Cakemuir Castle (1)
This fine looking country house, some 14 miles south-east of Edinburgh, stands at the end of a minor public road, tucked into the hillside below Cake Muir, which is an extension of Fala Muir, where I just came down from. Indeed Fala Luggie Castle is only 3/4 of a mile from here, although quite a lot higher. The castle looks across the shallow valley of the Cakemuir Burn to Blackcastle Farm, which as the name implies, is where a castle once stood, thought to be the predecessor of this building.
Cakemuir as it stands today, is the product of many different building periods. The oldest part is the sturdy and substantial mid-16th century keep at this, the east end. Cakemuir is said to have obtained its name originally from the shelter and hospitality it provided for pilgrims on their way to Melrose Abbey. The words of an old ballad go:
See the way is long and drear,
Empty flasks and sorry cheer,
At Cakemuir there is bread and be'er.
In the name of every saint,
Let not weary pilgrim faint.
The tower is approximately square on plan, with a projecting circular stair-tower on its north-west angle. The stair-tower is rather curiously in-taken at second floor level, and then built out to the square above to form a rather small cap-house at parapet level.
The walls are massive, provided with numerous gun-loops but few windows, now rise four storeys to the parapet, with a garret storey above that. The floor levels have been altered however, as the building used to contain a storey less.
Cakemuir Castle (1)
This fine looking country house, some 14 miles south-east of Edinburgh, stands at the end of a minor public road, tucked into the hillside below Cake Muir, which is an extension of Fala Muir, where I just came down from. Indeed Fala Luggie Castle is only 3/4 of a mile from here, although quite a lot higher. The castle looks across the shallow valley of the Cakemuir Burn to Blackcastle Farm, which as the name implies, is where a castle once stood, thought to be the predecessor of this building.
Cakemuir as it stands today, is the product of many different building periods. The oldest part is the sturdy and substantial mid-16th century keep at this, the east end. Cakemuir is said to have obtained its name originally from the shelter and hospitality it provided for pilgrims on their way to Melrose Abbey. The words of an old ballad go:
See the way is long and drear,
Empty flasks and sorry cheer,
At Cakemuir there is bread and be'er.
In the name of every saint,
Let not weary pilgrim faint.
The tower is approximately square on plan, with a projecting circular stair-tower on its north-west angle. The stair-tower is rather curiously in-taken at second floor level, and then built out to the square above to form a rather small cap-house at parapet level.
The walls are massive, provided with numerous gun-loops but few windows, now rise four storeys to the parapet, with a garret storey above that. The floor levels have been altered however, as the building used to contain a storey less.