Proncy Castle is a ruined castle located near

Dornoch Dornoch (; ; ) is a town, seaside resort, parish and former royal burgh in the county of Sutherland in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Dornoch Firth, near to where it opens into the Moray Firth to the east. ...

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 ...

, Scotland. It is within the historic county of

Sutherland Sutherland () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. The name dates from the Scandinavian Scotland, Viking era when t ...

. The castle is positioned to command open views to the south over the

Dornoch Firth The Dornoch Firth (, ) is a firth on the east coast of Highland, in northern Scotland. It forms part of the boundary between Ross and Cromarty, to the south, and Sutherland, to the north. The firth is designated as a national scenic area, one of ...

History

Hugh de Moravia Hugh de Moravia (died c. 1219), Lord of Duffus, Strathbrock and Sutherland, was a Scottish noble. He was the eldest son of William, the eldest son of Freskin, a Flemish settler who arrived in Scotland in the reign of King David I of Scotland. ...

granted Proncy in 1211 to

Gilbert de Moravia Gilbert de Moravia (died 1245), later known as Saint Gilbert of Dornoch, or Gilbert of Caithness, was the most famous Bishop of Caithness and founder of Dornoch Cathedral. His name may suggest that he came from the semi-Gaelicized family of ...

the

Bishop of Caithness The Bishop of Caithness was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Caithness, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics. The first referenced bishop of Caithness was Aindréas, a Gael who appears in sources between 1146 and 1151 as bishop. Ai ...

. A motte and bailey castle was constructed in the early 13th century. A stone tower was later constructed on the motte. Held by

Elizabeth Sutherland, 10th Countess of Sutherland Elizabeth Sutherland, (died 1535) was the 10th Earl of Sutherland, Countess of Sutherland having succeeded to the Earldom of Sutherland after her brother John Sutherland, 9th Earl of Sutherland died in 1514. Early life She was the daughter of J ...

and her husband Adam Gordon, it was granted to

William Sutherland, 5th of Duffus William Sutherland, 5th of Duffus (died 1529) was a member of the Scottish nobility and a cadet of the Clan Sutherland. Early life He was the son of William Sutherland, 4th of Duffus who died in 1513 and his mother may have been Janet Innes La ...

in 1524. It was later held by the Gordon of Proncy family.

Citations

References

* Castles in Highland (council area) Ruined castles in Highland (council area) Buildings and structures in Sutherland Clan Murray Clan Sutherland House of Gordon {{Scotland-castle-stub