Newark Castle, Fife (4)
Not a pretty sight, but the masonry tells a story.
The 3rd period of building work here occurred in the late 16th century, when a new house was built on the second period ground floor, extending from the cellars to the wall of the tower and having a stair tower towards the courtyard. The little stair tower we will see better in the next picture, but what is very distinguishable here is the diagonal line of crow-steps that formed the gable of this late 16th century work, leading up to the chimney, the outline of which can be seen embedded in the wall.
The ugly mess on the left, is of course the remains of the round north-east tower. M&R, who had the advantage of seeing it comparatively complete, state that "The round tower contains five floors, each provided with a fireplace. At every stage the shape of the rooms varies in a most extraordinary manner, no two floors being the same in plan."
The castle buildings occupied the east side of the promontory, the west was occupied by a fully enclosed courtyard - only fragments of which remain. At its far end, the courtyard is enclosed by a "strong south wall of enceinte", which presumably dates back to before the 16th century. All the wall along the west side has gone, for once not removed by the hand of man for building new buildings, but reclaimed by Mother Nature, who has undermined the cliff upon which it stood!
At this, the northern end, the courtyard wall returned to the building at the near corner - the little ledge near the warning sign probably representing the height of the top of the wall. The entrance gate was here, "strongly defended with double gates, each secured with bars inside, the holes for which still exist". There are also reports that that there was originally a defensive ditch, and therefore a drawbridge here, although it was presumably filled in in the late 17th century.
Newark Castle, Fife (4)
Not a pretty sight, but the masonry tells a story.
The 3rd period of building work here occurred in the late 16th century, when a new house was built on the second period ground floor, extending from the cellars to the wall of the tower and having a stair tower towards the courtyard. The little stair tower we will see better in the next picture, but what is very distinguishable here is the diagonal line of crow-steps that formed the gable of this late 16th century work, leading up to the chimney, the outline of which can be seen embedded in the wall.
The ugly mess on the left, is of course the remains of the round north-east tower. M&R, who had the advantage of seeing it comparatively complete, state that "The round tower contains five floors, each provided with a fireplace. At every stage the shape of the rooms varies in a most extraordinary manner, no two floors being the same in plan."
The castle buildings occupied the east side of the promontory, the west was occupied by a fully enclosed courtyard - only fragments of which remain. At its far end, the courtyard is enclosed by a "strong south wall of enceinte", which presumably dates back to before the 16th century. All the wall along the west side has gone, for once not removed by the hand of man for building new buildings, but reclaimed by Mother Nature, who has undermined the cliff upon which it stood!
At this, the northern end, the courtyard wall returned to the building at the near corner - the little ledge near the warning sign probably representing the height of the top of the wall. The entrance gate was here, "strongly defended with double gates, each secured with bars inside, the holes for which still exist". There are also reports that that there was originally a defensive ditch, and therefore a drawbridge here, although it was presumably filled in in the late 17th century.