Dunrobin Castle

Dunrobin Castle is the most northerly of Scotland's great houses and the largest in the Northern Highlands with 189 rooms. Dunrobin Castle is also one of Britain's oldest continuously inhabited houses dating back to the early 1300s, home to the Earls and later, the Dukes of Sutherland.

The Castle, which resembles a French chateâu with its towering conical spires, has seen the architectural influences of Sir Charles Barry, who designed London’s Houses of Parliament, and Scotland’s own Sir Robert Lorimer. It was used as a naval hospital during the First World War and as a boys’ boarding school from 1965 to 1972.

Situated on the east coast of the Northern Highlands overlooking the Moray Firth, Dunrobin Castle is just north of the picturesque villages of Golspie and Dornoch (famous for its cathedral and Royal Dornoch Golf Club).

Dunrobin Castle is open to visitors annually from 1st April to 15th October.

Setting

Dunrobin - a magnificent castle in a magnificent setting.

Perched on a high terrace above walled gardens, Dunrobin Castle, with fairytale spires and turrets, rises above the North Sea like an illustration from a storybook.

Towering over both the Castle and Golspie is the Sutherland Monument atop Ben Bhraggie. The 1st Duke of Sutherland looks forever out over his former home from the heather-covered hilltop.

For many seasoned travellers there are few places in the world to match the mountains, moors and beaches of Sutherland. The combination of colour and texture is quite magical.

Located a mile north of Golspie in Sutherland on the east coast of the Scottish Highlands, Dunrobin Castle is about an hours drive north of the Highland capital, Inverness.

History

Dunrobin Castle has been called home to the Earls and Dukes of Sutherland since the 13th century and was first mentioned as a stronghold of the family in 1401.

The Earldom of Sutherland is one of the seven ancient earldoms of Scotland and the Sutherlands were one of the most powerful families in Britain with many important matrimonial and territorial alliances.

The Earldom of Sutherland was created in 1235 and a castle appears to have stood on this site since then, possibly on the site of an early medieval fort. The name Dun Robin means Robin's Hill or Fort in Gaelic and may have come from Robert, the 6th Earl of Sutherland who died in 1427.

The early castle was actually a fortified, square keep, with walls six feet thick and a vaulted ceiling, looking out from a cliff-top position. The keep stood isolated for some 200 years until a staircase and a high house were added.

It was encased by a series of additions from the 16th century onwards. In 1785 a large extension was constructed. Remarkably this early keep still survives, much altered, within the complex of these later extensions, making Dunrobin one of the oldest inhabited houses in Scotland.