Castle of Old Wick

The Castle of Old Wick was probably built by an earl of Caithness in the 1100s, making it one of the oldest castles in Scotland. It was built at a time when the kings of Norway held sway over Caithness and Sutherland, as well as the Northern and Western Isles. The castle may have been built by the great Earl Harald Maddadson.

Harald was half-Orcadian, through his mother, and half-Scottish, through his father, Matad, Earl of Atholl. From 1159 Earl Harald was sole earl of Orkney and Caithness. It is possible that he intended the castle to be his chief seat on the mainland.

The castle has an obscure history. In the early 1300s, during the Wars of Independence, it was held by Sir Reginald le Cheyne, Lord of Duffus, who supported Edward I of England. There is no record of any action taking place there at this period.

The castle and its estates later passed to the Sutherlands of Duffus.The castle complex hugging the narrow promontory is dominated by the tall 12th-century tower. This tower gives the castle its more familiar name – ‘the Old Man of Wick’. The tower is almost square on plan and four storeys high. Entry was via a door at first-floor level on the seaward side (although this side has long since collapsed). Apart from the narrow window slits and the ledges for supporting the upper timber floors, the only other feature to survive is a fireplace on the second floor. The similarity within Orkney, built around 1150, is striking. Behind the tower are remains of other structures, none of them archaeologically excavated as yet

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