Castle Varrich
Castle Varrich ( Scottish Gaelic : Caisteal Bharraich ) is the ruin of a hilltop castle near the village of Tongue in the Scottish administrative division of Highland . The ruin sits on a ledge above the Kyle of Tongue and the village of Tongue. The origins of the castle are unknown.
Castle Varrich, once the seat of Clan MacKay , is believed to be over 1000 years old and it is believed that there are caves under the ruins where the Mackays once lived. The Mackays are said to have built their castle here in the 14th century over an old Nordic fort.
The walls are generally 1.4 meters or more thick and consist of roughly hewn blocks of metamorphic sandstone of various thicknesses laid in a rough order of random depth. The stones seem to have been laid without mortar and show only slight signs of weathering, considering their more than 1000-year history and the harsh weather at this location. In places where parts of the wall have broken away, it seems as if their construction is the same over the entire thickness of the wall, unlike walls whose cladding has a finer structure but whose core consists of rubble.
The castle had two full floors and an attic. The ground floor could have served as a stable; it was entered through a door in the north wall. There were no stairs between the floors, so you think that the ground floor was only intended for horses or cattle. The entrance to the upper floor was on the south side and could probably be reached via a ladder or movable staircase. There was a window in the east wall and an open fireplace in the west; today both have collapsed so far that you can no longer recognize them. Later the seat of the clan chief was moved to Torque House . Varrich Castle is about an hour's walk from the village of Tongue and is a highly visible landmark.
From Castle Varrich there is a spectacular view of the mountains Ben Loyal and Ben Hope .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Colin McKay: Castle Varrich by Tongue . Caithness Field Club. Annual bulletins. 2003 . Retrieved May 2, 2017.
- ↑ Tongue in MackayCountry.com ( Memento of the original from January 3, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Photo: Ben Loyal from Castle Varrich. Flickr. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
Web links
Coordinates: 58 ° 28 '32.7 " N , 4 ° 26" 7.6 " W.