For a map of this walk click here
(1) Dornoch as far as is known had its origins in a Christian settlement. It is fitting therefore that our Heritage Trail should begin at Dornoch Cathedral. founded in 1224 by Gilbert of Moravia. Bishop of Caithness. Its aisles and nave were almost wholly destroyed in a clan feud in 1570. In the 18th Century it suffered from neglect but the restoration work of 1835-37 and the loving care exercised on the fabric ever since then have restored the building to the fine edifice you see today. (More detail can be found in the Guide which is on sale within.)
(2) A few metres from the cathedrals south door, we pass through a wrought iron gate which bears the arms of the Royal Burgh, keep right and follow the wall to its eastern extremity where a plaque indicates the probable site of a much earlier church, that of St. Barr. Opinions vary as to whether this church was built by St. Barr or Finbarr, in the late 6th Century, or in his honour some time later.
(3) Retrace your steps to the gravel path. Look for the Plaiden Ell, the standard 38 inch (96cm) cloth measurement used at Fairs and Markets held on this site since mediaeval times.
(4) We are now standing on the site of the old market place marked by the Mercat Cross. Here, according to Sir Robert Gordon, Sutherlands 17th Century historian: St. Barr his fayre was keipt in former tymes the twentie- fyfth day of September. The lane across the road used to be known as Dog Street. Shepherds and crofters would leave their dogs there while attending the market. A young officer was executed here in 1654. He had killed a brother officer in a duel.
(5) Eastward about a hundred metres is the Carnegie Free Library, gifted to the burgh in 1906 by Andrew Carnegie. The Building now houses the library and Highland Councils Sutherland Chambers where, before 1975, Dornoch Town Council met. Across the road from the library you will notice the arch of an old bridge built about 1800. This bridge would have been used by the old stage-coaches en route to the stables which lie up Schoolhill.
(6) East from the bridge stands a fine old house. St. Michaels. If you walk a few metres up Schoolhill you will see an arch in the stonework. This wall is, according to Hector Mackay a former town clerk of the Royal Burgh, part of one of the original cathedral manses, probably the Precentors manse, whose farm, Achinchanter, lay to the north.
(7) Return to Station Road and walk north to Station Square, the one-time site of Dornoch Light Railway Station. From here in former days (1902-1960) a train ran to the main line some seven and a half miles to the north.
(8) Some fifty metres north of the old station waiting room, now The Station Takeaway, stands a massive stone marked St. Michaels Well. it was placed there by the Sutherland estates factor, George Gunn who lived at Rhives, near Golspie. The Reform Act of 1832 decreed that voters in the Royal Burgh had to live within seven miles of St. Michaels Well. The actual well lay just beyond the accepted distance. Nothing daunted, Mr.Gunn had the stone you are now looking at, hewn, inscribed and erected here - near enough to Rhives to let Mr.Gunn keep his vote.
(9) If you cross the road and follow the fork leading up the hill, you will, just past the cedar bungalow, see a path to your left which leads through Earls Cross Wood. This woods fine stand of hardwoods and Scots pines, and undergrowth of vigorous seedlings is itself a testament to Dornochs light fertile soils and climate. It contains Sutherlands largest rookery. Follow the path through the wood till you reach a cottage. Here, go through the little gate and bear right, past the large Earls Cross House, to the main gates. On your left, just outside the gates, you will see a plaque marking Gallowhill, site of the last public hanging in Dornoch.
(10) Return now to the gate beside the cottage.
Go down the path which skirts round Earls Cross House grounds
till you come to a stone marking a supposed cholera victims
grave. This area was the site of a battle with the Danes, according
to local tradition. Numerous skeletons were disinterred when the
foundations of Earls Cross House were being built.
(11) Return to the main path, turn right and continue to a barely discernible path leading left. Follow it until you reach the sculptured stone known as the Earls Cross. It is said to have marked the boundary between the lands of the Earl of Sutherland and those of the Church, but this is doubtful. ( Read the plaque.)
(12) From the Earls Cross proceed to the nearby stile. Here you can observe the world famous Royal Dornoch Golf Course, of which links Sir Robert Gordon wrote in 1630: About this toun (along the sea coast) ther are the fairest and largest links (or green feilds) of any pairt of Scotland, fitt for archery, goffing, ryding and all other exercise; they doe surpasse the feilds of Montrose or St.Andrews, We hope you agree!
(13) From the stile turn right and follow the path above the links to where it joins the public road, taking care to avoid any wayward golf balls. Continue past the Royal Golf Hotel on your left to Kennedy Avenue. Proceed down Kennedy Avenue to the bowling green. By following the narrow road west of the bowling green and continuing in a roughly southeasterly direction keeping to the right of the 18th green and watching for golfers on the 18th tee who may be out of sight, you will come eventually to Carnaig Street. In the garden of the first house you will see a stone with the date 1722. This marks the spot where the last execution in Scotland for alleged witchcraft took place.
(14) Looking north-west from the stone you can see the witchs or quarry pool. In it were buried some World War One German guns. Local people did not appreciate the placing of these guns in the town square as a grim reminder of a war which had cost the lives of so many of Dornochs sons. They took the guns and unceremoniously dumped them in the quarry pool.
(15) Continue west along Carnaig Street into Church Street and past the Free Church which was built shortly after the Disruption in 1843. The hall beside the church was formerly the Free Church School.
(16) A few steps takes us back into the Square, gracious and fitting centre for a Royal Burgh. To the east it is bounded by the new (1982) divisional Police Headquarters. On the south as we move west are the old police station, the Town Jail, now a commercial enterprise, the Court House which cost three thousand pounds to build in 1850, and finally Dornoch Castle, which is now a hotel. The castle was built in the 16th century as the Bishops Palace.
(17) Cross the road now to the green space between the castle and cathedral. King Haakon of Norway planted a tree here in 1942 as an expression of the gratitude of the Norwegian forces for the hospitality they had received while stationed in Dornoch. One final feature is the fountain. Note the four coats of arms - in the south, that of the Royal Burgh, on the north, of the Sutherland Family, on the west, of the Munros of Foulis, and on the east, of John Anderson of Aberdeen from whom the donor, Miss Georgina Anderson is probably descended.
We hope you have enjoyed this journey through Dornochs Past.
Reproduced with kind permission of Dornoch Heritage Society.