Kirkwall Castle (site of)
Parish: Kirkwall and St Ola
County: Orkney
Grid reference: HY 4489 1097
Lat / long: 58.98208584, -2.960412798
Alternative names: Castle Of Kirkway, King's Castle
Kirkwall Castle was built in 1379 by Henry St. Clair, the first Count of Orkney. It was demolished in 1614 on the order of James VI.
In 1742 the Earl of Morton gaver permission for the stones to be used in the building of a town house and a jail. The last remnant of the castle was a wall 17.0 metres long and 3.3 metres thick, but it was demolished in 1865 to improve access to the harbour. A stone to commemorate this is built into the Castle Hotel, while a stone bearing the Sinclair crest was built into the south gable of W T Sinclair's premises at the tower of Castle Street.
