Bishop's Palace

The Bishop's Palace in Kirkwall was built in the 12th century, raised alongside St Magnus Cathedral to house the cathedral's first bishop, William the Old of the Norwegian Catholic Church, who took his authority from the Archbishop of Nidaros in Trondheim. It is thought to have resembled a typical Royal Norwegian palace, with a large rectangular hall standing above store rooms and a tower house serving as the bishop's private residence. King Haakon IV of Norway died here in 1263 while overwintering after the Battle of Largs, an event marking the end of Norse rule over the Outer Hebrides. Neglected afterwards, the palace had fallen into ruins by 1320.

In 1468 Orkney and Shetland were pledged by Christian I of Denmark and Norway against the unpaid dowry of his daughter Margaret, betrothed to James III of Scotland; the debt was never settled, and the islands' connection to the Scottish crown became permanent. In 1526 the palace came briefly into the possession of William, Lord Sinclair, before he was ordered to return it to the Bishop of Orkney. When James V of Scotland visited Kirkwall in 1540 he garrisoned his troops in the palace and in Kirkwall Castle.

Soon after James V's visit, Bishop Robert Reid — the last of Orkney's medieval bishops and founder of the University of Edinburgh — began an extensive restoration of the palace, adding the round tower still known as the Moosie Toor.

In 1557 Mary I of England sent a fleet to Scotland under William Woodhouse and John Clere. Clere's troops attacked St Magnus Cathedral on 12 August and were overpowered the next day while attempting to capture the Bishop's Palace; many of the retreating English, including Clere himself, drowned trying to reach their ships.

Ownership passed in 1568 to Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Orkney, whose 1593 will listed eight pieces of old tapestry that probably furnished the palace. His son Patrick Stewart, 2nd Earl of Orkney, planned to incorporate the building into his own Earl's Palace next door, but debts forced him to return it to Bishop James Law. In 1614 Earl Patrick's son Robert seized both palaces and a siege followed, though it is not known whether it damaged the structures. Both remain ruins today, the Bishop's Palace resembling a small castle with its round tower.

The Bishop's Palace has been a scheduled monument since 1921 and is a category A listed building, held and administered by Historic Environment Scotland. It is open to the public, though both it and the neighbouring Earl's Palace were closed from October 2023 to March 2024 while high-level masonry inspections were carried out as part of the building's conservation.