Scotland · Ruin
Kirkwall Earl's Palace
The Earl's Palace is a Renaissance-style palace built from 1607 near St Magnus's Cathedral in the centre of Kirkwall, Orkney. Constructed for Patrick, Earl of Orkney, the building later fell into disuse and is now preserved as a ruin managed by Historic Environment Scotland.
First raised
1601
Its prime
1610
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1610
What Kirkwall Earl's Palace looked like in its prime.
A stone-built Renaissance-style urban palace sited directly beside St Magnus's Cathedral in the heart of Kirkwall; in plan it occupies an enclosed plot in the town centre and reads as multi-storey stone ranges with a formal street-facing façade. Constructed of local masonry, the palace in its prime presented complete roofs and intact façades; today it remains as exposed roofless stonework and open ruin but originally formed a continuous, finished built block against the cathedral.
Its story
The story of Kirkwall Earl's Palace.
Earl Patrick's New Palace, 1607
Patrick, 2nd Earl of Orkney, found the accommodation of the Bishop's Palace at Kirkwall inadequate for his needs and decided to extend the complex with a new palace on the adjoining land. That he did not own that property was a complication he settled by fabricating charges of theft against its owner, trying him and having him executed. Work on the Renaissance palace, beside St Magnus's Cathedral in the centre of Kirkwall, began in 1607 and was largely undertaken by forced labour. Lord Orkney is widely acknowledged to have been one of the most tyrannical noblemen in Scotland's history.
Robert's Rebellion and the Earl of Caithness's Siege
In 1609 Lord Orkney was imprisoned at Edinburgh, and his bastard son Robert began a rebellion on his behalf, seizing the palace along with St Magnus's Cathedral and Kirkwall Castle nearby. An army led by the Earl of Caithness laid siege, and the Castle was destroyed. Father and son were both later executed for treason.
From Bishops' Residence to Scheduled Ruin
After the Earl's death the palace continued as a residence of the Bishops of Orkney, sporadically, until 1688, when it became the property of the Crown. It fell into ruin in the 18th century. The ruins are held by Historic Environment Scotland and have been protected as a scheduled monument since September 1921; they are open to the public, though the palace and the neighbouring Bishop's Palace were closed from October 2023 to March 2024 while high-level masonry was inspected as part of the building's conservation.
Step inside
3 places to explore in 1610.
The record describes 3 distinct spots at Kirkwall Earl's Palace, including the full exterior approach. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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