Huntingtower Castle - Architecture

Architecture

The original 'Huntingtower' (now known as the 'Eastern Tower') was a free-standing building, constructed primarily as a gatehouse. It consists of three storeys and a garret under the roof. Around the end of the 15th century a second tower (the 'Western Tower') was built alongside the Huntingtower, with a gap of about 3 metres between them. This second tower was L-shaped in plan and was connected to the Huntingtower by a wooden bridge below the level of the battlements. It is thought that this construction was for defensive reasons: if one tower was attacked and taken, residents could flee into the second and draw up the bridge between the two. The space between the two towers was built up in the late 17th century resulting in the Castle as it stands today. At the same time the number and size of windows was greatly increased, particularly in the Western Tower.

A great hall was built against the north side of the Western Tower in the 16th century, but nothing remains of it above ground except a raggle showing the position of the roof against the Tower. The defensive walls that originally enclosed the Castle (and probably other vanished subsidiary buildings) have also been removed.

Among the features of interest at Huntingtower are early 16th century paintings which survive on the first floor of the Eastern Tower. These include fragmentary wall paintings showing flowers, animals and Biblical scenes, and a largely complete decorative scheme on the wooden ceiling. Among the designs are grotesque animals (including a version of the green man) on the main beams, and Renaissance-style knotwork patterns on the overlying planks. This painted ceiling is believed to be the earliest of its kind to survive substantially in Scotland. Minor fragments of wall-paintings also survive in the Western Tower.