Noltland Castle (Scotland)
A fine, ruined Z-plan tower, built between 1560 and 1573 but never completed.
Introduction
Dating from the 16th century, Westray's Noltland Castle stands testament to a troubled period of Scottish history.
The heavily fortified castle lies approximately half a mile from Pierowall Bay and was built by a Scotsman, Gilbert Balfour from Fife.
The Castle is open at all reasonable times throughout the year.
History to the present day
1546 Balfour, along with two of his brothers, was implicated in the murder of Cardinal Beaton. Afterwards, they underwent the siege of St. Andrew's Castle and upon its surrender were sentenced to a period at the oar of a French galley. Balfour's chaplain and partner in crime, John Knox, later described the three brothers as "men without God" who had "neither fear of God nor love of virtue further than their present commodity persuaded them".
In June 1560, Balfour received land from his brother-in-law Adam Bothwell, the Bishop of Orkney. It is thought that work on Noltland Castle began soon after this.
Built from local, grey sandstone, the castle follows as a typical "Z" plan layout, with a rectangular central structure with a square tower position at diagonally opposite corners.
With 7 ft thick walls, Balfour's castle was a stronghold in every sense of the word. The lower floors, have no accessible windows that could be exploited in an assault and are peppered with gunloops - 71 in total.
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