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Blue sky reflected on water .... |
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Reflected cloud, sand and organic particles create an interesting abstract composition ..... |
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Sand relief cut by water rivulets formed as the tide recedes and water rushes back to the sea ..... |
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Waves - watercolour sketch |
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Today Louis joins us on a late afternoon walk on the beach. His idea of fun is chasing seabirds along the shore line - of course he has no chance of catching them! |
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Princess decides to watch, her short legs can't keep up with Louis's galloping strides. |
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The sea is an amazing mercurial blue ........ |
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.......... and the sky many shades of blue and pink |
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" Light on Water " - Textile wall hanging |
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An ancient key excavated in the castle grounds. There are no longer any doors to lock,but who and what was once locked away by this key .......... and what tales could it tell? |
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Tantallon Castle - Main doorway to the Inner Close. I chose to visit in Winter,hoping to experience a little of how it may have felt to live on this cliff edge in cold windy weather in Medieval times.The temperature was actually above freezing point but it felt much colder. |
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It's possible to climb to the battlements via this staircase,however with gusts of cold wind and flurries of snowflakes blasting through the openings,I decided for my safely to return to ground level. |
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Window seats. |
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My fingers were becoming numb and as I struggled to keep my camera still and dry,my thoughts turned to fires and how people in the Middle Ages kept warm in Winter. It would have been the duty of a number of servants to keep the many fires fuelled with logs from nearby woods. |
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| Image source - Wikipedia. Woven tapestries were important for draught exclusion and wall covering.By the 14th century they had become a necessary and fashionable commodity in every wealthy household in Europe. The most famous early tapestry workshops were based in Paris and Arras.Composed of wool,silk and gold these tapestries were produced in vast quantities The illustration above,painted around 1335 depicts King David II of Scotland and Queen Joan being presented to Philip IV, King of France. The tapestry in the background looks quite simple compared to later more elaborate designs. |
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| Image source - Wikipedia. Tapestry woven in Flanders at the end of the fourteen hundreds. |
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Below the castle waves crash against the rocks. When the tide is in the rocks are completely covered. |
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The Dovecot, built around 1500. Pigeons were reared as a convenient food source. |
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Amazingly,inside the building the stone roosting boxes are still intact. |
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Behind the dovecot a snow shower suddenly begins to obscure the Bass Rock. |
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In all seasons this rock has a habit of appearing like a mirage or phantom island. In a previous post I've shown the Bass Rock in summer,along with a brief history....... HERE. |
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By the time I reach the car park it's snowing quite heavily..... but the landscape looks spectacular, shrouded in a veil of snowflakes. |
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As I leave,I try to visualize how the castle would have looked in such weather nearly seven hundred years ago,turrets reaching up to the sky and the Bass Rock lurking in the background like a hump backed giant. |
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On the other side Tantallon overlooks farmland and North Berwick Law - the pointed hill. In the 13th century this land is likely have been covered in native woodland,supporting a variety of wildlife such as wild boar,deer,wildfowl and wolves.Wolves became extinct in Scotland in the mid 1700s. |
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Five minutes,and two or three miles along the road the snow stops and the sky clears! In the foreground young shoots of winter sown grain suddenly look very green. Thank you for visiting. |
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Tantallon Castle near North Berwick, East Lothian. Tantallon Castle stands on a rocky headland looking out to the Forth and the North Sea. It was built in the 1350s as a fortress- residence by William 1st Earl of Douglas. William had spent his youth in France and would have been well acquainted with French architecture and design. The Douglases were one of the most powerful baronial families in Scotland and over the following centuries the castle was the scene of banquets,sieges and intrigue. After Archibald the 8th Earl died in 1588 it was no longer used as a private residence. |
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In 1651 the castle was severely damaged by Oliver Cromwell's guns and never rebuilt. It is now in the care of Historic Scotland. |
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The Mid Tower housed the lord's most senior officials. |
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The East Tower originally of five storeys had single room on each floor with a latrine closet. This may have been guest accommodation. |
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A pedestrian walkway now replaces the drawbridge. Below is the Ditch which increased protection for the main curtain wall. |
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The Douglas Tower,once a seven storey 30 metre high structure,contained the private quarters of the lord and lady of the castle. |
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Information board illustration - showing how the castle may have looked when first built. Tantallon was the last "curtain wall" design castle to be built in Scotland. |
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The Inner Close,behind the curtain wall,would originally have been enclosed on all sides by a high wall on the cliff edge. Blue skies give a false impression of the weather conditions on the day I visited.The wind was bitterly cold and snow flakes were constantly flying about,even in the sunshine. |
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Great hall extension. |
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| Image source - Wikipedia Reconstruction of a late Medieval great hall in Yorkshire. In Scotland at this time the floor may have been stone and the tapestries of French design. This was an entertaining,feasting and dancing room. The minstrels gallery would have been on the wall facing the lord's table, and most commonly of wooden construction with stairs connected to a passageway,so that the performers could come and go unseen. |
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| Image Source - Wikipedia Musicians and entertainers would either be retained at the lord of the castle or travel from place to place around Europe. Instruments played are likely to have been,fiddles,bagpipes,flutes, flageolets and drums. |
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Below the great hall lay the kitchens and other utility rooms. |
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| Information board illustration of a servant with pots. Copper alloy pot handle,ceramic buttons and bird headed spout found at Tantallon. An army of anonymous servants cooked,cleaned,sewed,brewed,baked,nursed,cut wood,tended animals,guarded,prayed,shoveled all manner of muck and much much more. The kitchen would probably have been one of the more desirable places to work.......and sleep. |
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The Well in the Inner Close,sunk to a depth of over 30 metres,was the castle's main water supply. |
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Information board showing layout plan. To be continued ..... |
