Scotland · Partial ruin
Scalloway Castle
Scalloway Castle is a late 16th-century stone tower-house in Scalloway, Shetland (inception recorded 1599). The surviving fabric today is a partial ruin of the original three-storey block with projecting corner turrets and a prominent chimney stack.
First raised
1599
Its prime
1599
Today
Partial ruin
As it stood in 1599
The shape it held in its prime.
Solid rectangular three-storey stone tower-house occupying a compact footprint, built of pale grey, weathered masonry. Cylindrical, corbelled angle turrets project at corners, rising above the main wall line; a tall rectangular chimney or stack pierces the centre of the roofline. Window openings are a mix of narrow slits and larger rectangular windows with plain stone surrounds. The castle sits amid low grassy hills with a small village immediately adjacent; in its prime the roofs and upper floors would have been complete, with conical turret caps.
Its story
The story of Scalloway Castle.
Scalloway Castle was built in 1600 by Patrick Stewart, 2nd Earl of Orkney, during his brief period as de facto ruler of Shetland. His father Robert Stewart, illegitimate son of King James V, had been granted lands in Orkney and Shetland in 1564 and — despite numerous complaints of seized lands and misused taxes — was made Earl of Orkney and Lord of Shetland; Patrick was created Lord of Shetland in 1590 and effectively succeeded to the earldom on his father's death.
Patrick's main residence was the Earl's Palace, built by his father on Birsay in Orkney; Scalloway was used by his representative in Shetland, and the new castle served as the meeting place of the thing — Shetland's parliament — during his ascendancy. In 1609 the Shetland lairds complained to the king of Earl Patrick's misrule, and control of the islands was given over to James Law, Bishop of Orkney, who held his first court at Scalloway Castle in August 1612.
The L-plan tower stands four storeys with a garret, its tunnel-vaulted ground level holding kitchens, stores and a well, the hall on the first floor and bartizans corbelled out around the third. Above the door an inscription, illegible today but recorded in the 18th century, named "Patrick Stewart, Earl of Orkney and Shetland" and warned that a house founded on rock shall stand, but on sand shall fall. The roofless castle is a scheduled monument.
Step inside
4 places to explore in 1599.
The record describes 4 distinct spots at Scalloway Castle — including the full exterior approach. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.
Create History
Recreate Scalloway Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1599 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →Whose castle
Clans who held Scalloway Castle.
The families that held Scalloway Castle for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
Built in 1600 by Patrick Stewart, 2nd Earl of Orkney; after the lairds' complaints of his misrule, Bishop James Law held court at the castle by 1612.
