Dunrobin Castle - History

History

The lands of Sutherland were acquired before 1211, by Hugh, Lord of Duffus, grandson of the Flemish nobleman, Freskin. The Earldom of Sutherland was created around 1230 for Hugh's son, William, and the first record of a castle on this site dates to 1401. It may have been built on the site of an early medieval fort (hence, the dun in the place-name). The earliest castle was a square keep with few, and small, windows looking out from a cliff top position, probably surrounded by a defensive curtain wall. Each floor of the keep was vaulted. The Earldom passed to the Gordon family in the 16th century. In the 17th century, the keep was extended with the addition of a large house, built around a courtyard to the south-west.

During the Jacobite Rising of 1745, the Jacobites under Charles Edward Stuart stormed Dunrobin Castle without warning, because the Clan Sutherland supported the British government. The 17th Earl of Sutherland, who had changed his surname from Gordon to Sutherland, narrowly escaped them, exiting through a back door. He sailed for Aberdeen where he joined the Duke of Cumberland's army. On the death of the 18th Earl in 1766, the house passed to his daughter, Elizabeth, who married the politician George Leveson-Gower, later created 1st Duke of Sutherland. In 1785, the house was altered and extended again.

Sir Charles Barry was retained in 1845 by the 2nd Duke of Sutherland to re-model the castle completely, and to change it from a castle into a house in the "Scottish Baronial" style, which had become popular among the aristocracy. Barry had been the architect for the Palace of Westminster, home to the House of Commons, and was much in demand. The 14th-century tower, and the 17th-century and 18th-century extensions, were retained, and survive within Barry's 19th-century work.

In 1915 the building was in use as a naval hospital when fire damaged much of the interior. Scottish architect Sir Robert Lorimer was engaged to renovate the house following the First World War. When the 5th Duke died in 1963, the Earldom and the house went to his niece, the current Countess of Sutherland, while the Dukedom had to pass to a male heir and went to John Egerton, Earl of Ellesmere. Between 1965 and 1972, the house became a boarding school for boys. Since 1973 the house and grounds have been open to the public, with private accommodation retained for the use of the Sutherland family.