West Lodge, Skibo Castle is a Grade B listed building in the Highland local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 7 March 1984. Gate lodge.

West Lodge, Skibo Castle

WRENN ID
swift-hinge-sorrel
Grade
B
Local Planning Authority
Highland
Constituency
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross MP: Jamie Stone (LD)
Country
Scotland
Date first listed
7 March 1984
Type
Gate lodge
OS grid reference
NH 711 890
Coordinates
57.87192, -4.17427
Source
Historic Environment Scotland listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

West Lodge at Skibo Castle is a gate lodge built around 1900, likely by architects Ross and Macbeth. It is designed in the Scottish Baronial style and features a mainly two-storey, L-shaped layout with a single bay on each arm of the inner face. The building is constructed from bullfaced rubble with ashlar dressings.

A notable feature is the circular corbelled and crenellated stair tower, which rises one stage above the roofline at the re-entrant angle. The main entrance, located on the south side, has a door with moulded jambs, a drip mould, and an ornamental plank door. The east wing is a single-storey gabled structure with a bipartite window in the south gable and a corbelled and crenellated wallhead above the flat-roofed main portion.

The windows include bipartites with either two-pane or decorative leaded glazing, and there are slit windows in the stair tower. The gable apex features a carved stone eagle, and the building has ridge and end stacks along with a slate roof.

The entrance is marked by two pairs of circular ashlar gate piers, which are heavily banded with alternating polished and rock-faced masonry and topped with corbelled and crenellated caps. These end piers are linked by a low coped retaining wall. The lodge is accessed through ornate cast and wrought-iron carriage gates, which are flanked by matching pedestrian gates. Some of the gates have gilded decoration, and there are matching spearhead railings with similar detailing on the quadrant walls.

Local climate

West Lodge, Skibo Castle sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 1,010 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 81% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 63% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 60 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 98% of listed buildings. Of these, 43 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
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  2. Loch Ospisdale Bridge, Skibo Castle Grade C 2.3 km
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  4. Coach Stables, Skibo Castle Grade B 2.3 km
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  6. Swimming Pool, Skibo Castle Grade B 2.3 km
  7. Garden Pavilion, Skibo Castle Grade A 2.4 km
  8. Glasshouses, Skibo Castle Grade A 2.5 km
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