Cromarty Castle was a castle in

Cromarty Cromarty (; , ) is a town, civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish and former royal burgh in Ross and Cromarty, in the Highland (council area), Highland area of Scotland. Situated at the tip of the Black Isle on the southern shore of the mout ...

, Scotland. Cromarty, then known as Crumbathyn, was created a

royal burgh A royal burgh ( ) was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished by law in 1975, the term is still used by many former royal burghs. Most royal burghs were either created by ...

in the reign of King

Alexander I of Scotland Alexander I ( medieval Gaelic: ''Alaxandair mac Maíl Coluim''; modern Gaelic: ''Alasdair mac Mhaol Chaluim''; c. 1078 – 23 April 1124), posthumously nicknamed The Fierce, was the King of Alba (Scotland) from 1107 to his death. He was the f ...

. Cromarty overlooks the entrance to the Cromarty Firth and was strategically important. A

motte-and-bailey castle A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy ...

was built in the 12th–13th century. The castle was held by Sir William de Monte Alto during the

Scottish wars of independence The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and 14th centuries. The First War (1296–1328) began with the English invasion of Scotla ...

for both the English and the Scottish. Permission was given to Sir William Urquhart, the Sheriff of Cromarty, to

crenellate A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals t ...

the motte of Cromarty in 1470. Sir William's son Thomas built an L-plan tower house. The castle was demolished in 1772, and the stone and timbers used in the construction of Cromarty House.

References

*Coventry, M. (2008). ''Castles of the Clans: The Strongholds and Seats of 750 Scottish Families and Clans''. Musselburgh. *Mackenzie, W M. (1950).
Old Cromarty Castle
, ''Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot.'', vol. 82, 1947–8. *Mackenzie, W M. (1922). ''The Old Sherriffdom of Cromarty''. *Miller, H. (1889a). ''Scenes and legends of the north of Scotland; or, The Traditional History of Cromarty''. 2nd ed. Edinburgh. *Slade, H G. (1993). ''Old Cromarty Castle''. Cromarty. *Yeoman, P A. (1988f). "Mottes in Northeast Scotland", ''Scot. Archaeol. Rev.'', vol. 5, 1988. Castles in Highland (council area) Ruined castles in Highland (council area) Demolished buildings and structures in Scotland Former castles in Scotland {{Scotland-castle-stub

References

Further reading