Page:The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century (1887) - Volume 2.djvu/492

 FOURTH PERIOD 476 ABERDOUR CASTLE fourth Earl of Morton in 1553, so that we can almost certainly say that this part of the castle was built in the third quarter of the sixteenth century. The details of the second portion of the additions (Fig. 906) correspond very closely with those of the first portion,, and it is likely that this part of the building was added soon after the first extensions. The date of the erection of the keep seems not to be known, but, judging from its style, it may be set down as not later than the beginning of the fifteenth century. The Rev. W. Ross, LL.D., in his admirable work, Aberdour and Inchcolme, tells us that the Viponts had a castle here in the twelfth century, and he thinks it exceedingly likely that this keep was erected by them. We cannot indorse this opinion, as the architec- tural details and plan forbid such a conclusion, but in the case of the church, we assign to it a much higher antiquity than Dr. Ross claims for it. The roofless chapel of the castle, on the south side of the garden, consists of a chancel, nave, and south aisle. The chancel is 13 feet 3j inches wide, by 20 feet 10 inches long on the south side, and 1 8 feet 1 1 inches long on the north side. The nave is 49 feet 6J inches long by 17 feet wide ; the total width of the nave and aisle is 30 feet 7 inches. The foregoing measurements are all inside. The total length over the walls of nave and chancel is 79 feet ij inch, the width of the chancel outside is 1 8 feet 8j inches, and the width over nave and aisle outside is 35 feet 4 inches. The chancel and nave of the chapel (Fig. 908) are Norman. The former may be said to remain unaltered, but the nave has been con- siderably changed, probably in the fifteenth century, by the removal of the south wall, and the addition of an aisle, separated from the nave by an arcade of three bays, having circular splayed arches, supported by round pillars, with moulded base and caps. The Norman windows are narrow, and widely splayed inside. The chancel arch, 10 feet 5| inches wide, is in two orders, with hood moulding, and springs from the cushion FIG. 90(5. Aberdour Castle. Details of First Additions.