attic and rises to a parapet-walk, which, however, has been renewed above
the corbel- course at the wall-head. Internally each main floor is divided by a
central cross-wall, as described below. The entrance (P1.
113 B), which formerly faced the old
court yard, is situated in the SW. wall close to the S. angle, and consists of a
small porch-like structure entered through a round-headed doorway. It is an
unusual feature in that it projects 3 ft. 11 in. from the main wall-face,
and is continued upwards to parapet level as an attenuated shaft of masonry;
this is divided into two stages by offsets, of which one is immediately above
the doorway and the other midway between this point and the parapet. Pre sumably
this feature was contrived in order to allow more space for the wheel-stair
within; the round cap-house, which surmounts it, however, is not original and
the upper section of the shaft appears to have been partially modified or
restored. The entrance-doorway is enriched with a double edge-roll divided by a
quirk, and its internal reveal is double-checked to receive the usual
combination of door and yett. Immediately within the porch entrance the NW.
jamb, before the most recent alterations, was pierced with a small gun-loop, and
there is evidence for a corresponding one in the SE. jamb, though now all trace
of this is masked internally by secondary face-work which extends to the
stair-newel. The inner end of the porch incorporates the main turn pike-stair,
which rises the full height of the building. Opening off the threshold of the
stair is the entry to the ground floor, which retains a wooden door originally
constructed of vertical and horizontal linings, and subsequently strengthened
with iron straps. The door way was contracted along with the later modifications
of the entrance and the internal arrangement of the basement. The ground floor
is divided into two compart ments by a central cross-partition, each compartment
being ceiled over with a semicircular stone vault. In its original state the
floor-area of the SE. compartment was uninterrupted except for the projection of
the entrance lobby into its S. corner. From the SE. com partment access is
gained to the inner or NW. one1 through a wide doorway in the NE. end
of the partition wall. This doorway, which has broad, chamfered jambs and a
rough relieving-arch, is so low in relation to the present floor-level as to
suggest that the original floor was considerably lower. This may explain the
purpose of the small, square recesses that occur in all the corners of the
compartment except the W. one, where there is a window-ledge, and on the SW.
side of the doorway in the partition wall. These recesses, which have the
appearance of joist-holes, suggest that originally an entresol floor of timber
was constructed at an inter mediate level within the vaulted compartment, as was
often done to increase the storage space. In this case further evidence for its
existence is to be found in the design of the small turnpike-stair in the N.
angle, the threshold of which is situated 5 ft. above the present floor-level
and is thus suitably placed to be associated with a loft floor. Moreover, the
stair is steep and com municates directly with the floor above through a wide
hatchway, checked to receive a wooden cover, all of which indicates that this
section of the stair was designed exclusively for the conveyance of stores from
the base ment. In the walls of the ground floor, close to the present
floor-level, there are also four aumbries-three in the inner compartment and one
in the NE. wall of the SE. compartment. The ground floor was formerly lighted by
small, narrow windows, having deep inward splays and stepped lintel-heads, which
were disposed in the positions shown on the plan, with perhaps an additional one
in the NE. wall of the SE. compartment at the point where a door has been broken
out at some fairly recent date.
1 This compartment
has been converted into a garage since this description was prepared.
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The first floor has been much altered.
The evidence as now visible suggests that it was originally divided, into a
hall and a solar, by a transverse partition approximating in position and
thickness to the one in the basement, and that this was thickened in
Victorian times, apparently to make provision for mural chambers. In
addition, a winding stair was inserted which was linked with the main
turnpike by a narrow passage formed partly by thinning the SW. wall of the
tower. The SE. compart ment, which is still entered as formerly from the
main turnpike-stair, is now ceiled over with a semicircular plaster vault.
Originally this compartment was lighted from three windows in the NE. wall
and two in the SW. wall. |
The central window on the NE., which
was the principal one, has been enlarged, but its embrasure retains a stone seat
along its SE. side and an aumbry in the other; its head is segmental, as are
also those of theother principal windows on the first and second floors. The NW.
window on this side has been walled off by the thickening of the partition. The
two windows in the SW. wall have been adjusted in level to suit the new
arrangement, the one to the SE. having been contrived to give light over the
ceiling of the passageway, and the other so placed as to light the passage
itself. The fireplace in the NW. wall is Victorian.
The NW. compartment is now approached
by the narrow passageway cut out of the SW. wall of the tower (supra),
which ends in a short flight of steps. Beyond this point a lobby, containing
a winding stair and a bathroom, was formed during the 19th-century alterations.
