Scotland · Partial ruin
Thurso Castle
Thurso Castle is a 19th-century Victorian Gothic castle on Thurso East in Caithness, Scottish Highlands. Largely rebuilt in 1872 and active into the late 19th century, much of the structure was demolished in 1952; part of the building remains habitable and the ruins overlook the River Thurso and the Pentland Firth.
Its prime
1877
Today
Partial ruin
As it stood in 1877
What Thurso Castle looked like in its prime.
A long, grey-stone Victorian Gothic mass with a tall, narrow rectangular north tower at one end and an extended wing of curtain wall punctuated by regular rectangular window openings. At its prime the lower windows are open voids and the upper floors and roofline are largely intact. The castle stands on a raised stone plinth above grassy ground near the River Thurso and the Pentland Firth; a south-side gatehouse and lodge occupy the opposite approach and a deep well sits within the inner court.
Its story
The story of Thurso Castle.
Thorsa Castle and the Earls of Orkney and Caithness, 1157-1500s
A castle at Thurso East served as a residence of the earls of Orkney and Caithness, and is probably the earthwork structure recorded in 1157 as the Thorsa castle. Fire gutted it in the early 16th century, and no vestige of it remains.
The Arch and the Sinclair Lairds, 1665-1835
In 1665 George Sinclair, 6th Earl of Caithness, built the structure known as the Arch, also called Thurso Castle. The contract between the earl and his master mason, Donald Ross, records the price as 600 merks. In 1802 the Arch was described as "the most ornamental piece of architecture in the north". About a mile to the north-east, Harald's Tower had gone up in 1780 as a burial place for the Sinclairs of Thurso.
The Thurso lairdship was later held by Sir John Sinclair, 1st Baronet, who erected a new structure designed as a castle or fortress; it was restored and enlarged in 1806 and again in 1835. A manse was raised on the site in 1818, using some of the stones from the castle.
Victorian Gothic and the Mine, 1872-1952
The present castle was built in 1872, half a mile east of Thurso and close to the Pentland Firth, on the eastern bank of the river. Ulysses S. Grant, by then a former president of the United States, visited it on his world tour of 1877.
During the Second World War an anti-shipping mine came ashore below the castle and exploded, which led to unstable sections of the building being demolished in 1952.
A Ruin Still Lived In: the Viscounts Thurso
Part of the castle remains habitable and is still a home of the Viscounts Thurso. On the south side the gatehouse and its lodge are in fair condition; by the river are the remains of the north tower and a wing. Robert Sinclair calls the present castle "a gallant ruined reminder of its former Gothic glory". Alexander, Lord Strathnaver, heir apparent to the earldom of Sutherland, died in a fall at cliffs near the castle on 3 September 2022.
Step inside
6 places to explore in 1877.
The record describes 6 distinct spots at Thurso 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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Clans who held Thurso Castle.
The families that held Thurso Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
George Sinclair, 6th Earl of Caithness, built the Arch in 1665; the lairdship was later held by Sir John Sinclair, 1st Baronet, and Harald's Tower served as the burial place of the Sinclairs of Thurso.
