Loch Slin Castle (sometimes spelt Lochslin) is a ruined castle near

Fearn, Highland Fearn ( gd, Manachainn Rois) is a hamlet, situated south of Loch Eye and northwest of Balintore, in eastern Ross-shire, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland. The buildings in the hamlet are mostly cottages with w ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. From the 15th to 17th centuries it was the seat of the Vass family. The castle stood close to Loch Eye on the boundary of the parishes of

Tain Tain ( Gaelic: ''Baile Dhubhthaich'') is a royal burgh and parish in the County of Ross, in the Highlands of Scotland. Etymology The name derives from the nearby River Tain, the name of which comes from an Indo-European root meaning 'flow'. The ...

and

Tarbat Tarbat (Gaelic , meaning 'a crossing or isthmus'Place-names of Ross and Cromarty, by W J Watson, publ. The Northern Counties Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd., Inverness 1904; p.45) is a civil parish in Highland, Scotland, in the north-east corner ...

, but takes its name from an earlier name of the nearby loch.

Architecture

The last upstanding part of the castle collapsed on 31 January/1 February 1953. However, old photographs clearly show that it had a high-level corbelled angle turret. It also had cable-moulded decoration comparable to that at Castlecraig. The building was an L-plan castle with the kitchen on the first floor, and seems to have been similar in layout to

Castle Leod Castle Leod is the seat of the Clan Mackenzie. It is a category A listed building, and the grounds are listed in the ''Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes of Scotland'', the national listing of significant gardens. It is located near S ...

and other Mackenzie residences. Although according to Geoffrey Stell it is very doubtful that the castle was actually built by the Mackenzies who did not come into possession of it until 1624. The castle consisted of two nearly square keeps with staircases in the corners. According to the ''Old Statistical Account of Scotland'' which was written in the late 18th century, the smaller keep looking west was about 20' square, the other about 38' square. The castle was 60' high, and was fortified with three large turrets, two on the larger square and one on the smaller.

History

The castle stood about half a mile east of Loch Eye. According to the ''New Statistical Account of Scotland'' the castle was 14th-century. The Vass family had been in possession of the castle from the 15th century to the early 17th century when in 1603 they were declared rebels. Their successors in the castle were the Munros of Meikle Tarrel. The castle later passed from the Munros to the Mackenzies.

References

External links

* {{coord, 57.8004, -3.9376, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Ruined castles in Highland (council area) Clan Munro Clan Mackenzie

Architecture

History

See also

References

External links