Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 1.djvu/554

 THIRD PERIOD 534 CROOKSTON CASTLE J. Stewart of Darnley. It thus came to be held by his descendant, Henry, Lord Darnley (1546-67). The late proprietor, Sir J. Maxwell of Pollok, had the ruins put in good repair, and the top of the tower rebuilt some years ago. There is no record of the date of the erection of this castle, and it is generally supposed to belong to the thirteenth century. It is not unlikely that the site was occupied with a castle at even an earlier date. The great ditch (Fig. 455) and mound, which still surround the summit of the hill, seem to point to this as one of the ancient fortresses whose site and defences were made available in connection with a castle of later date. Some of the features of the existing castle, such as the great thickness of the walls and the carefully built vault of the base- ment, with its bold projecting splayed ribs, certainly indicate consider- able antiquity, but the distinguishing features of the thirteenth-century castles are entirely wanting. There is no great wall of enceinte with towers and donjon, but simply a central keep, no doubt of a somewhat unusual plan, but still analogous in almost all its features to the castles of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, such as Dundonald, Borthwick, and Hermitage. FIG. 456. Crookston Castle. Plans and Section. Thus the main block of the castle (Fig. 456) is a parallelogram 60 feet long by 40 feet wide, having on the basement the finely vaulted hall (Fig. 457) above referred to. One of the ribs is raised at the haunch in a peculiar manner to give height for the door (Fig. 456u). Over this vault is the great hall, with pointed vault 28 feet high (Section, Fig. 456), and the usual large fireplace, and windows with stone seats.