Balfour Castle, Shapinsay

Name: Balfour Castle
Address: Shapinsay, United Kingdom

#1 among attractions in Shapinsay

Top attraction, Forts and castles, Gothic Revival architecture

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Facts and practical information

Balfour Castle is a historic building on the southwest of Shapinsay, Orkney Islands. Though built around an older structure that dates at least from the 18th century, the present castle was built in 1847, commissioned by Colonel David Balfour, and designed by Edinburgh architect David Bryce. It is a Category A listed building and the landscape and formal gardens are listed in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland. ()

Alternative names: Coordinates: 59°1'54"N, 2°55'0"W

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Shapinsay United Kingdom

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Day trips

Balfour Castle – popular in the area (distance from the attraction)

Nearby attractions include: The Pickaquoy Centre, St Magnus Cathedral, Bishop's Palace, Earl's Palace.

3.8 miSW
Outdoor activities, Arenas and stadiums, Sport venue
The Pickaquoy Centre, Kirkwall
98 min walk • The Pickaquoy Centre is a multi-use leisure centre in Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland. The arena has 1,600-seat stands, and can be condensed and used as a sports hall, with room for two five a side football pitches.
3.8 miSW
Striking, 12th-century place of worship
St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall
97 min walk • St Magnus Cathedral dominates the skyline of Kirkwall, the main town of Orkney, a group of islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland.
3.8 miSW
Stately remains of 2 historic castles
Bishop's Palace, Kirkwall
98 min walk • The Bishop's Palace, Kirkwall is a 12th-century palace built at the same time as the adjacent St Magnus Cathedral in the centre of Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland. It housed the cathedral's first bishop, William the Old of the Norwegian Catholic church who took his authority from the Archbishop of Nidaros.
3.8 miSW
Historical place, Forts and castles
Earl's Palace, Kirkwall
98 min walk • The Earl's Palace is a ruined Renaissance-style palace near St Magnus's Cathedral in the centre of Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland. Built by Patrick, Earl of Orkney, its construction began in 1607 and was largely undertaken via forced labour.
3.6 miSW
Specialty museum, Museum, History museum
Orkney Wireless Museum, Kirkwall
93 min walk • The Orkney Wireless Museum in Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland, houses a collection of domestic and military wireless equipment. It developed from the private collection of the late Jim MacDonald from St Margaret's Hope and marks the importance of wireless communications in Orkney during World War II.
5.1 miSE
Nature, Natural attraction, Lake
Loch of Tankerness, Mainland
130 min walk • Loch of Tankerness is a large, lowland, freshwater loch on the Orkney mainland in Scotland. The loch is roughly triangular in shape and is shallow with a flat bottom that gradually deepens from west to east.
1.3 miN
Nature, Natural attraction, Lake
Vasa Loch, Shapinsay
32 min walk • Vasa Loch is a brackish lagoon in southwestern Shapinsay, Orkney Islands. This water body has been shown on early maps of the island in a very similar shape and size to its current geometry, separated from the North Sea by a narrow strip of raised beach.
5.4 miW
Island
Damsay
137 min walk • Damsay is an islet in the Orkney archipelago in Scotland. It is approximately 18 hectares in extent and rises to only 11 metres above sea level. It is situated in the Bay of Firth north of the Orkney Mainland near Finstown. Nearby is the smaller islet of Holm of Grimbister.
5.4 miSW
Museum, Archaeological site
Rennibister Earth House, Mainland
137 min walk • Rennibister Earth House is located on the Mainland of Orkney, in Scotland. It is located by the southeastern shore of the Bay o' Firth, in a farm yard and is accessed by a hatch in the roof of the earth house and by a ladder.
0.9 miSE
Island
Helliar Holm
23 min walk • Helliar Holm is an uninhabited island off the coast of Shapinsay in the Orkney Islands, Scotland. It is home to a 42-foot-tall lighthouse, which was built in 1893 and automated in 1967. It is a tidal island that used to be connected to Shapinsay.
5 miNE
Archaeological site
Burroughston Broch, Shapinsay
127 min walk • Burroughston Broch is an Iron Age broch located on the island of Shapinsay in the Orkney Islands, in Scotland. The site overlooks the North Sea on the northeast part of Shapinsay.