Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 2.djvu/503

ALDIE CASTLE 487 FOURTH PERIOD between the two staircases in the enlarged building, although the west end is now built up. On the upper floor the round angle turrets, about 6 feet in internal diameter, added to the limited accommodation of the tower ; one of them is a garde-robe, and another has a garde-robe enter- ing off it. These turrets are well lighted, and have shot-holes beneath each window. The newel of the winding staircase is not perpendicular, and on a very short height it diverges some two or three feet near the top. The keep has been altered when the additions were erected, but to judge from its style it was probably built in the sixteenth century. Fig. 915 shows that the turrets are of a late description, being tall, with small crow-stepped gable between, and no battlement. FIG. 916. Aldie Castle. Old Chair. Not long after the erection of this tower the addition shown by hatched lines was made along its south side, with the effect of increasing its accommodation threefold, and rendering it a house which would make a good residence even now. From the small courtyard already referred to, a wide staircase, partly open and partly covered, leads to the first floor. At the foot of this stair, in the west wing, is the new vaulted kitchen with its wide fireplace. There was no kitchen in the old tower, as was frequently the case in similar keeps. Adjoining the kitchen on the ground floor there is a large cellar with its floor down some steps, so as to gain head-room under the floor above, which enters about half-way up the stair. The staircase continues to the level of the hall, and then terminates. The part of the new addition facing the west is now only