Castle of Chanonry, Fortrose

You would be forgiven if you thought there had never been a castle in Fortrose, or Chanonry as it used to be called. There are no signs of it anywhere apart from the street name 'Castle Street'. However, Fortrose did have a castle and it stood at the corner of Rotten Row (now Church Street) and High Street. Castle Street would have led up to that area and the name supports the theory.

The castle was a rectangular tower house built by Bishop Fraser between 1497 and 1507. Acquired by the Seaforth Mackenzies at the time of the Reformation (1560), it was further extended and improved. It took its alternative name of 'Seaforth Castle' from this time. In 1646 it was besieged by the Convenanting General, John Middleton. It later became a garrison for English troops.

On the north side of Station Road, built into the gable on an old single-storey warehouse, is a stone, known as a dormer pediment, which consists of a coat-of-arms and some initials. The coat-of-arms is too worn to decipher but the initials 'C B S' can be clearly seen and stand for 'Countess Barbara of Seaforth', wife of George, the second Earl of Seaforth (1633-51). This stone may be the only surviving relic of the castle!