Description:

This dominating building, now a roofless ruin, was completed around 1600 by the tyrant, Earl Patrick Stewart. Using forced labour the castle was completed in 1600.

Earl Patrick was not an easy man; he and his bands of supporters ruled the islands of his northern estates with a fist of iron. So harsh and tyrannical was his rule that the islanders called him 'Black Patie'.

He was arrested at the Scalloway Castle and was taken to Edinburgh and, later, held in Dumbarton Castle where he made futile attempts, until 1614, to secure a release. Patrick was tried and executed for treason on 6th February 1615. He was given the royal treatment and was beheaded by the maiden in Edinburgh.

After the Earl's death, the castle was used for local administration. The Bishops of Orkney used the castle twice to hold court. Troops were stationed here in 1653, and it stayed in use until at least 1733