Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 1.djvu/212

SECOND PERIOD 192 CRAIGMILLAR CASTLE The entrance doorway is in the re-entering angle of the south wing. It has a circular arch, and is surmounted with a panel containing the FIG. 157. Craigmillar Castle. Plan of Roof of Keep and Basement of Wings. Preston arms, boldly cut (Fig. 158). The position of the entrance doorway and lobby is carefully considered. To arrive at the door from the main gateway the visitor has to pass round at least two sides of the keep, and then along a narrow passage, well defended on all sides, and from above, by the keep and curtain. Besides, there is a chasm in the rock close in front of the doorway (Fig. 169), which had to be crossed by a moveable bridge before the door itself was reached. These strong defences of the doorway rendered it unnecessary, in this instance, to place the door, as was usually done, at some height above the ground. This doorway leads into a small entrance lobby about 3 feet below the level of the door-sill, which is commanded from the floor of a guard-room above (see Fig. 154). From this lobby there is a passage at right angles through the wall into the ground floor. This is defended by a door at the inner face of the wall, adjoining which the passage is heightened, so that it may be commanded from above by a door opening into it from the upper floor in the vault (see Section, 154). As there is an inner door at the entrance to the stair to the upper floors, any one breaking into the outer lobby might stumble down the steps, or would at least be caught in a trap and pounded from above. The stair is also carefully constructed with a view to defence. A newel stair runs from the inner door above referred to, to the level of the guard-room over the entrance (shown by dotted line, Fig. 159), where the stafr is broken and a post formed for defence. A new stair, placed a few feet on one side, with a door at the entrance, runs from this point to the level of the principal hall, where another land- ing is provided, from which a separate stair leads to the upper floors and roof. The great hall is 35 feet long by 20 feet 9 inches wide, and 25 feet