Balfour Castle
Balfour Castle is a country house on Shapinsay, Orkney Islands. This one stands 4.7 km north of Kirkwall. On the official register, it is a category A listed building.
Historic house near Kirkwall
Just outside Kirkwall
Balfour Castle is 4.7 km north of Kirkwall. Towns near it ↓
Category A listed building
On the official list of protected heritage; Kirkwall has 186 listed buildings in all, on its History page. About ↓
Written from OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, NRS’s localities and Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
The year in Kirkwall
In Kirkwall, July and August are the warmest, at 17°C in the afternoon.
Balfour Castle
Its Wikipedia coverage spans 7 languages. Add St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, 6.1 km away, to a visit; it leads 11 places within 15 km.
- Type
- Historic house
- Listed
- Category A listed building
- Wikipedias
- Covered in 7 languages
- Town
- 4.7 km north of Kirkwall
- Official site
- balfourcastle.co.uk
Getting your bearings
Orange marks Balfour Castle, and the numbered points match the list of places below.
© OpenStreetMap contributors · NRS locality 2022
Bases for a visit
The towns whose pages list it: the one it is in, those within 5 km of it, then larger towns further out.
Kirkwall
Each has its own grades, prices and things to do.
Make a day of it near Balfour Castle
Choose from 11 places within 15 km, such as 3 museums, 2 castles and a cathedral.
CathedralSt Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall6.1 km away2
Castle · Historic Environment ScotlandEarl's Palace6.2 km away3
Castle · Historic Environment ScotlandBishop's Palace6.2 km away4FortFort · Historic Environment ScotlandBroch of Gurness settlement14 km away5
MuseumOrkney Museum6.1 km away6
MuseumOrkney Wireless Museum5.8 km away7MuseumMuseumShapinsay Heritage Centre400 m away8AttractionAttractionHighland Park Distillery7.3 km awayWithin 15 km, close and well known first. Numbers match the map.
Balfour Castle in questions
Where is Balfour Castle?
Balfour Castle is 4.7 km north of Kirkwall, Orkney Islands.
What is Balfour Castle?
Country house on Shapinsay, Orkney Islands, Scotland, UK.
When is the best time to visit Balfour Castle?
July and August are the warmest months in Kirkwall, with afternoon highs of 17–17°C (Met Office 1991–2020 averages).
Is Balfour Castle a listed building?
Yes: category A listed building.
What else is there to see near Balfour Castle?
Within 15 km: St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall (6.1 km), Earl's Palace (6.2 km), Bishop's Palace (6.2 km) and Broch of Gurness settlement (14 km).
Places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database Licence) and Wikidata (CC0), placed in the NRS 2022 locality (Open Government Licence v3.0). Visitor counts are the latest Wikidata gives, with their year.
Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Photo credits (6)
- Balfour Castle: Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall: Robert Scarth, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Earl's Palace: Van de Beek at nl.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Bishop's Palace: Van de Beek at nl.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Orkney Museum: Andrew Abbott, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Orkney Wireless Museum: G J Coyne, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.