Constructing Thornlea: A Visit to Muchalls Castle

Muchalls Castle front view

In yesterday’s post I described my efforts to set Jonathan Carleton’s Virginia estate in a specific area of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Today I’m going to describe what the exterior of the manor house looks like. The intention of Carleton’s uncle and adoptive father, Sir Harrison Carleton, was to build a structure that visually evoked the Highland seat of their Scottish clan. L-plan castles were common from the 13th to the 17th century in the British Isles and across Europe, favored because they offer strategic vantages on the adjacent walls from which defenders can blanket the fortress’s entrance with deadly crossfire in case of attack. So it seemed a logical option for an 18th-century reconstruction of Clan Carleton’s manor house in Virginia.

After searching the internet for images of Scottish castles, I fortuitously came across one that closely resembles what I have in mind: Muchalls Castle which overlooks the North Sea in the countryside of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find many interior shots, so we’ll have to focus mainly on the exterior. But good enough. Let’s take a tour!

Rear view showing back of west extension

This castle’s lower level is the original 14th-century Romanesque, double-groined tower house built by the Frasers of Muchalls. A barrel-vaulted passage gives access to a reception chamber where the laird would meet with business visitors, storerooms, a guard room, and a dungeon. This level also houses the medieval groin-vaulted kitchen with its original flagstone floor and huge walk-in fireplace. Its interior wall is much thicker than those in the rest of the castle to support the upper levels, which it’s speculated might once have included a defensive tower. The wall also encloses a concealed spiral staircase that servants would have used to carry food up to the dining room above.

View of bartizans

The Frasers sold the property to the Hays in 1415, but by 1619 it had passed to the Burnetts of Leys. The 17th-century castle was begun by Alexander Burnett and completed by his son, Sir Thomas Burnett, in 1627. The second floor (first floor in Britain) was built over the original structure. On the corners of the castle’s upper levels Burnett added round turrets supported by corbels, two of which are shown at left. Called bartizans, they form circular nooks with small lookout windows inside many of the bedrooms.

Rear of side wing with additions

The castle’s original defensive features include numerous arrow slits in its exterior walls. Burnett also added a subterranean crypt, massive chimneys on the building’s crow-stepped gable ends, an entrance courtyard with crenellated walls and two sets of triple gunloops flanking the arched gates, and high stone-walled terraced gardens. Subsequent owners expanded the structure to the present day four-story castle with a wing extending from the west end, visible in the photo above and the one at right showing the rear of the side wing. Thornlea lacks those additions, so you’ll have to imagine it with a flat exterior wall along the side wing and the end of the main wing.

Great Hall plasterwork over-mantel and ceiling

The second level includes most of the main reception rooms, including the great hall, a drawing room and a study. The ceilings of these rooms are totally covered in original 17th-century plasterwork featuring coats of arms and biblical and other historical figures. Dating to 1624 and in practically perfect condition, they’re considered among the finest examples of plasterwork in Scotland. The great hall fireplace has an original plaster over-mantel with Egyptian-style caryatid figures and King James’ Arms. It’s so large that one can walk erect inside it, and a bench is built in where several people can hold a meeting. It also contains a hidden feature called the Laird’s Lug, a secret listening system that allowed the laird to overhear conversations in the great hall from his suite directly above! Let the intriguer beware!

The third level consists of a number of bedrooms including the Laird’s Bedroom, the Priest’s Bedroom; the Queen’s Bedroom, in case she were to visit; and even the Queen’s Winter Bedroom. Each of the bedrooms has a fireplace and what would have been dressing rooms in the 17th century, now converted to bathrooms.

The exterior differences are minor. Faced with Virginia limestone, Thornlea appears grey rather than brown, and, of course, doesn’t have a rear addition. But otherwise, Muchalls Castle is a very good stand-in for the manor. Tomorrow I’m going to post an excerpt from the beginning of Chapter Two that will hopefully help you to visualize the estate and manor more vividly. Be sure to join me to take a look!

Images of Muchalls Castle are from Wikipedia and Alchetron and are in the public domain.