Caithness coast and clan history
Latheron
A small Caithness settlement beside prehistoric stones, Clan Gunn heritage and Latheronwheel's former herring harbour.
- Best for
- Clan history, prehistoric sites and the Caithness coast
- Give it
- A half day in Latheron or a full day with nearby stops
- Don't miss
- Buldoo, the tallest standing stone in Caithness
The Fox verdict
A small village with a long historical reach
Start with Latheron's old parish church and Buldoo standing stone, then use the village as a base for short drives around the Caithness coast.
The old parish church now houses the Clan Gunn Heritage Centre, while the 3.7-metre Buldoo stone stands a short field walk from the community hall. A wider circuit can take in Latheronwheel's former herring harbour, Laidhay Croft Museum, Waterlines at Lybster Harbour and the prehistoric rows of the Hill o'Many Stanes.
Where to go
Places in Latheron
Every place below is checked against a published source, listed with what it is and how long to give it.
Local signatures
3 placesClan Gunn Heritage Centre and Museum
The museum occupies the old parish church, built about 1734 with an earlier burial aisle retained; its displays trace Clan Gunn's Norse origins and later history.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 60 minutes
- Locality
- Latheron Old Parish Church and Burial Ground
Latheronwheel Harbour
A small former herring harbour with a rocky shore, nesting seabirds, picnic benches and a few boats still used for lobster, crab and leisure fishing.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 60 minutes
- Locality
- nearby Latheronwheel
Laidhay Croft Museum
A Category A Caithness longhouse and farm complex preserving box beds, flagged floors, a cobbled byre, stable and cruck-framed barn.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 75 minutes
- Locality
- between Dunbeath and Latheronwheel
- Access
- The barn roof collapsed in 2022 and restoration is ongoing; check restoration status before planning a visit.
History & heritage
4 placesBuldoo Standing Stone
The main stone rises more than 3.7 metres and is the tallest in Caithness, with a smaller companion still standing and another fallen nearby.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 30 minutes
- Locality
- from Latheron Community Hall
- Access
- One fence must be crossed and the route is not wheelchair accessible.
Waterlines
A heritage centre with a coffee shop and a small gift shop featuring local crafts; the harbour site also has a sheltered pebble beach and lighthouse.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 75 minutes
- Locality
- Lybster Harbour
Dunbeath Heritage Museum
The heritage centre occupies the school building attended by novelist Neil M. Gunn, who was born and raised in Dunbeath and drew on the strath for Highland River.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 60 minutes
- Locality
- Dunbeath
Hill o'Many Stanes
Around 200 small stones form more than 22 rows down a low moorland hill; Historic Environment Scotland dates them to about 4,000 years ago.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 45 minutes
- Locality
- near Lybster
Things to do
1 placeHarbour Road Play Area
An open Highland Council play area on Harbour Road in nearby Latheronwheel.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 45 minutes
- Locality
- Harbour Road, Latheronwheel
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Three ways to explore Latheron
Signature outings
Meet Caithness's tallest standing stone
Walk 0.1 km from Latheron Community Hall to Buldoo's main 3.7-metre stone and its smaller companions.
Pair local heritage with coffee
Waterlines combines a heritage centre, coffee shop and local-craft gift shop at Lybster Harbour.
Trace the prehistoric rows
Follow more than 22 rows of around 200 small stones down the low moorland slope near Lybster.
The village story
Latheron Village Guide
Clan history, ancient stones and small coastal harbours on Caithness's exposed east-coast plain.
Church and Village
The old parish church at Latheron stands on rising ground above the North Sea, and since 22 August 1985 it has housed the Clan Gunn Heritage Centre. The building went up around 1734, keeping part of an earlier church as the Sinclair of Dunbeath burial aisle; a north extension and bellcote came in 1822, leaving it an odd T-plan with a domed belfry and a panelled pulpit inside. The displays trace the Gunns back to their Norse beginnings. Out in the churchyard is the memorial of John William Sutherland of Forse, chief of Clan Sutherland, who died in 1909.
Latheron itself is small: a scatter of houses where the A9 coast road meets the A99 for Wick, on an exposed strip of Caithness plain. A separate rubble bell tower stands close by, put up in the late seventeenth century. It lost its bell around 1822, when the church acquired a belfry of its own.
Stone and Harbour
A short walk from the community hall, over a single fence, brings you to the Buldoo standing stone. It rises more than 3.7 metres, the tallest in Caithness, with one smaller stone still upright and another fallen beside it. It may be five thousand years old, and it belongs to a larger setting rather than standing alone. What it was for is guessed at rather than known.
There is no pub or shop within walking distance in Latheron, so eating and drinking mean a short drive. Down the coast, Latheronwheel was laid out as a fishing village in 1835, its small harbour built for the herring fleet. A few boats still work it for lobster and crab; the rest is picnic benches, nesting seabirds and a rocky shore where people fish and watch birds. Parking is free. A disused eighteenth-century crossing here is known locally as Wades Bridge, and there is a play area on Harbour Road.
Food Stops and Croft Life
For a sit-down meal you head to Lybster or Dunbeath. The Portland Hotel in Lybster runs a bar and Scottish restaurant. Down at Lybster Harbour, the Waterlines heritage centre has a coffee shop and a small gift shop of local crafts, along with a sheltered pebble beach and a lighthouse. The Bay at Dunbeath serves food and drink as well.
Between Latheronwheel and Dunbeath, the Laidhay Croft Museum preserves a whitewashed Caithness longhouse under rush thatch, with box beds, flagged floors, a cobbled byre and a cruck-framed barn. The Bethune family worked it from 1842 until 1968. The barn roof collapsed in 2022 and repairs are still going on, so it is worth checking before you go. The tearoom beside it does coffee and cakes.
Dunbeath and Ancient Rows
Dunbeath was the birthplace of the novelist Neil Gunn, who grew up there and drew on the strath behind the village for Highland River. "These small straths, like the Strath of Dunbeath, have this intimate beauty," he wrote. The walk up the strath runs about six and a half miles, starting on a clear riverside path through birch, rowan and hazel before climbing onto wet, pathless moor. It passes a broch, cairns, a standing stone and the old Tutnaguail cemetery.
Near Lybster, the Hill o'Many Stanes is a low moorland slope set with around two hundred small stones in more than 22 rows, laid out some four thousand years ago. Rows on that scale are rare across Europe.
Arrival and a Quiet Coast
Getting here is straightforward. The X99 bus stops at Latheron Post Office on its run between Inverness, Wick, Thurso and Scrabster, though it's worth checking times before you travel. Wick, on the North Highlands line, is the nearest railway station.
At Latheronwheel the picnic benches sit above the harbour, quiet enough on a still day to hear the seabirds nesting along the rocks.
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A guide with a point of view
Written from research. Edited for real journeys.
Use the Official site links for live practical details, then use this guide for context, ideas and room to explore.
Sources
Every place on this page is checked against a published source. Each entry links the record we used and names who publishes it.
- Clan Gunn Heritage Centre and Museum — portal.historicenvironment.scot statutory register or public authority
- Buldoo Standing Stone — thebrochproject.co.uk other published source
- Latheronwheel Harbour — her.highland.gov.uk statutory register or public authority
- Harbour Road Play Area — highland.gov.uk statutory register or public authority
- Waterlines — waterlineslybster.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- Laidhay Croft Museum — portal.historicenvironment.scot statutory register or public authority
- Dunbeath Heritage Museum — dunbeath-heritage.org.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- Hill o'Many Stanes — historicenvironment.scot statutory register or public authority record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access