Dundas Castle

Dundas Castle

A Tudor-Gothic mansion designed by William Burn in 1818, built as a 2-storey U-plan structure with an adjoining enclosed stable court. The building adjoins an earlier tower house, listed separately. The main elevation presents a formidable appearance with polished ashlar sandstone facing (rubble to rear walls), a crenellated parapet, and circular section angle towers pierced with arrowslits. Base and eaves courses define the horizontal divisions.

The south entrance elevation is the principal facade, comprising a 4-bay main block flanked by angle towers and a lower 6-bay wing to the left. A broad Tudor-arched open porch with clasping polygonal towers marks the entrance, with a single window to its left return. The doorway itself features Tudor-arch moulding and is flanked by leaded windows; beyond it are 2-leaf Gothic panelled doors and a vestibule. Two single windows sit at first-floor level above. To the right, an advanced 3-light window projects from an advance bay with two windows above at first floor. The lower left wing contains a 7-light canted window at ground level, above which sits a traceried Tudor-arched window with single flanking windows to both floors. An advanced 3-stage tower projects to the far left with pointed-arch windows to its second and third stages; the remaining bays contain bipartite and single windows at ground level and Tudor-arched windows at first floor. A single-storey service wing links the mansion to the stable court.

The east elevation is nearly symmetrical, displaying 8 bays with predominantly Tudor-arched windows at first-floor level. An advanced, gabled 2-bay section is flanked by octagonal towers, with a carved armorial crest set in the gablehead. To the right, a rectangular 3-stage element contains single windows, with single windows in the remaining bays.

The north elevation shows a 6-bay arrangement of irregular single and bipartite windows. A recessed wall with pointed-arch doorways connects to the adjoining earlier tower house, behind which stands a lean-to single-storey building.

Throughout, the windows are predominantly plate glass timber sash and case. The roofs comprise pitched, monopitched and piended grey slate, graded in tone. Tall clustered polygonal ashlar flues rise from ridge and wallhead, with cast-iron rainwater goods completing the external details.

The stable court, also designed by William Burn in 1818, forms a single-storey U-plan structure that creates an L-plan forecourt in conjunction with the mansion's south front. Constructed of polished ashlar sandstone, its principal east elevation features a Tudor-arched gateway at near-centre, flanked by rounded towers and set with a panelled timber gate with decorative iron hinges, studs and handles. Crenellated frontages edge the east and south elevations, with angle pepperpots to the corners, and a battered base course runs throughout. Blind windows are regularly disposed across the facades. Paired polygonal flues top the ridges.

The interior elevations of the stable court show considerable variation: the east side rises to single storey with an attic level, the south contains roofless former hayloft and carriage houses, while the west presents a curtain wall. The northeast reveals a near-symmetrical 2-storey house (service wing to the mansion) flanked by a door with 3-pane fanlight; to its left is a panelled door with glazing panel. A tall Tudor carriage arch stands at the northwest corner. Timber sash and case windows and cast-iron rainwater goods complete the specification.

The interior has been restored and adapted for part use as a corporate entertaining venue. The hall features rib vaulting beneath 4-centred arches, supported by foliated capitals and bosses. Gothic shutters survive throughout. The staircase is lined with neo-Jacobean wainscotting added by C H Greig in 1900, with leaded and stained glass windows and neo-Jacobean columns at first-floor level. A coved and coffered ceiling with tooled bosses occupies the upper space. The library displays Gothic panelling to its doors and pilastered bookshelves. The gun room features lining boards, while the billiard room contains panelling with dado rail.