Picton Castle

Picton Castle

A substantial fortified residence comprising a rectangular block of undercroft, hall, gallery and attic storeys extending east to west, with four main half-round bastions (two on the north side and two on the south). At the west end a castellated Regency wing of four storeys replaces a former fifth bastion. The entrance lies at the east between a pair of flanking turrets, approached from a raised terrace. The entire structure is built of irregularly coursed hammer-dressed limestone masonry, with the Regency wing recently re-rendered. Crenellated parapets conceal slate roofs throughout.

The east entrance elevation presents a narrow centre between the turrets, featuring a Norman-style doorway with a deep round archway added in later work. The doorway rises to its own corbelled and crenellated parapet, crowned with the family crest. Two Norman-style windows above serve as the east windows of the chapel, with leaded panes. A single sash window with exposed frame, round-headed, lights the attic over the chapel. The whole is surmounted by a raised crenellated parapet on a corbel course, following local tradition, with loopholes in the parapet mostly now filled. The flanking turrets contain eight-pane sash windows serving rooms at hall and gallery levels.

The north and south elevations of the older part display broadly similar characteristics. On each side the east bastion is wider than the west bastion, with the northeast being the widest of all; it incorporates a large spiral staircase within its wall thickness. All bastions rise from spurs, appearing octagonal at ground level. On the south side an additional turret stands to the right of the west bastion, housing another staircase. The central section reveals double-height windows lighting the hall, with the gallery to its east side. The fenestration consists largely of exposed-frame sash windows. The hall windows on each side are tall fixed lights with transoms and round heads, four panes wide. Above are 12-pane attic windows, five facing north and four facing south. The undercroft contains 12-pane barred or sash windows. Windows in the bastions are of sash type, with two slit windows in the northeast.

The Regency wing to the west comprises four storeys. A crenellated parapet over a corbel table conceals the roofs behind. Each west corner is formed as a slightly projecting three-quarter round turret. The fenestration is regular with exposed-frame sash windows, apart from some blank panels to the west and north. The west elevation shows three windows, the north and south elevations four each. Windows are generally 12-pane, reducing to 6 panes on the top storey. The windows of the main room facing south feature plate glass with transoms and round blank heads decorated in Norman style.

Interior

Medieval features survive principally in the undercroft. At the east end, beneath the present entrance, are the wall slots of the original portcullis, with cross-loops behind commanding the corridor. Guard-rooms occupy each side. The two east bastions contain vaults with eight ribs springing from a low height; the extrados of each rib is built up for some distance before the vault panels spring from it. Beneath the hall, the undercroft comprises two rows of three cross-ribbed vaults with transverse ribs and a central spine wall. These ribs are chamfered at each edge. A large spiral staircase adjoins the northeast bastion.

The hall represents the principal achievement of mid-18th-century alterations. It is designed with joinery and plasterwork in the same architectural order, with walls divided into panels by broad plasterwork strips. Deep round-headed window recesses frame views outward. A Doric plasterwork frieze and cornice with triglyphs and mutules crown the walls. The east gallery features a balustrade with turned balusters, while beneath and to the rear, centrally, the door from the main entrance passage provides access. The gallery centre-bay projects forward, with circular columns fronting square ones. The centre-bay frieze carries triglyphs; the outer-bays frieze is plain; both carry mutules. At the south side of the gallery a quarter-landing staircase features big square newels, turned balusters, moulded handrails, and close strings. A west doorway with Doric frieze and broken pediment, round columns, and a six-panel door with broad architrave opens from the hall. The floor is of white marble with smaller black quarries. The principal chimneypiece is by Henry Cheere, with jambs featuring herms, a tablet on the frieze depicting cherubs shearing and other rustic scenes. The hearth tiles carry black crests, possibly not original. Large cast-iron firedogs and back complete the piece.

The Library occupies the southeast bastion as a circular room, with all joinery except window frames, set in very deep recesses, cut on the curve. Ionic pilasters separate the bookcases. Fine late 18th-century ceiling plasterwork is divided radially into segments.

The room in the southwest bastion contains a Cheere chimneypiece with overmantel and broken pediment, decorated with cherubs lighting a fire with bellows.

The chapel, reached from the hall gallery, was formerly 'handsomely wainscotted with mahogany' but all now appears to have been decoratively painted in the 19th century and is currently plain-painted. The ceiling comprises two bays separated by an elliptical arch. The east bay is panelled, while the west bay is decorated with stars in relief on the plaster. Two round-headed east windows display stained glass by Alexander Gibbs, circa 1890. Altar rails with turned balusters, and box pews facing inward on each side complete the interior.

Above the Library is a room formerly described as an 'elegant breakfasting room'. Now used as a bedroom, it retains a ceiling of good plasterwork and a fireplace evidently by Cheere, probably removed from the Library beneath, decorated with a boar hunting scene.

The Regency wing contains a staircase hall aligned across the building and two large reception rooms: the south now serves as the dining room, the north as the drawing room. The staircase hall features a delicate gothic cornice and a central groined vault with panelled pilasters, designed to manage the junction where the main central corridor from the old part of the house meets it. A fine staircase with bracketed cut strings, large turned balusters, and a handrail coiled at the curtail step rises through the space. The dining room has a cornice with modillions; the drawing room a lighter cornice. A central ceiling roundel in the dining room displays delicate plasterwork with rinceau trails and an acanthus leaf feature at the centre. Walls are finished in plasterwork panels outlined with small raised mouldings. Doors are six-panelled, probably walnut, with two communicating doors being single-faced, having originally been cupboard doors. A Cheere chimneypiece in the dining room bears seashell carvings and cherubs skating on ice. Door surrounds carry modified Doric entablatures.