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Scrabster
castle (The Bishop's Palace)
To the north west of the Caithness town of Thurso, close to the
seashore, sits a few confused grassy rubble mounds. These are all that
remain of the ancient Scrabster castle or the 'Palace' of the Bishop's of
Caithness, first recorded in 1328. The site appears to have had a keep a
lean-to hall block with kitchens, a low surrounding courtyard wall and
possibly a gatehouse on the landward side. In 1544, Scrabster was seized by
the Sinclairs, Earls of Caithness of Girnigoe castle for unclear
reasons. But likely to stop Alexander Gordon, son of the Earl of Sunderland
from taking hold of the castle as temporary Bishop and turning the site into
a Gordon interest. By as early as 1726 the castle was totally ruinous.
Today the seaward side of the castle is marked by a World War II
concrete pill box, while the landward side is highlighted by a ditch and
stream. Which at one time if dammed back could have
provided a reasonable moat to defend the castle's landward approach
and must have been spanned by a wooden drawbridge. The reconstruction shows
the castle as it may have appeared from the sea with the courtyard wall
running back to the main keep seized by the Sinclairs in 1544.
Andrew Spratt
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