Scotland · Ruin
Skelbo Castle
Skelbo Castle is the site of a 14th-century stone keep on a grassy motte near Dornoch, Sutherland, Scotland. The surviving masonry is fragmentary today, with the northern wall best preserved; the site once included a 16th-century house adjacent to the keep and commanded views over Loch Fleet. The ruins are a scheduled monument and the place of a former ferry crossing.
Its prime
1550
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1550
What Skelbo Castle looked like in its prime.
A roofless grey-rubble 14th-century keep and fragments of curtain wall sit atop a grassy motte overlooking pasture and the loch. The longest surviving wall is on the northern side, rising in rough coursed stone with small square openings and one large circular/arched void; a low curtain wall runs down the slope. A later 16th-century stone house stood immediately adjacent. Vegetation grows in crevices and around collapsed courses.
Its story
The story of Skelbo Castle.
Hugh de Moravia granted Skelbo in 1211 to Gilbert de Moravia, Bishop of Caithness, and in 1235 Gilbert granted the castle to his brother Richard de Moravia. The 14th-century stone keep on its grassy motte stood at a ferry crossing, commanding views over Loch Fleet near Dornoch.
In 1494 the Murrays of Aberscross disputed ownership with the Kinnaird family, both descended from Richard de Moravia, and the Kinnairds prevailed. In 1529 William Sutherland, 6th of Duffus, bought the castle, contracting with John Kinnaird of that Ilk to pay 2,300 merks by instalments and receiving lands including Skelbo, to be held from the Earl of Sutherland as overlord.
A 16th-century house was built adjacent to the keep, but the whole site was abandoned as a residence in the 20th century. The masonry is now fragmentary, best preserved on the northern side, and the ruins are protected as a scheduled monument.
Step inside
5 places to explore in 1550.
The record describes 5 distinct spots at Skelbo Castle, including the full exterior approach. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Recreate Skelbo Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1550, a photoreal reconstruction that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
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Clans who held Skelbo Castle.
The families that held Skelbo Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
de Moravia
Granted to Gilbert de Moravia, Bishop of Caithness, in 1211 and to his brother Richard de Moravia in 1235.
Kinnaird
Won ownership from the Murrays of Aberscross in a dispute settled in 1494; held until the sale of 1529.
Bought by William Sutherland, 6th of Duffus, in 1529, to be held from the Earl of Sutherland as overlord.
