Caithness's north-coast plain
Mey
A wind-battered village with a restored royal castle just outside it, a wildlife hide to the west and the Pentland Firth close by.
- Best for
- Castle history and north-coast wildlife
- Give it
- A full day for the castle complex and nearby stops
- Don't miss
- The Castle of Mey's restored rooms, grounds and walled garden
The Fox verdict
A small village with a substantial castle day out
Mey's visitor appeal is concentrated in a few well-defined stops across the exposed Caithness plain.
The Castle of Mey is the main anchor, with its historic rooms, grounds, visitor centre and animal centre. The Loch of Mey hide, Canisbay Parish Church and Dunnet Head extend a visit into wildlife, coastal landscape and parish history.
Where to go
Places in Mey
Every place below is checked against a published source, listed with what it is and how long to give it.
Local signatures
3 placesCastle and Gardens of Mey
A Category A-listed Z-plan castle restored by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, with guided rooms, grounds and a walled garden.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 2 hours
- Locality
- Immediately outside Mey
- Access
- The walk from the top of the drive to the castle is flat and takes about 15–20 minutes. Dogs may be walked on leads in the grounds, but not in the castle, animal centre or walled garden except assistance dogs.
Castle of Mey Visitor Centre
A castle gift shop selling garden chutney, the A Taste of Mey cookbook and Queen Mother Check textiles, alongside a tearoom serving homemade snacks and cakes with vegetarian and gluten-free choices.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 45 minutes
- Locality
- At the castle, outside the village core
Castle of Mey Animal Centre
An animal centre with unusual sheep, bantams, ducks, geese, rabbits and Buff Orpington chickens, plus sheep and chicken feeding and Daisy the wooden milking cow.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 45 minutes
- Locality
- At the Castle of Mey
Walks & outdoors
2 placesJames MacIntyre Memorial Hide
A weather-sheltered hide overlooking the Loch of Mey's wildfowl and waders.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 1 hour
- Locality
- West of Mey
- Access
- The hide is wheelchair accessible, with parking at the old ruin, and is closed on 31 December.
RSPB Dunnet Head
Mainland Britain's most northerly point, with coastal heath, sea cliffs, an accessible viewpoint and seabirds including puffins, razorbills, guillemots, fulmars and kittiwakes.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 1 hour
- Locality
- Dunnet Head
- Access
- A firm all-abilities path leads to a step-free cliff viewpoint.
History & heritage
1 placeCanisbay Parish Church (St Drostan's)
A Category A-listed church of medieval origin, substantially rebuilt in the seventeenth century, with a cruciform plan, square west tower and a Groat-family mural stone dated 1568.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: around 45 minutes
- Locality
- Canisbay
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Three ways to explore Mey
Signature outings
The Castle of Mey
See the Z-plan castle bought and restored by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, including guided rooms, grounds and its walled garden.
Canisbay's Medieval Roots
Look for the square west tower and the Groat-family mural stone dated 1568 in this Category A-listed parish church.
Dunnet Head's Sea Cliffs
Follow the firm all-abilities path to a step-free viewpoint over the coastal heath and sea cliffs at mainland Britain's most northerly point.
The village story
Mey Village Guide
Food, royal history and wildlife on Caithness's exposed north-coast plain.
Inn Food and the Wind-Bent Plain
The lounge bar of the Mey Hotel was once the village shop, and its dining room the store behind it. The building is a former coaching inn, around two hundred years old, run now by a husband and wife. The kitchen sends out Scrabster-landed haddock in beer batter with hand-cut triple-cooked chips, and haggis, tatties and neeps under a whisky, pepper and mustard sauce. The bar pours beers from breweries at John o'Groats and on Orkney, spirits from Dunnet Bay and North Point, and whiskies including Wolfburn, Old Pulteney and 8 Doors. On selected Saturdays the chef, Chris Duckham, runs a Côte Du Nord tasting evening. Five acres of woodland behind the hotel are open to guests, which counts for something here.
It counts because Mey has few trees, and not much else by way of shelter. This is the flat north-coast plain of Caithness: pasture, wind, the Pentland Firth a short way off, Dunnet Head to the west and Orkney across the water. At Longoe Farm the northerly winds salt-blast the barley and bend the surviving trees into a permanent lean.
Castle History and the Visitor Centre
The village's day out sits just outside it. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother saw the Castle of Mey advertised for sale in 1952, dilapidated and facing demolition, bought it, and restored its old name. It had been Barrogill Castle since George Sinclair, fourth Earl of Caithness, built the Z-plan tower after acquiring the lands in 1567; during the Second World War it served as a rest home for officers. Hew Lorimer carved the Queen Mother's cypher above a dining-room window, using stone from a local quarry reopened specially for the work. The cannons on the lawn are Napoleonic, brought up from a cliff fort nearby.
The visitor centre has a gift shop and tearoom, a little way from the village core. The shop sells chutney made from the castle garden, the *A Taste of Mey* cookbook, and scarves and throws in the Queen Mother Check, a pattern taken from an outfit displayed in the castle library. The tearoom does homemade cakes and snacks, locally sourced, with vegetarian and gluten-free options.
Animals and North-Coast Walks
Children can be pointed at the animal centre, where there are unusual sheep, bantams, ducks, geese, rabbits, and Buff Orpington chickens associated with the Queen Mother. You can feed the sheep and chickens and try milking Daisy, a wooden cow. The Longoe Farm herd has been Aberdeen Angus since 1964, and the farm keeps North Country Cheviot sheep, of which the Queen Mother wrote: "I have seen no reason to change my opinion over the years as it is still the best all round breed."
For walking, a signposted path west of the village leads to the James MacIntyre Memorial Hide on the Loch of Mey, wheelchair accessible with parking at an old ruin and a view over wildfowl and waders; it is open through the year bar the 31st of December. The castle grounds are flatter still, about fifteen to twenty minutes on foot from the top of the drive, and dogs are welcome on leads in the grounds, though not in the walled garden, the animal centre or the castle itself. Six miles east, John o'Groats and Duncansby Head give a longer outing: a clifftop circuit of grassy tops and boggy patches past Sannick Bay, the Glupe blowhole, the Stevenson lighthouse and the Duncansby Stacks, with the cliff edges exposed and best kept a distance from.
Road, Rail, Ferry and Parish History
Mey stands on the A836. The nearest station is Thurso, about fourteen miles off, with Stagecoach route 80 running between there and John o'Groats; from Gills Bay the Pentland Ferries crossing reaches St Margaret's Hope on Orkney in a little over an hour.
The parish church is at Canisbay, a short way off, Category A listed and medieval in origin though largely rebuilt in the seventeenth century. Inside there is a cruciform plan, a square west tower, and a Groat-family mural stone dated 1568. Some of the early gravestones were re-cut by the Caithness sculptor John Nicolson of Nybster, who in 1868 carved a monument there to his own mother.
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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.
- Castle and Gardens of Mey — castleofmey.org.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- Castle of Mey Visitor Centre — castleofmey.org.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- Castle of Mey Animal Centre — castleofmey.org.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- James MacIntyre Memorial Hide — caithness.org other published source
- Canisbay Parish Church (St Drostan's) — portal.historicenvironment.scot statutory register or public authority
- RSPB Dunnet Head — rspb.org.uk national body or asset manager