The Castle of Old Wick is a ruined castle near the town of Wick,

Caithness Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded by ...

, Scotland.

Structure

The castle is located on a peninsula, south west of Wick. It is surrounded by sea cliffs and the landward approach was separated by two moats. Only the square tower remains, originally four storeys tall, however only three storeys remain. The ground floor contained the kitchen and storage areas; the first floor was the hall with a southeast entrance. The upper floors contained the personal quarters of the lord of the castle. A narrow courtyard led to the centre of the peninsula with buildings on both sides, such as the barracks, the brewery, the chapel, etc. Outside the second moat was a defensive wall, which also formed the back wall of a number of buildings. The castle was reached from the mainland via a drawbridge, which spanned a wide ditch cut into the rock, protected by a gatehouse and a defensive wall.

History

The history remains obscure. It was originally thought to have been constructed in the 12th century, by

Harald Maddadson Harald Maddadsson (Old Norse: ''Haraldr Maddaðarson'', Gaelic: ''Aralt mac Mataid'') (c. 1134 – 1206) was Earl of Orkney and Mormaer of Caithness from 1139 until 1206. He was the son of Matad, Mormaer of Atholl, and Margaret, daughter o ...

, Jarl of Caithness and

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

. However, the surviving structure seems to date to the 14th century. Reginald le Chen of Inverugie and Duffus, is known to have been in possession of the castle in the early 14th century. It passed by marriage of his daughter Mary to Nicholas Sutherland in 1345. The castle later passed by the marriage of Christian, the daughter and heiress of Alexander Sutherland of Duffus, to William Oliphant in the 15th century. Andrew Oliphant of Berrideale sold the property to his uncle, Lord Oliphant in 1526. Laurence Oliphant, Lord Oliphant and his servants were besieged and attacked by the

John Sinclair, Master of Caithness John Sinclair, Master of Caithness (died 1576) was a Scottish nobleman. Early life John Sinclair, Master of Caithness was the eldest son of George Sinclair, 4th Earl of Caithness and his wife Lady Elizabeth Graham, daughter of William Graham, 2n ...

in July 1569.Joseph Anderson
''The Oliphants in Scotland'' (Edinburgh, 1879), pp. lvi-lvii
/ref> It came to the

Sinclair family Clan Sinclair ( gd, Clann na Ceàrda ) is a Highland Scottish clan which holds the lands of Caithness, the Orkney Islands, and the Lothians. The chiefs of the clan were the Barons of Roslin and later the Earls of Orkney and Earls of Caithness. Th ...

in 1644, before passing to John Campbell, Lord Glenorchy, after the death of George Sinclair, Earl of Caithness, without issue. Lord Glenorchy, sold it to the Dunbars of Hempriggs in 1690. The Dunbars owned the castle until 1910.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castle of Old Wick Clan Cheyne Clan Sutherland Oliphant family Clan Sinclair Castles in Caithness