Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 2.djvu/62

FOURTH PERIOD SPEDLIN S TOWER walls of the two lower stories are massive and strong, being from 9 to 10 feet in thickness. BASEMENT FLAN FIG. 513. Spedlin's Tower. Plans and Section. The entrance door is on the ground floor, near the south-east angle. This portion of the walls has been restored in modern times, but the straight stair leading to the first floor has always been in its present position. It is quite possible however that the original entrance door- way was on the first floor, immediately above the present entrance, where there is now a window to a small wall-chamber. The door from the hall to the wall-chamber would in that case represent the inner doorway to the keep, and the existing straight staircase would be the mode of access down from the hall to the ground floor. This staircase is only 2 feet 10 inches wide, while the steps of the newel stair to the upper floors are 3 feet 4 inches long. The former was thus too narrow for the principal entrance staircase. The ground floor is vaulted (Section, Fig. 513), and is lighted with a narrow loophole at each end. It has a portion divided off with a stone wall pierced with two doors. This was probably the private wine-cellar. The hall occupies the first floor, and is also vaulted. It was originally lighted with a window in the east wall, and another in the west wall near the upper or fireplace end, and there seems to have been also a similar window at the south end of the hall. The two former have stone seats