Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 2.djvu/364

 FOURTH PERIOD 34-8 FYVIE CASTLE FYVIE CASTLE, ABERDEENSHIRE. The famous castle of Fyvie is situated in the centre of Aberdeenshire, on the banks of the river Ythan, here a small sluggish stream, which probably at no very distant date wandered over most of the low-lying CLOSED 'PLATE? SERVANT* HELDRUr TOWER ENTRANCE; ROOMS' PRESTON TOWER MODERN KITCHEN GORDON TOWER .ENTRANCE: GROUND. FLOOR PLAN' FIG. 797. Fyvie Castle. Plan of Ground Floor, i haughs surrounding the mound on which the castle stands. Owing to the strong nature of the site, which was thus so well protected by water and marsh, this position has been occupied as a fortress or castle from early times. A small loch, about half a mile in length, but which was formerly of greater extent, curves round the site a little to the south. The mound is steep towards the river and flat round the building, slop- ing gradually away on all the other sides into a spacious finely wooded undulating park. The castle forms two sides of a quadrangle (Fig. 797), with the principal front towards the south, along which it measures 147 feet. The other front, facing the west, is 137 feet long. At the three corners are massive square towers finished with angle turrets and high crow-stepped gables, and in the centre of the south front are two projecting drum towers with the main entrance to the castle between them. These two towers, at the height of about 42 feet from the ground, are united by a bold arch 1 1 feet wide, into one grand central mass or pavilion called the Seton Tower (Fig. 798). Just beneath the springing i The Plans and South Elevations are reduced copies of drawings by J. Russell Mackenzie, Esq., Architect, Aberdeen, to whom and Messrs. C. and P. H. Chalmers, Solicitors, Aber- deen, we are indebted for permission to use them.