Dunbeath Castle

Dunbeath Castle is a late 16th and early 17th century castle, likely incorporating earlier fabric, with significant alterations and additions dating to around 1881 by D & J Bryce. The exterior is generally harled with ashlar margins and dressings.

The symmetrical northeast front features two storeys and an attic, arranged over five bays, with long, angle bartizans topped with bellcast conical roofs. A later 19th century round-headed doorpiece has a cable-moulded hoodmould that terminates with a simulated knot flanked by shot holes. At first-floor level, bowed stair turrets project, featuring decorative corbelled bases and square gabled caphouses. Regular fenestration is present on the front, with small third-floor windows and three ornate, pedimented dormers breaking the wallhead. The Sinclair arms are displayed in a panel set within the right stair turret.

A square tower rises at the northeast angle, adorned with a corbelled and crenellated parapet that extends above the ridge line. Extensive, asymmetrical two-storey and attic additions are found at the southeast, including an angle window, a turret, pedimented dormers, and a first-floor oriel at the northeast. Most windows contain 12 panes of glass. Margined end, ridge, and wallhead stacks are present, alongside crowsteps and slate roofs.

An extensive crenellated retaining terrace wall forms a U-shaped enclosure around the castle, outlining the peninsular site, punctuated by occasional bartizans and round terminal piers.

Two walled gardens flank the approach drive, each enclosed by coped rubble walls. The southern garden incorporates various reused stone carvings, including a 17th-century chimney piece.

Within the north walled garden stands a later 19th century, single-storey, five-bay former laundry constructed of rubble with tooled dressings. It features a central door with a semi-circular fanlight, paired round-headed windows in the outer bays, paired windows in the east gable, multi-pane glazing, round dormer vents, corniced end stacks, and a slate roof.

Dunbeath Castle was formerly the seat of the Sinclairs of Dunbeath. An armorial shield displays the Sinclair and Innes crests, along with the motto "Via crucis, via lucis, patientia vinco".