Qualla: Castle of Old Wick

Castle of Old Wick: Introduction

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Glen Breaden, CC BY-SA 2.0. It stands on the very tip of a narrow peninsula southwest of Wick - three roofless storeys of stone, hammered by the wind, surrounded on three sides by sea cliffs that drop straight to the North Sea. The Castle of Old Wick is one of those Scottish ruins that has shed almost all of its story along with its roof: nobody is entirely sure when it was built, by whom, or for whom. What is certain is that it stood here in the early 14th century, that it served some lord well enough to be passed down through three families, and that whoever chose this site understood defense from the bones up.

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Image: Glen Breaden | CC BY-SA 2.0

Castle of Old Wick: A Peninsula Made for War

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mick Garratt, CC BY-SA 2.0. Geography did most of the defensive work. The castle sits on a narrow rocky headland surrounded by sea cliffs, and the only landward approach was cut by not one but two moats. The square tower that remains was originally four storeys tall; only three storeys still stand. The grou...

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Image: Mick Garratt | CC BY-SA 2.0

Castle of Old Wick: An Obscure History

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Paula Goodfellow, CC BY-SA 2.0. The early history is genuinely lost. Tradition once attributed the castle to Harald Maddadson, the 12th-century Jarl of Caithness and Orkney, but the surviving structure dates to the 14th century. Reginald le Chen of Inverugie and Duffus is known to have held it in the early 14th...

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Image: Paula Goodfellow | CC BY-SA 2.0

Castle of Old Wick: What the Wind Does

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Peter_Glyn, CC0. The Castle of Old Wick today is in the care of Historic Environment Scotland, open year-round, free to visit. The walk out from the road is short but exposed - half a mile of low coastal path along the cliff edge with the North Sea heaving below. Storm petrels and fulmars nest on...

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Image: Peter_Glyn | CC0