A small gate disguised as a door in a vast country house disguised as a castle.  Advertised as Scotland’s largest inhabited castle, Floors Castle certainly looks the part but despite the name and the castellated battlements this elegantly fanciful building has never been a fortress.  Built for the first Duke of Roxburghe in 1721, Floors was originally a plain, symmetrical Georgian country house.  In 1837 the 6th duke invited architect William Playfair to remodel the building and over the next ten years new wings, towers, turrets and battlements transformed Floors into the fairytale castle it is today.

 

A corner connecting one of the wings to the original house
One of the nineteenth century wings
Doors, turrets and castellations

 

My photos only show a few corners of the vast building.  The Castle’s own web site gives a much better view here.

Door enthusiasts may have noticed that all the doors in these pictures are painted a subtle stone shade that matches the stone of the building.  Elsewhere in the gardens and estate the doors, gates, benches and railings are painted in a strong, deep blue.

 

Entrance gates to the walled garden…
and doors leading from the garden to the working area outside
A door by the Head Gardener’s House gives a glimpse of the elaborately trained fruit trees in the formal orchard
The head gardener’s back gate
The warning reads ‘Unprotected edge’ – imagination supplies the pit beyond the store room door

Click on any image to view the gallery or for a glimpse of the wonderful borders in the walled garden click here.

A post for Thursday Doors.