Dounreay Castle is a ruined 16th-century

L-plan castle An L-plan castle is a castle or tower house in the shape of an L, typically built from the 13th to the 17th century. This design is found quite frequently in Scotland, but is also seen in England, Ireland, Romania, Sardinia, and other locations ...

, about west of

Thurso Thurso (pronounced ; sco, Thursa, gd, Inbhir Theòrsa ) is a town and former burgh on the north coast of the Highland council area of Scotland. Situated in the historical County of Caithness, it is the northernmost town on the island of Gre ...

Highland (council area) Highland ( gd, A' Ghàidhealtachd, ; sco, Hieland) is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in the United Kingdom. It was the 7th most populous council area in Scotland at the 2011 census. It shar ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, within the grounds of

Dounreay Nuclear Power Development Establishment Dounreay (; gd, Dùnrath) is a small settlement and the site of two large nuclear establishments on the north coast of Caithness in the Highland area of Scotland. It is on the A836 road west of Thurso. The nuclear establishments were creat ...

. It is also known as Dounreay House. The castle and its associated structures are a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

History

The castle is thought to date from the latter part of the 16th century. It was a property of the Sinclairs, the owner in 1614 being William Sinclair of

Dunbeath Dunbeath ( gd, Dùn Bheithe) is a village in south-east Caithness, Scotland on the A9 road. It sits astride the Dunbeath Water just before it enters the sea at Dunbeath Bay. Dunbeath has a very rich archaeological landscape, the site of numero ...

, while in 1726 it was one of the lodgings of the

Earl of Caithness Earl of Caithness is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland, and it has a very complex history. Its first grant, in the modern sense as to have been counted in strict lists of peerages, is now generally held to have ...

. Ownership passed to the Forbeses, to the

Mackays M&Co Trading Limited, previously Mackays Stores Limited until its 2020 administration, (previously trading as Mackays, now trading as M&Co.) is a Scottish chain store selling women's, men's, and children's clothes, as well as small homeware ...

of Reay, and then to the Mackays of

Tongue The tongue is a muscular organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for mastication and swallowing as part of the digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper surface (dorsum) is covered by taste ...

. Occupation continued until 1863, but the castle was unroofed and ruinous by 1910. The site was used a farm, with the courtyard being the farmyard, with the first of two ranges of cottages possibly being added south east of the castle in the 17th century.

Cromwellian Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in History of England, English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 ...

troops were housed in the castle in the mid-17th century. The site was leveled with the exception of the castle and the north-east cottage block during the building of the research establishment.

Structure

The castle comprised a three-storey main block, and the

jamb A jamb (from French ''jambe'', "leg"), in architecture, is the side-post or lining of a doorway or other aperture. The jambs of a window outside the frame are called “reveals.” Small shafts to doors and windows with caps and bases are known ...

containing a scale-and-platt stair. Above an unvaulted basement was the hall. The dimensions of the main block were by , and those of the wing by , while the walls were about . The entrance is in the re-entrant angle of the jamb, below the staircase. The castle was enclosed by a

barmkin Barmkin, also spelled barmekin or barnekin, is a Scots word which refers to a form of medieval and later defensive enclosure, typically found around smaller castles, tower houses, pele towers, and bastle houses in Scotland and the north of Engl ...

, parts of which survive on the south western and seaward sides. The former is keyed into the tower and the latter has been incorporated into a later cottage wall. A kitchen range was added, built against the barmkin, and blocked an original gun loop in the tower. The north west angle of the castle has collapsed, as has part of the western wall, filling much of the interior with rubble. In addition, the northern wall was bulging outwards as of 1964. In 1997–1998 an "archaeological monitoring exercise" was conducted in the castle courtyard and on the beach. Due to security concerns, the test pits were excavated by machine, supervised by the archaeologists remotely and by local staff on site. Little was found other than a large millstone, probably associated with the mill depicted on the 1st edition of the

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

map.

References

{{coord , 58.5784, N, 3.7505, W, display=title Castles in Highland (council area)

History

Structure

See also

References