Within this lobby, in the SW. wall of the tower, there is one of the principal
windows that formerly lit the NW. chamber; this still retains its stone seats
and segmental head, but is not in its original condition as it was converted
into a door and has now been reconverted into a window. A corresponding window
occurs in the NE. wall, the opening of which has been widened. The NW. wall,
which is the gable wall of the tower, originally contained a large fireplace
which has been blocked and contracted; the extent of the old opening, however,
is defined internally by a deep, heavy, stone lintel supported on moulded jambs,
all original (P1. 114 c), and externally by a broad relieving-arch. Adjacent to
the fireplace, in the N. angle of the chamber, is the small turnpike-stair
leading from the ground floor, which continues its ascent from this level to the
upper floors, evidently as a privy stair. Within its lowermost portion, set a
few steps lower than the level of the first floor, is a narrow landing off which
is the hatchway already referred to. This part of the staircase is square on
plan, and its NW. and SW. sides contain respectively a small window and an
aumbry placed directly above the hatch. Originally the staircase could be closed
off by a door, set in the checked opening in its SE. wall, which on occasion
could be folded back into a recess in the adjacent NE. wall. Access to the
turnpike is gained through a small square mural chamber which serves the dual
purpose of lobby and garderobe, the latter being projected beyond the external
wall-face and supported on corbels.
The second floor resembles the first,
in that it repeats the features just mentioned and, like the one below, is now
subdivided in the centre by a thick transverse wall which contains a mural
chamber at either end, each entered from the SE. compartment. Both compartments
are subdivided by later partitioning, but original windows survive as shown in
Fig. 106. In the NW. compartment, the window in the NE. wall has been enlarged,
as has also an opening in the NW. wall, the original character of which is
uncertain. On the NW. side of the central transverse wall there is an original
fireplace which, like the one on the floor below, has had its opening
contracted. It has a heavy stone lintel supported on moulded jambs with bases
and capitals (P1. 114 D). On the SE. side of the partition a fireplace,
presumably Victorian, is now concealed behind a timber lining, but it is clearly
shown on a plan of 1889.1 The privy stair at this level is lit by a small
circular aperture, 6 in. in diameter and framed externally with an incised
roll-moulding. The garderobe, which is situated in the E. angle of the SE.
compartment, is similar in design to that on the first floor in that it is
projected externally on corbels. It contains a small window in the SE. wall, and
the doorway, which is chamfered on the inside, is checked externally to receive
a door which folded back into a recess. Around the ceiling in both compartments
is a bold, continuous corbel-course, which coincides with the level of the
parapet-walk.
The attic floor has been much altered,
if not entirely rebuilt. The parapet-walk is also new, but the old wall- head of
the tower survives, together with its corbel- course and traces of the
spout-holes spaced at regular intervals directly over it. The treatment of this
corbel- course on the NW. face of the tower is of some interest, because here
the central portion is uplifted a few inches in order to receive a projecting
stone ledge running horizontally and directly beneath the corbels. This ledge
suggests the weather-table for the lean-to roof of a gallery, as for example at
Linlithgow Palace,2 though no evidence exists that such a gallery was
ever in fact con structed. A similar inflection of the corbel-course also occurs
in the centre of the NW. wall, but this is confined to a length of two corbels
only and its purpose is obscure.
The tower, as has been said above, was
never a free standing structure, but was always contiguous with an earlier
building to the SE. The age of this building (Fig. 106) is uncertain, but the
fact that it antedated the tower is apparent from the remains of its end wall
which forms the gable wall of the tower to a height of two storeys. The end of
this wall is defined by the line of its quoins seen on the longitudinal walls of
the tower. The side walls of this building, which were thinner than those of the
tower, were preserved for part of their length in the vanished Victorian work.
Until the latter was demol ished, the wall on the S.W., itself a t6th-century
renewal, contained two openings each with a square head and a finely moulded
surround stopped short of the base, and to the NW. of these a window inserted at
a later date. At first-floor level the SW. wall formerly contained at least two
large transomed and mullioned windows,3 and the NE. wall and a small
blocked-up slit- window with a chamfered surround close to the N. angle. On the
available evidence it seems probable that this building, which may conceivably
date from Lennox's time, i.e. soon after 1364 (supra),
was the predecessor of the tower now standing but was reconstructed, perhaps
as a chapel4 as was suggested by MacGibbon and Ross, at some time
after the building of the tower, perhaps in the 16th century. Additional
evidence for this view might be seen in the small opening broken through from
the principal stair, if this was interpreted as a squint.
1 In the possession
of Ian G. Lindsay & Partners, Architects.
