Reconstruction of Scrabster Bishop's Palace
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Artist: Andrew Spratt

Custodian of Dirleton Castle.

These images are the copyright of Mr. Spratt who has generously given permission to display them here. For more about Andrew Spratt click here. For a complete index of Mr. Spratt's castles on this site click here. Other galleries of Mr. Spratt's work may be viewed at Clan Douglas and Clan Sinclair. Click on the castle to the left to view a larger image and scroll down to read more about the castle. Full size image of Scrabster Castle


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 apears 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 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