The Castle of Mey is a 16th tower house which was remodelled and extended in the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

The castle was built in 1567 by George Sinclair, 4th Earl of Caithness, and was originally Z-plan in style with a main three storey and attic block aligned approximately east to west. Projecting from the south-east corner was a rectangular wing and from the north-east corner a smaller square tower.

The castle’s name was later changed to Barrogill Castle and it remained in the Sinclair family until the death of George Sinclair, 15th Earl of Caithness, in 1889. It was inherited by F. G. Heathcote, who as a condition of the will changed his surname to Sinclair.

During the Second World War the castle was used as an officers’ rest home and by 1952 it was in a semi-derelict state when it was bought by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She restored the castle’s original name and commissioned a project of restoration by the architect Hugh Macdonald of Sinclair Macdonald and Son. As part of the restoration several carved stone details from Woolmet House, just outside Edinburgh and demolished in 1953, were incorporated into the Castle of Mey.

In 1996 ownership was transferred to The Castle of Mey Trust.