Sunday, May 09, 2010
Craigie's Close, Kirkwall. Named for David Craigie of Oversanday also of Gairsay fl.1670, much later rebuilt by Paterson as a double tenement. References to Craigie's close and house and also to his house and yard. In 1733 W.Liddell of Hammer given permission to enclose 50' of land at the end of Craigie's yard. By 1826 the N side was a ruin, at which time the place owned by W.W.Bain. In 1882 the houses on the S side were demolished.
Originally I took this for (part of) Parliament Close. It lies at the top end of Bridge Street behind the Careers Scotland building by St.Olaf Wynd, with the old shipping storehouses also nearby from when boats sailed up the burn from the sea. This places it near the site of St.Olaf church and graveyard and also near the the Langstean that bridged the Burn of Pabdale (opposite the end of Bridge St.Wynd). I shall call the far side S, giving the RH side as W. The house remains at the W, back of number 6, you can see the dark trace of the steeply pitched second storey roof there still [my only unphotographed item, so not in the photo section]. And in true medieval fashion it is end on to the street. This is almost entirely unencumbered by post-17th century stuff as far as I can tell. This is the same house shown in Hossack except reduced to one storey since that was drawn. The W side faces the Commercial Bank and the wall has several bay windows. Set in the far end is a beautiful arched fireplace. At its LH side there is a rubble filled gap of about a foot and then a shorter length of wall. On what I take to be the E side of the close is another incomplete wall with a bay that I assume to have been another bay window. At the back of the close is a mostly whitewashed wall wth a very plain and simple fire from a much later period. This S wall is a little proud of the house end. Coming out and going to the Commercial Bank there is a well decorated doorway in the W wall that has been blocked off on the other side.
I overheard a guide tell tourists that things had died out in the 16th century, but I'm sure lairds other than Mansie Hay would also have continued the tradition. The bank has been built on the site of Parliament Close, which had by then become a rookery where boys played in the ruins, with two entrances and a rear exit. By this time the SE corner of Parliament House had been turned into a stables - could it be that Craigie's house and Parliament House are one and the same ?? Craigie's house is one of several important buildings to continue the use of red freestone in the fashion of the Earl and Bishop Palaces. Its not far from one of the original ends of the Ba. Another of these is Spout [album updated] at the other end of the Bishop's lands (probably belonging to the same circle of people). But though this is now the Ba Castle the game originally finished at the boundary dyke halfway up Wellington Street. I think I now know why the authors of "Monumenta Orcadia" thought this the most likely building in Kirkwall to date back to Norse times. It is built upon land belonging to the member of an early earl's retinue, the name Cuikosquoy later being replaced by Quoyangrie. As we do not have the floor of this place yet it could still be on an early foundation - I cannot tell if the arch now incorporated in the wall of a Junction Road house is a fireplace or a vault. I also wonder how far it came onto what is now Main Street.
Originally I took this for (part of) Parliament Close. It lies at the top end of Bridge Street behind the Careers Scotland building by St.Olaf Wynd, with the old shipping storehouses also nearby from when boats sailed up the burn from the sea. This places it near the site of St.Olaf church and graveyard and also near the the Langstean that bridged the Burn of Pabdale (opposite the end of Bridge St.Wynd). I shall call the far side S, giving the RH side as W. The house remains at the W, back of number 6, you can see the dark trace of the steeply pitched second storey roof there still [my only unphotographed item, so not in the photo section]. And in true medieval fashion it is end on to the street. This is almost entirely unencumbered by post-17th century stuff as far as I can tell. This is the same house shown in Hossack except reduced to one storey since that was drawn. The W side faces the Commercial Bank and the wall has several bay windows. Set in the far end is a beautiful arched fireplace. At its LH side there is a rubble filled gap of about a foot and then a shorter length of wall. On what I take to be the E side of the close is another incomplete wall with a bay that I assume to have been another bay window. At the back of the close is a mostly whitewashed wall wth a very plain and simple fire from a much later period. This S wall is a little proud of the house end. Coming out and going to the Commercial Bank there is a well decorated doorway in the W wall that has been blocked off on the other side.
I overheard a guide tell tourists that things had died out in the 16th century, but I'm sure lairds other than Mansie Hay would also have continued the tradition. The bank has been built on the site of Parliament Close, which had by then become a rookery where boys played in the ruins, with two entrances and a rear exit. By this time the SE corner of Parliament House had been turned into a stables - could it be that Craigie's house and Parliament House are one and the same ?? Craigie's house is one of several important buildings to continue the use of red freestone in the fashion of the Earl and Bishop Palaces. Its not far from one of the original ends of the Ba. Another of these is Spout [album updated] at the other end of the Bishop's lands (probably belonging to the same circle of people). But though this is now the Ba Castle the game originally finished at the boundary dyke halfway up Wellington Street. I think I now know why the authors of "Monumenta Orcadia" thought this the most likely building in Kirkwall to date back to Norse times. It is built upon land belonging to the member of an early earl's retinue, the name Cuikosquoy later being replaced by Quoyangrie. As we do not have the floor of this place yet it could still be on an early foundation - I cannot tell if the arch now incorporated in the wall of a Junction Road house is a fireplace or a vault. I also wonder how far it came onto what is now Main Street.
Labels: Craigie's Close, Parliament House
