South facade of castle, view of stair from South East. Digital image of D 47015/cn

Description South facade of castle, view of stair from South East. Digital image of D 47015/cn

Date 26/4/1999

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

Catalogue Number SC 764723

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 47015 CN

Scope and Content South Front, Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries & Galloway, from the south-east The south front, built of pinkish local sandstone, has a main four-storeyed central range set between two rectangular five-storeyed outer towers, each topped with pepperpot turrets arising from the corners. Apart from the rope-moulded eaves-courses studded with cannon spouts which adorn the roofline under balustrades, the front is rather severe. Its focal point is a central pedimented Doric doorpiece at the head of a double stair leading to the garden. The stair has an elaborate 17th-century wrought-iron balustrade richly decorated with roses, thistles and tulips, and a landing supported by Tuscan columns. The balustrade around the landing bears at its centre the Douglas emblem of a winged heart. The single stairs with fine wrought-iron balustrades which rise to the east (right) and west (left) are mid-19th-century additions. The magnificent ironwork of the central stair is probably by William Baine or William Gairdner, two ironsmiths who were employed in 1684 during the construction of the castle. In August 1684 there were no fewer than 31 masons and eight wrights recorded as part of a huge workforce 'at the castell of Drumlangrige'. No expense was spared in the construction of the house, including the laying-out of elaborate formal gardens to the south, east and west. By 1690 the interior was finished, but in 1695 Duke William died, ruined, it is said, by the expense it had incurred. 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 builder was William Lukup who is buried in Durisdeer churchyard nearby. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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