Skelbo Castle **

Region: Caithness, Sutherland & Ross

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Description:

The castle dates back to the early part of the thirteenth century, when Hugo Freskyn, Thane of Sutherland, granted his lands of Skelbo to Gilbert de Moravia, afterwards Bishop of Caithness. Gilbert received these lands not as a representative of the Church but as a private individual, with power to bestow them on his heirs. When he became Bishop he made them over to his brother Sir Richard.

It was as Skelbo in 1290 that the Scottish Commissioners were staying overnight, on their way north to meet the Maid of Norway, who was to marry the heir to the throne of England, when news came of her death. They stayed two nights in Skelbo, in consultation with the English Commissioners, and then rode on to Wick, presumably to obtain proof of her death on board ship near Orkney.