|
Scalloway Castle
Street address: Scalloway, Shetland ZE1 0TR, Scotland, United Kingdom
Mailing address: Skara Brae Prehistoric Village, Sandwick, Stromness, Orkney KW16 3LR, Scotland, United Kingdom
Telephone: 44 (0) 1856 841815
Fax: 44 (0) 1856 841885
E-mail:
Website: http:/
Proprietor: Historic Scotland
Contact: Ann Marwick District Visitors' Services Manager
Opening hours: 9.30am-5pm Mon-Sat (key available from Shetland Woollen Company Shop), 9.30am-5pm Sun (key available from Scalloway Hotel)
Admission: Free of charge
Accessibility: Partial disabled access
Built in around 1600 by the infamous Patrick Stewart, 2nd Earl of Orkney to serve as the administrative capital of Shetland, Scalloway Castle was surrounded by the sea on three sides and strategically placed to control the main access to Tingwall, the site since Norse times of the Parliament for Orkney and Shetland.
Earl Patrick was executed soon after 1614, but the castle remained the administrative centre of Shetland for another century. In the 1650s it was used as a barracks for Cromwell's troops, but it fell into decline in the early 18th century after the capital moved to Lerwick. From the mid 18th century much of the stone of the lesser buildings surrounding the tower-house was removed to build a nearby mansion, so that today only the tower house remains. The ruin was placed in the care of the state in 1908, and is now looked after by Historic Scotland.
|
