Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 1.djvu/232

 SECOND PERIOD 212 CRICHTON CASTLE about 9 feet above the floor. There is the usual narrow slit for air through the outer wall. The only entrance to the hall (Fig. 179) was by an outer door at the level of the floor, above the door to the basement, there being no internal communication from the basement to the upper floors. The hall is 33 feet 6 inches long, by 19 feet 8 inches wide, and 23 feet 9 inches high to the top of its pointed vault. This height has not been divided by any inter- mediate floor, but has been all included in the hall. This is apparent from the position of the large windows, which go well up into the vault, and from the sloping sill of the upper window in the north gable (Fig. 178). Pio. 179. Crichton Castle. Plan of First Floor. The arrangement of the kitchen of the keep (Fig. 179) is very peculiar, being an entresol formed in the haunch of the vault of the basement floor immediately above the dungeon. It is entered only by a stair going down from the north end of the hall, where, by borrowing part of the thickness of the outer wall, a space of about 12 feet by 7, with a fireplace, is obtained. Adjoining the entrance door a newel stair leads to the upper floor and the roof. There appear to have been the usual private rooms above the hall. These were probably vaulted, with a stone roof resting on the