Bridge Castle

{{Short description|Castle in West Lothian, Scotland}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Use British English|date=March 2025}}

File:Bridge Castle.jpgFile:Bridgecastle near Armadale - geograph.org.uk - 168716.jpg

Bridge Castle is an L-plan castle, dating from the 16th century, standing on a rocky site {{convert|3|mi}} north west of Bathgate in West Lothian, Scotland,Maurice Lindsay (1986) The Castles of Scotland. Constable. {{ISBN|0 09 473430 5}} p97 on the west of the Barbauchlaw Burn.{{cite web |url=http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/48013/details/bridge+castle/|work=Canmore|title=Bridge Castle|accessdate=2014-10-27}} The former name of the castle was Little Brighouse.

History

The castle was sold by Alexander Stewart of Scotstounhill to William Livingstone, 6th Lord Livingston in 1588.John Maitland Thomson, Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1888), p. 525 no. 1531. Lord Livingston probably added the castle wing. After the Livingstones supported the Jacobite rising of 1715 they forfeited their land and titles. The Hopes acquired the property which remains in their possession. The architect James Maitland Wardrop altered the property internally and enlarged it to form a Victorian mansion. The building was listed at category B in 1971, at which time it was a hotel.{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=LB14551|desc=Bridge Castle (Little Brighouse)|access-date=15 April 2019}}

Structure

The castle was a rectangular building, three storeys and a garret high. A wing with crow-stepped gables was added to form the L-plan. The parapet of the original tower was bridged across a recessed lintel as link to the new wing. The first storey is vaulted, while other storeys have been modernised. There is a stair tower in the re-entrant angle, round, but corbelled to square above. There is a new entrance through a pedimented Gothic porch.

References