Stables, Cakemuir Castle

Cakemuir Castle, situated 4 miles south-south-east of Pathhead on the east side of a secluded valley near Cakemuir Burn, is a substantial tower house built circa 1564 for Adam Wauchope, fifth son of Gilbert Wauchope of Niddrie. The castle comprises a roughly rectangular 4-storey tower house with cap house, a 1761 wing adjoining to the south-west, and later 19th-century additions in the Scottish Baronial style. The building is constructed of coursed brown stone with ashlar surrounds, featuring a corbelled parapet and enlarged windows. It has been modernised by Rowand Anderson Paul and Partners in 1926 and by Neil and Hurd circa 1952.

The north-west principal elevation displays the original tower to the left with a blind wall punctuated by a gun-loop to ground and 3rd floor, and a corbelled parapet. A circular turnpike stair tower at the north-west corner, with gun loop and small window near the top, terminates in a square cap house. The 1761 wing to the right stands 2½ storeys with later Baronial additions. It features a timber door with glazed panel and a single-storey crowstepped gable entrance porch with an inset Wauchope armorial panel above the door and a window to the left return. A projecting stone bipartite window sits above, and a stone dormer with finial breaks the eaves. A round tower, corbelled and terminating in a square crowstep-gabled cap house in the re-entrant angle, contains windows at each floor, a window and gabled dormer to the left return. The later 19th-century addition is 1½ storeys with irregular fenestration and gableheads and dormers; a small gabled porch with door to the right return adjoins a flat-roofed fuel store.

The north-east elevation presents a largely blank wall with an off-centre window to ground and 1st floor left, a gun loop to 3rd floor left, and a corbelled parapet connecting two watch-houses, a crow-stepped gable, and a stone gablehead stack with flagpole.

The south-east rear elevation shows the 1564 tower to the right with paired slit windows to the ground floor, single windows to 1st and 3rd floors, paired windows to 2nd floor, and a gun loop to 3rd floor left. The corbelled parapet continues above, with a crowstepped gable, stone gablehead stack, and two cans. Three single windows occupy the left return. The 1761 wing to the left stands 2½ storeys with 4-bay regular fenestration, a 2-leaf glazed door to ground floor right, and later stone gabled dormers breaking the eaves. A stone stack sits at the ridge between 1st and 2nd bay left. A 3-storey single bay to the left return features a gablehead stack without cans. The rear adjoins the 19th-century wing.

The south-west elevation displays an irregular sloping profile, primarily 1½ storeys, with a pair of windows and smaller window to the left, two dormers breaking eaves almost above, and a small chimney to the wallhead. A modern piended single-storey harled extension occupies the ground floor centre, with a single window to the right. A slated mansard with bipartite window above sits to the right, with a further dormer to the attic.

Windows throughout are timber sash and case in 2-pane, 4-pane, 9-pane and 12-pane configurations. The roof is a later 19th-century replacement of piended slate, with modern replacement cast-iron rainwater goods. The parapet walkway is drained by projecting stone spouts, one deliberately misaligned to avoid dripping in front of the Queen's Room.

The interior contains panelled timber shutters, ornate plaster cornices, and inscribed beams in the study. The drawing room features a coved ceiling, whilst the timber-panelled Queen Mary's room retains decorative character. The hall displays a decorative tiled floor, and a stone turnpike stair rises within the circular tower.

The castle has considerable historical significance. In 1567, Mary, Queen of Scots, fleeing danger and dressed as a page, rode from Borthwick to Cakemuir across the moors, and a room still bears her name before she continued to Dunbar. The tower contained very few defensive features: a series of now-infilled gunloops on the fourth floor and two roofed watch-boxes flanking the west gable chimney, each fitted with a stone seat for viewing the countryside to the south and east.

The south-west wing was added in 1761 for Henry Wauchope, Secretary to Lord Bute. Major 19th-century additions were carried out for George Wright of Edinburgh, who used the property during the summer months. In 1915 the house was recorded as being in good repair and re-occupied, though it had previously been ruinous. Timber floors were relaid between each storey, the parapet restored, and the structure re-roofed at a shallower pitch than the original.

The estate includes a walled garden of random rubble with shaped stone copes forming a rectangular enclosure to the rear. A stable range to the south-east of the main house, incorporating a gardener's cottage, consists of an L-shaped formation of random rubble with timber stable doors, 8-pane timber sash and case windows, and slate roof. The single-storey cottage component is of coursed rubble with a central door, 8-pane sash and case windows, and skew gable. The walled garden retains a mature character with a timber-framed glasshouse.