In another change of era, here’s a tour of some medieval ruins: the Bishop’s and Earl’s Palaces in the Orkney capital of Kirkwall, situated opposite St Magnus Cathedral.
This is what it might have looked like when in use
Inside, you get an idea of the impressive size of this Palace, much of it in the vertical direction!
The outside view of the tower
And the inside, showing the layers of rooms
Clearly built to be defensible as well as a secular home, the palace was only used once for military purposes, and not by the Bishop.
The view from the top of the tower is commanding: Please forgive the slight wobble – I was videoing while walking around the outside of the top of the tower in the wind you can hear, plus, I’m not good with heights!
If I had been able to continue around the tower, the next thing you would have seen would be the Earl’s Palace, which is even larger and far more grandiose.
Walking around inside, it was easy to imagine the grand entertainments that took place within these walls
Although as this passageway demonstrates, not quite as grand if you happened to be a servant
For the Earl’s boudoir, on the other hand, opulence was clearly the order of the day, with multiple windows to let in plenty of light.
And my favourite photo from this set: me, standing inside the kitchen hearth!
deborahjay 
Lovely tour of Orkney, Debby. Thank you. ❤
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Glad you enjoyed it Jane, there is so much to see on Orkney, despite its relatively small size. I think I need several more trips over there ❤
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That sounds like a happy plan to me. ❤
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Looks like someone lives next door to the palace – what fun and easy to give directions for people to find your house!
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Yes indeed! It is at the end of an entire row of terraced houses – great place to live ❤
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Deb I love your tours! What I love the most about the architecture is the stone, truly amazing. Will you get to meet up with Adele one day on these tours? 🙂 xx
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Scotland has the most wonderful and plentiful supply of stone, and I love the architecture here, often rather ‘fairy tale castle’ in style.
I’d love to visit Adele one day, I will have to do some serious forward planning once holidays are a practicality again.
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Yes, for sure! I shall wait for a vaccine so I can come visit you! ❤
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[…] (https://skaillhouse.co.uk/the-house/the-lairds-of-skaill/) His official residence was in the Earl’s Palace in Kirkwall, but like so many senior clergy of the time, he’d accumulated a considerable […]
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