endlessrarities | More From Maybole Castle!

Interior decor time, and it won't be quite what you expect, I'm sure!

I'm glad we visited Maybole Castle this year, because the building's currently being renovated. I'm a bit of a building ghoul - I like seeing them when they're being ripped up and disembowelled, because you get to see what lies beneath, the secret story which underlies the plaster and paint.

Some of Maybole Castle is just how you expect it. Here's the cellar, complete with meathooks hanging from the ceiling (no, it's not a place to hang your prisoners! It's for venison and beef!!).

Shame about the fluorescent strip lighting. It's not exactly in keeping with the original build...

For years, the building was used as the estate offices for the Culzean estate. As a result, the decor is a bit plain and dull. But nothing quite prepares you for this bizarre combination of grandiose mirror and plain twentieth century fireplace:-

Much of the interior was completely remodelled in the nineteenth century. There's some elaborate egg-and-dart cornicing in the nineteenth century extension:-

And there's some lovely decoration on the nineteenth century fireplaces:-

This ornate plasterwork often seems to have been placed over the original sixteenth century masonry, which still lurks in relatively good condition . But sometimes the earlier masonry is still visible, and its quality speaks for itself. This is the fireplace in the upper floor room with the oriel window:-

It'll be good to go back again in a year or two to see how work's progressing . And it's nice to know that the money I spent on the National Lottery every week is going to such a good cause!