Cromarty Castle

It is generally accepted that the site of Cromarty Castle – of which there are no visible or known remains – is within the private gardens to the north-west of Cromarty House, which sits on high ground between two small streams just outside the small town of the same name. However, it has to be said that the burial ground of St Regulus to the north-east is more defensible. There was probably a castle at Cromarty guarding the southern side of the entrance to the Cromarty Firth as early as the 12th century, but it is not mentioned until 1291, when an English garrison was in occupation.

The fate of the castle is unknown, but it was probably destroyed by Sir Andrew de Moravia of Avoch during the subsequent Wars of Independence, and never repaired. In 1470, license was granted to Sir William Urquhart, who was the sheriff, to build a tower or fortalice on the “mote of Cromarty” , which was also granted to him. The tower house – a close match for that which was built at Inverness, was a massive L-plan tower with a small projecting wing, and subsequently extended to form a large courtyard area. A series of financial problems saw successive owners fail to maintain the castle properly, and it was demolished in 1772, at which point the earthworks were probably also cleared away to allow the construction of the mansion house on the site.

HES Canmore database entry