MHG12350 - Caisteal Bharraich
Summary
No summary available.
Type and Period (2)
- TOWER HOUSE (Post Medieval - 1560 AD to 1900 AD)
- (Alternate Type) BISHOPS PALACE (Post Medieval - 1560 AD to 1900 AD)
Protected Status
Full Description
Caisteal Bharraich (NR) OS 6" map (1962)
Castle Varrich or Bhurraich: shattered remains of a small roughly-built tower whose history is unknown although it is said to have belonged to Bishop of Caithness who stayed here on his way from his castle at Scrabster (ND16NW 3) to his property of Balnakiel (NC36NE 4). It appears to have been a house rather than a tower and is probably of late date. It consisted of two storeys with an attic, and probably a parapet. The walls are 4ft 6ins thick and the ground floor was vaulted but the arch has now fallen in. The ground floor was probably used for cattle and horses since there is no stairway to the first floor which was probably reached by a ladder. It had only one apartment.
D MacGibbon and T Ross 1887-92; RCAHMS 1911, visited 1909
Caisteal Bharraich, a sub-rectangular tower on a rocky knoll. It measures externally 7.5m along the south wall and 6.7m along the other three sides. The wall is 1.7m thick except in the NW corner where it is reduced to 1.4m and is bonded with shell mortar. There are suggestions that it is possibly 16th century part-reconstruction of an earlier tower. To N is a scarp showing traces of walling, which extend NW for 20m from a rock outcrop near the tower to the coastal cliff. Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (JD) 25 April 1960 and (AA) 29 June 1971
No change. Visited by OS (JM) 30 August 1978
Re-scheduled by Historic Scotland, 11/03/02.
See assoc. docs. File.
J Aikten : 16/05/02.
Sources/Archives (9)
- --- SHG2301 Text/Publication/Volume: Gunn and Mackay, A and J (eds.). 1897. Sutherland and the Reay country: history, antiquities, folklore, topographical, regiments, ecclesiastical records, poetry and music etc. 27, 113.
- --- SHG24006 Image/Photograph(s): Highland Council Archaeology Unit. HCAU Slide Collection Sheet 4. Colour slide. . Digital (scanned). 92.
- --- SHG24259 Image/Photograph(s): Highland Council Archaeology Unit. HCAU Slide Collection Sheet 8. Colour slide. . Digital (scanned). 172.
- --- SHG24360 Image/Photograph(s): Highland Council Archaeology Unit. HCAU Slide Collection Sheet 11. Colour slide. . Digital (scanned). 211-2, 216-8, 223-4.
- --- SHG24361 Image/Photograph(s): Highland Council Archaeology Unit. HCAU Slide Collection Sheet 12. Colour slide. . Digital (scanned). 229-30.
- --- SHG2442 Text/Publication/Volume: MacGibbon, D. and Ross, T.. 1887-92. The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth century. Hardback. Vol. 3, 253-6; plan.
- --- SHG2597 Text/Publication/Volume: NSA. 1845. The new statistical account of Scotland by the ministers of the respective parishes under the superintendence of a committee of the society for the benefit of the sons and daughters of the clergy. Vol. 15, Sutherland, 175.
- --- SHG2657 Text/Report: RCAHMS. 1911. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland. Second report and inventory of monuments and constructions in the county of Sutherland. . 183, No. 526.
- --- SHG342 Text/Publication/Monograph: OPS. 1855. Origines parochiales Scotiae: the antiquities ecclesiastical and territorial of the parishes of Scotland. 2/2. 717,.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred NC 5807 5674 (10m by 7m) (2 map features) |
|---|---|
| Map sheet | NC55NE |
| Geographical Area | SUTHERLAND |
| Civil Parish | TONGUE |
Finds (0)
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Investigations/Events (1)
External Links (2)
- http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/SM1896 (Online designation description (Historic Environment Scotland))
- https://canmore.org.uk/site/5314 (View RCAHMS Canmore entry for this site)
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