Forse Castle is a ruined building dating from 1200 in the hamlet of Forse in the

Caithness Caithness (; ; ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Scotland. There are two towns, being Wick, Caithness, Wick, which was the county town, and Thurso. The count ...

region in the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

council area of

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

. It is protected as a

scheduled 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, visu ...

. The castle stands on a peninsula about 50 metres above sea level. It is surrounded on all sides by steep rocks and is cut off from the mainland by a natural ditch at the neck of the peninsula. Forse Castle was the stronghold of the

Sutherland of Forse The Sutherlands of Forse were a minor Scotland, Scottish noble family. Kenneth Sutherland, 1st of Forse was the second son of William de Moravia, 5th Earl of Sutherland. They were a cadet branch of the Clan Sutherland. The Sutherland Lairds of ...

family, a cadet branch of the

Clan Sutherland Clan Sutherland also known as House of Sutherland is a Highland Scottish clan whose traditional territory is the shire of Sutherland in the far north of Scotland. The chief of the clan was also the powerful Earl of Sutherland; however, in the ear ...

. They lived in it until around 1600. Shoreline near Forse Castle

References

Forse Clan Sutherland Ruined castles in Caithness Scheduled monuments in Highland {{Caithness-geo-stub