What is recorded here

Berriedale Castle occupied a narrow rock tongue above the Berriedale River, cut off from the mainland by a deep ditch and guarded at its south end by a small gatehouse. Rannald Cheyne held it in the fourteenth century before marriage carried it to the Sutherlands, then the Oliphants, until the Earl of Caithness received it in 1606. Now only thick wall fragments, low building footings and a bridge abutment remain, but they still outline a double row of rooms closing around a narrow courtyard where people may have lived, argued, hidden or watched the river below.

Scotland's National Record of the Historic Environment records Berriedale Castle as Castle (medieval). The official map says its point is accurate as follows: NGR given to the nearest 10m. The record does not by itself mean that the public may enter the place.

Berriedale Castle was built in the 16th century by the Sinclair family, who were prominent in the Scottish Borders. It is remembered as a historic stronghold associated with the powerful Earls of Caithness and as a site of strategic importance in the region.

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