2 Inventory of
Midlothian and West Lothian, No.356.
3 Cast. and Dom.
Arch., iv, fig. 786 on p.214.
4 Ibid.,
215. The legend "Chapel" will be seen on the plan here reproduced as Fig.
104.
This earlier building, together with
the tower, formed the nucleus of a later complex which ultimately came to
enclose a central courtyard and to produce a quadrangular plan.1
These buildings, which were largely destroyed in the 19th century,
apparently comprised a NE. range made up of the tower and its earlier adjunct, a
SE. range which incorporated kitchen quarters, a SW. range which was thought by
MacGibbon and Ross never to have been completed, and, on the NW. side, a very
fine gatehouse. Of the later buildings, the SE. range was probably the first to
be finished, and was evidently of two storeys with pedimented dormers lighting
the uppermost one.2
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The ground floor was divided into
three apartments, each having an outside door and a small high-level window
facing the courtyard. The kitchen was situated at the SW. end and contained
a large fireplace in its SW. wall. Adjoining the kitchen at its SW. end, and
seemingly built integral with it, was a small tower, so placed as to occupy
the S. re-entrant angle of the courtyard. Its modest dimensions, and the
presence of a scale-and- platt stair occupying the whole of the ground
floor, suggest that this was primarily designed as a main entrance and
circulation unit to the apartments over the kitchen and in the SW. range. At
first-floor level the main stair apparently gave way to a turret stair which
projected into the re-entrant angle between the SW. wall and the kitchen
gable. The turret stair led to the top floor of the tower and it was
presumably this room that was occupied by the "Dumb Laird", from whom the
building derived its traditional title of the "Dumb Laird's Tower". Over the
entrance doorway in the NE. side of the tower was a carved panel, the
framework of which, consisting of stone pilasters of late 16th-century
character, is preserved in the surviving portion of the Victorian
building-indeed, the octagonal bay-window which contains this framework
projects northwards from what might be a relic of the structure of the old
stair-tower. Nothing is known of the SW. block. |
The court was enclosed on its NW. side
by a barmkin wall which at its centre contained the gatehouse. The latter, which
measured 30 ft. across by 20 ft. in depth, was in the form of a great
frontal block rising three storeys in height, and flanked by angle turrets on
its outer face3 (cf Fig. 105). At its base an arched pend provided
the principal entrance to the castle. On either side of the pend was a
guard-chamber each of which contained a gun-loop, and in the E. angle of the
building a wheel-stair, entered from the courtyard, led to the upper floors. The
building of this gatehouse, which, until its destruction in or after 1857, was
one of the largest and most complete examples of its class in Scotland,4
is attributed to Sir James Edmonstone, sixth of Duntreath, on the strength
of a panel bearing his initials and coat of arms which is believed to have been
incorporated in the structure (P1.
115 D). Originally, this panel5
was set in a hollow-moulded surround with a bilobate head, but now only
the panel itself survives as a detached fragment. It is worked in relief and
bears two baluster shafts, supporting an arched cable-moulding, within which the
other details are framed. The shield and the ansate label that appears above it
separate the initials S /I E, for Sir James Edmonstone; the shield
is charged: Three crescents, with an annulet at fess point, within a tressure
flory-counter-flory. Below the shield is a camel, crudely executed, which is
evidently inspired by the former crest of the Edmonstones, a camel's head.6
The head of the panel has been repaired, and this was presumably done when
the panel was inserted over the archway of the 19th-century gatehouse.
1 Ibid., fig.
784, here reproduced, the orientation having been corrected, as Fig. 104.
2 Ibid.,
fig. 788.
3 Ibid., fig.
785.
4 Ibid.,
213.
5
Illustrated in Strathblane, fig. on p.115.
6 The Edmonstone
arms are discussed in Strathblane, 103 f., with fig. on p. 106
The evidence for construction at the
turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, as provided by the gatehouse, is reinforced
by the style of the other courtyard buildings. Again, that a quadrangular castle
already existed by 1631 is indicated by a building-contract of that date entered
into by Sir Archibald Edmonstone and John McWillame, slater, burgess of
Dumbarton.1 This provided for the harling of the outside of the
castle, apart from the E. gable, and also for that of the "haill gallerie", the
"auld ladyie chalmer", the inner gatehouse, the two gables of the outer
gatehouse, the inner side of both the "cloys dykis", the outer side of the
"south-west dyk", the outside of all chimney-heads within the "haill place and
Bartising of the Tour with the gavelle and Spihouses thereof with the haill
rounde and tumpeik heide thereof according to the forme of harling and Rouche
casting of other gentilmens houses". The details of this contract are evidence
of the complex nature of the building at this time, while in particular the
reference to an inner and an outer gatehouse, which must have been axially
disposed to one another if the Victorian outer gatehouse was built on the site
of the original one, suggests that the plan was designed on ambitious lines. It
is highly probable, there fore, that Sir James Edmonstone, who notwithstanding a
somewhat chequered career was a man of considerable status, was in fact
responsible for the erection of all the courtyard buildings. If this was so, the
interesting conclusion follows that the quadrangular plan-far from being a
piecemeal development-was actually a pre conceived design, carried out as a
continuous operation over a set period of time.
