Qualla: Keiss Castle

Keiss Castle: Introduction

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Stanley Howe, CC BY-SA 2.0. The story is almost a parable. In the late sixteenth century the Sinclairs built themselves a clifftop tower house overlooking Sinclair's Bay - tall, narrow, four storeys plus attic, two corner towers, the kind of place that announces a family on the way up. They held it for a hundred and fifty years. Then, around 1755, they decided to upgrade. A grander baronial mansion went up nearby. They moved into it. And in 1765, just ten years later, they had to sell the new house to pay their debts. The old castle they had abandoned is still standing, a jagged ruin on the cliff edge, free to visit, gripping the sandstone like it has every intention of staying. The mansion changed hands twice.

Read more: Keiss Castle on Qualla

Image: Stanley Howe | CC BY-SA 2.0

Keiss Castle: A Z-Plan Tower on the Sea

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Peter Moore, CC BY-SA 2.0. Keiss Castle - the old one - is a textbook Scottish Z-plan tower house. A square central block, four floors plus an attic, a vaulted basement for stores. Two corner towers stand at opposite angles of the square, projecting outward to provide flanking fire across the walls if it c...

Read more: Keiss Castle on Qualla

Image: Peter Moore | CC BY-SA 2.0

Keiss Castle: On Sinclair's Bay

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Stanley Howe, CC BY-SA 2.0. The setting is the point. Sinclair's Bay is a long sandy crescent on the Caithness coast about eight miles north of Wick, and the old castle stands less than a mile north of Keiss village on cliffs that drop sheer to the surf below. To one side the bay sweeps south toward Wick - ...

Read more: Keiss Castle on Qualla

Image: Stanley Howe | CC BY-SA 2.0

Keiss Castle: A New House, A Quick Bankruptcy

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Valentine & Sons, Public domain. The estate was bought in the early eighteenth century by Sir William Sinclair, 2nd Baronet of Dunbeath, a different branch of the family from the earls. In 1752 Keiss became his family seat. The decision to build a new house in 1755 was driven by fashion as much as necessity - th...

Read more: Keiss Castle on Qualla

Image: Valentine & Sons | Public domain

Keiss Castle: Two Castles, One Cliff

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Fergus Mather, CC BY-SA 2.0. What you can visit is the old one. The newer Keiss House remains a private residence and is not open to the public. But the old castle - free, twenty-four hours, no ticket office - is the more dramatic of the two anyway. You park along the lane, walk across rough ground past the ...

Read more: Keiss Castle on Qualla

Image: Fergus Mather | CC BY-SA 2.0