Description

Circa 1564. 4-storey and cap house, rectangular-plan tower house; 1761 wing adjoining with later 19th century wing; Scottish Baronial additions. Modernised by Rowand Anderson Paul and Partners, 1926, and Neil and Hurd, circa 1952. Coursed brown stone, ashlar surrounds. Corbelled parapet, enlarged windows.

NW (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: tower to left: blind wall, gun-loop to ground and 3rd floor, corbelled parapet, circular turnpike stair tower at NW corner (gun loop and small window near top) terminating in square cap house; 1761 wing: 2 ?-storey with later Baronial additions; timber door with glazed panel to left; single storey crowstepped gable entrance porch with inset Wauchope armorial panel above door, window to left return; projecting stone bipartite window above; stone dormer with finial breaking eaves. Round tower, corbelled, terminating in square crowstep gabled cap house in re-entrant angle; windows at each floor, window and gabled dormer to left return. Later 19th century addition: 1 ?-storey, irregular fenestration and distribution of gableheads and dormers; small gabled porch, door to right return; additional flat-roofed fuel store adjoining.

NE ELEVATION: blank wall, off centre window to ground and 1st floor left, gun loop to 3rd floor left; corbelled parapet connecting 2 watch-houses, crow-stepped gable, stone gablehead stack with flagpole.

SE (REAR) ELEVATION: 1564 tower to right: paired slit windows to ground floor; single windows to 1st and 3rd floor; paired windows to 2nd floor; gun loop to 3rd floor left; continuation of corbelled parapet above; crowstepped gable, stone gablehead stack, 2 cans; 3 single windows to left return. 1761 wing to left: 2?-storey, 4-bay regular fenestration; 2-leaf glazed door to ground floor right; later stone gabled dormers breaking eaves, stack at ridge between 1st and 2nd bay left; 3-storey single bay to left return, gablehead stack, no cans; rear adjoins 19th century wing.

SW ELEVATION: irregular sloping elevation; primarily 1 ? -storey: pair of windows with smaller window to left, 2 dormers breaking eaves almost above, small chimney to wallhead; modern piended single storey harled extension to ground floor centre; single window to right; slated mansard with bipartite window above right; further dormer to attic.

Enlarged windows: 2-pane, 4-pane, 9-pane and 12-pane timber sash and case. Later 19th century replacement piended slate roof, modern replacement cast-iron rainwater goods; parapet walkway drained by projecting stone spouts, one misaligned to avoid dripping in front of the Queen's Room.

INTERIOR: panelled timber shutters; ornate plaster cornices; inscribed beams in study; coved ceiling in drawing room; timber panelled Queen Mary's room; decorative tiled floor to hall and stone turnpike stair in circular tower.

WALLED GARDEN: random rubble wall with shaped stone copes forming rectangular garden and boundary to rear of the property.

STABLE RANGE (INCORPORATING GARDENER'S COTTAGE): L-shaped stable range: random rubble, timber stable doors; 8-pane timber sash and case windows; slate roof. Single storey, 3-bay cottage: coursed rubble, central door, 8-pane sash and case windows, skew gabled.

Statement of Interest

Cakemuir Castle is situated 4 miles SSE of Pathhead on the E side of a secluded valley near to Cakemuir Burn. Built for Adam Wauchope, the 5th son of Gilbert Wauchope of Niddrie, the house was used in 1567 by Mary, Queen of Scots who was fleeing danger dressed as a page. She rode from Borthwick to Cakemuir across the moors and a room still bears her name. She then went on to Dunbar. The tower house is roughly rectangular, with a turret and an 18th century W wing with later additions. There were very few defensive features, only a series of (now infilled) gunloops on the fourth floor and two roofed watch-boxes flanking the west gable chimney. A stone seat was provided in each for the occupants to view the countryside to the south and east. The tower has undergone many renovations, the SW wing was added in 1761 for Henry Wauchope, Secretary to Lord Bute. The last major additions were carried out in the 19th century for George Wright of Edinburgh who used it during the summer months. In 1915 it was noted the house was in good repair and now re-occupied, although it had been ruinous previously. Timber floors were re-laid between each storey, the parapet restored and the structure re-roofed at a shallower pitch than the original. It has since been modernised and resold. It has still a surviving mature walled garden with timber framed glass house, gardener's cottage and stable range (to SE of main house).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Cakemuir Castle at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q5018081

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)