Publication Account
Date 1996
Event ID 1016308
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016308
The siting of this most impressive castle emphasises the importance in former times of the natural harbour at Pierowall, and the height of the parapet provides an extensive view of the northern isles of Orkney. Most of the building uses the local grey flagstone but the finer stonework consists of red sandstone which was probably imported from Eday, a short voyage to the south-east of Westray. Though roofless, the castle survives in good condition, desp ite the fact that it was never completed, and it is an excellent example of a 16th century Z-plan design with a central block and two towers. Most remarkable of all is the number of gun-loops, no fewer than 71 arranged in tiers, mak ing it an unusually fearsome building, which was probably their prime purpose.
The main rectangular block measures 26.5m by 11m and, though incomplete, was designed to have three upper storeys, with square towers at its south-west and north-east angles; the south-west tower is slightly bigger at 9m square than the north-east tower, presumably because it enclosed not only the entrance but the main stairway. Although initially the castle looks very severe, there are decorative details. The lower string-course on the south-west tower is moulded and bears traces of carving, while the moulded panel above the doorway would originally have held a carved armorial panel, and at the well-head there were once turrets and a parapet walk supported by the decorative projecting corbels that still survive. The gables were stepped. The inside of the castle, at least on the upper floors, must have been quite elegant to judge from the proportions of the main hall and the spacious design of the stairway, one of the finest of its period in Scotland , leading from the entrance up to the hall. The central newel of the stair is finished at the top with a great carved stone terminal.
The hall may also be reached by a back stair from the kitchen below to a small servery where finishing touches might be added to meals about to be served in the great hall (a convenience not matched by conditions in the kitchen, which must have been very dark and stuffy). The basement was originally divided into two levels by a wooden floor creating storerooms between the kitchen and the vaulted stone ceiling that supports the hall and chamber on the first floor. The passion for gun-loops, which are such a feature of the castle, even extended to placing two in the wall at the back of the huge firep lace in the kitchen. It is worth examining the gun-loops in the basement, because many have slots designed to hold wooden mountings for the guns.
On the first floor were not only the hall and the laird's private apartments but also, beside the stair in the south-west tower, a small chamber that seems to have acted as a strong-room, because there are lockers with secret compartments built into the sills of the two windows.
The courtyard on the south side of the castle with its arched gateway and foundations of domestic buildings is a later addition, described in an 18th century document as a 'garden'. The castle itself was built sometime between 1560 and 1574 by Gilbert Balfour, a Scot from Fife with a particularly ruthless personal history, who had acquired through marriage lands in Westray in 1560. Despite the fact that Noltland was never properly finished, it was used for at least two centuries both as a military stronghold and as a residence.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Orkney’, (1996).
