On The Northwest Coast Of Scotland. Buchollie Castle, Caithness, Scotland, UK. Royalty-Free Stock Photography

On the Northwest Coast of Scotland. Buchollie Castle, Caithness, Scotland, UK. Bucholly Castle can be found on an isolated rocky stack called the Castle Geo, a few miles south of John o’Groats on the Caithness coast. The site is spectacular, but cannot be seen from the public roads, and requires a walk through fields which terminate at sheer drops over the cliffs. Access to the castle may be possible in dry weather, but is dangerous, and since none of the sites is fenced, is not to be encouraged. A short distance to the north is sandy Freswick Bay, but the rest of the coast for some distance to the south is rocky cliffs, so no wider strategic reason for the castle to be at this site rather than anywhere else can be established.The principal remains of the castle are those of the gatehouse, which is separated from the mainland by a narrow spit of cliff breached by what is probably a rock-cut ditch. This gatehouse has a single tower to the south, and a long narrow arched entrance passage – the northern side of this passage is a curtain wall. Above this was a single chamber, with a second floor above. This was likely reached via a wooden bridge, probably incorporating a drawbridge of some description. Behind this is a narrow courtyard occupying most of the summit with ranges of buildings to east and west – the courtyard narrows to a point at its southern end, and is only walled on the shore-facing side unless the outer wall has fallen into the sea through erosion. The