Castle Varrich

Castle Varrich is a small ruined tower on the top of a rocky outcrop overlooking the Kyle of Tongue on the north coast of Caithness. Access is free at all times, but via a long footpath that is uneven in places. There is no evidence of a courtyard or outbuildings, and suggestions that it has been reworked at least once during occupation, and since.

The tower had a single room on each floor, and seems to have been accessed via a door raised above the external ground level that may once have been considered the first floor. The room it entered was vaulted, and there was another room above which was probably accessed via an internal timber stair. This room had joists above which could have been an attic level, although no masonry remains to confirm the scale of the top floor. Traditionally the castle is supposed to be associated with the Bishops of Caithness, the Mackay clan or the Norse – but there is no evidence to support either assertion beyond  the general history of the area. The tower does not appear to have had a residential function and is likely to have served the purpose of a watchtower. It can be seen from both the village and house of Tongue, and therefore any fire lit on the top warning of raiders would be easily visible. The suggestions of vaulting would point towards a 15th or 16th century origin, during which time the Mackays dominated this coast but were in conflict with both the Sinclair earls of Caithness and the Gordon earls of Sutherland, themselves at feud with each other, and this is probably the context in which we should see the tower, Sinclairs being the more ship-oriented family with strong links to Orkney.

HES Canmore database entry
Highland Council Historic Environment Record entry