‘The past is all around us…’
Our historic royal burgh is set in an ancient landscape where every hillock or pile of stones could have a story to tell. There has been human settlement in the area for over 4000 years. Take a walk into the fields and forests around the village and, if you know where to look, you'll find chambered cairns, hut circles and even an Iron Age broch – relics of the Picts, our earliest settlers. This ancient people lived out their lives here for thousands of years, until the arrival of the Vikings forced them off their lands.
Dornoch may be remembered affectionately by visitors for its peace and tranquillity, but its past has been far from uneventful. Prolonged and bloody disputes, political intrigue and family vendettas characterise much of Dornoch’s history. From Viking raids in the 9th century to a Jacobite orgy of looting and burning the day before Culloden in 1746, Dornoch and the rich fertile lands around it have always been seen as a prize worth fighting for. The Mackays of Strathnaver, the Sutherlands of Duffus, the earls of Caithness and the Murrays of Dornoch all played their part in Dornoch’s turbulent history. Even in relatively peaceful times, the local inhabitants who relied on farming to make a living, regularly faced starvation through famine.
Despite its violent surroundings, the Church maintained a powerful and enduring presence in the Burgh. Some say that St Barr (or Finbarr) founded one of the first Christian settlements here in the 6th century after his journey from Ireland, and a plaque in the town centre commemorates this. We do know that 600 years later the Bishop of Caithness, Gilbert of Moravia, moved the diocese seat to Dornoch and began work on his magnificent sandstone cathedral. The first service was held in 1239, six years before Gilbert’s death. Gilbert was later canonised and his Cathedral remains today as a lasting tribute to the achievements of a remarkable man. The Cathedral is just one of many ecclesiastical buildings in the Royal Burgh – there are fine historical manses and a former Bishops Palace within a few minutes walk of the Cathedral.
A poor woman, Janet Horne was the last woman in Scotland to be burnt as a witch in 1722, the site is marked by a stone in a garden in River Street.
The coming of the railways to the Highlands at the end of the 19th century opened south-east Sutherland to wealthy visitors from the south. Golf has been played on Dornoch Links since the 16th century, however formal permission to play was granted to the Sutherland Golfing Society in 1877 by Dornoch Town Council – and a new chapter in Dornoch’s history opened. Golf now forms the mainstay of the area's thriving tourist industry. Royal Dornoch is ranked 13th in the world's top golf courses, and is as much-loved for its technical difficulty as it is for its stunning views across the Dornoch Firth and Sutherland hills.