Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 1.djvu/435

 SANQUHAR CASTLE __ 415 _ THIRD PERIOD on the first floor, of which a suggested restoration is shown on the plan. The interior of the original wing has had the walls hollowed out at the same time, so as to increase the size of the private room. The remaining portions of the additions (to the right, Fig. 358) are of common rubble-work, and seem to be later. A wing has been added against the north end of the keep also, where, for the various floors, joist-holes, which are still visible, were cut in the wall of the keep. SANQUHAR CASTLE, DUMFRIESSHIRE. Sanquhar Castle stands on the edge of a steep bank rising up from the valley of the Nith, adjoining the village of Sanquhar, and is protected by this bank along its south and west sides, having probably had a ditch to the north. It has been a splendid building, but is now in a state of complete ruin. The castle was approached from the village along an avenue of trees, of which a few pairs still remain. At the end of the avenue was the gateway leading into the outer courtyard at the north- west corner. This gateway, of which little remains, is seventeenth- century work. Entering from the east side of this courtyard is the castle proper. Together the courtyard and castle form an oblong in plan (Fig. 359), measuring over both about 167 feet from east to west FIG. 359. Sanquhar Castle. General Plan. by 128 feet from north to south. The castle is entered from the outer courtyard by an arched doorway about 7 feet 6 inches wide, and was protected by a great round tower. From this door the inner court-