After the death of the "Dumb Laird",
which occurred about the end of the 17th century, the family resided principally
in Ireland, and Duntreath was allowed to fall into ruin. It was in this state
when, after 1857, Sir Archibald Edmonstone, thirteenth of Duntreath and third
Baronet, restored the castle as the family seat,2 These restorations
began with the erection of a new SW. mange on the site of the old one, but
eventually most of the old work, including the gatehouse and kitchen range, was
pulled down to make way for a vast scheme of reconstruction. This was evidently
pursued until the death of Sir Archibald in 1871, and, while much of the old
work was inevitably lost, the revived baronial style of the new buildings, and
the retention of the basic courtyard plan, did nevertheless preserve some of the
character possessed by the old castle. The gatehouse was evidently intended as a
faithful reproduction of the original, and a new outer gatehouse, erected some
so yds. to the NW., was perhaps likewise intended to preserve another integral
part of the old plan. In 1888-9, after the succession of Sir Archibald, fifth
Baronet, the building was greatly complicated by heterogeneous additions, and
then in 1958-less than 100 years after these ambitious schemes were
begun, the building was reduced to its present state. The Victorian SW. range,
which still stands, incorporates old dormer-pediments on its NE. side,
presumably from the earlier structure.
Preserved on the site are the remains
of two iron gates which are believed to have belonged to the old inner
gatehouse.3 They differ entirely from the conventional "grid" type of
yett, in that they are solidly constructed of thin, flat strips, vertically set
and backed with horizontal cross-bands, some of which serve as strap hinges.4
The two sections, which measure respectively 5 ft 9 in. by 3 ft. 5 1/2
in., and 6 ft. 3 in. by 4 ft. 6 in., are designed to open in two leaves, and are
fitted with heavy hasps, bolts and padlocks. The smaller of the two con tains a
rectangular spy-hole, 2 1/2 in. by 2 in., fitted with a hinged cover on
the outside (P1. 114 A, B). The larger section incorporates a wicket door,
measuring 4 ft. 6 in. by 2 ft., with pin hinges.
Also preserved on the site is a
fragment of a yett of conventional type, and a set of stocks. The latter, which
was designed to hold four people but is now incomplete, has rounded notches for
the feet in its upper portion while the lower one has a flat edge; the whole was
encased in a timber frame.
On the stair that leads down from the
upper to the lower level of the garden, SW. of the Victorian building, there
have been reset two carved stones, round-headed and of identical design. Each
bears a shield with moulded surround, helm, mantling and crest, and each shield
divides two sets of initials, S / V 1 and D / M H, those on the lower
line being in monogram in each case. The charges are oblitcrated, but at the
base of the eastern shield can be discerned the date 1688, together with a
partially illegible inscription. The latter is repeated on the western shield,
and a comparison of the two permits the reconstruction of the motto, PATRIAE ET
POSTERIS ("For country and descendants"). The date 1760, incised across the
shield of the western stone, forms no part of the original design. As the
initials do not suggest a connection with the Edmonstone family, the stones may
have been brought from elsewhere.
In the Commission's survey of 1956, two
carved lintel- stones, now destroyed, were recorded which bore respectively the
mottos: RESPIGE5 FINEM ("Look to the end") and NOSCE TEIPSVM
("Know thyself"). The stones were cavettoed and scrolled at their ends, and
were probably incorporated in dormer pediments.
536810 NS 58 SW
15 May 1959
1 Duntreath Writs,
H.M. General Register House, sect. I, No.403.
2 Much information
about this work has been obtained from record plans dated 1856 and 1889 in the
possession of Ian G. Lindsay & Partners, Architects.
3 P.S.A.S.,
xxii (1887-8), 312 and figs. 12 and 13
4 They are,
however, analogous with a type to be found in the Low Countries at about the
same period.
5 The
penultimate letter was evidently cut in error for c.