Forse Castle

Forse Castle is a ruined tower house and courtyard on a promontory site behind an impressive rock cut ditch. Access to the promontory may be possible with safety equipment, but is certainly dangerous, but approaching the outer edge of the ditch is possible but inadvisable. The castle was probably fortified in the 14th century by the Cheyne family, who received a grant of the port of Forse from earl Jon Magnusson of Caithness and Orkney between 1284 and 1293. It then passed with marriage to John de Keith, and as a dowry property to Kenneth Sutherland in about 1400.

The castle remained a Sutherland property into the mid 17th century, by which time it was long abandoned, probably destroyed during the feud between the earls of Sutherland and Caithness in the late 16th century. It consisted of a modest tower overlooking the ditch, reached via a drawbridge, adjacent to which was an arched doorway accessing the walled courtyard enclosing the promontory beyond. Footings of ranges of buildings down each side of the courtyard remain.

HES Canmore database entry