Bishop's Palace
Bishop's Palace is a palace in Kirkwall. It is protected as a scheduled monument. Within 15 km there are 10 more places to visit, starting with St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall (100 m).
Castle in Kirkwall
One of the best-known places to visit in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
#792 of the 8,556 museums, castles, gardens and other attractions we list, by how widely it is covered (7 Wikipedias). About ↓
Inside Kirkwall
Bishop's Palace is inside Kirkwall’s locality, with 8 more places to visit within 5 km. Towns near it ↓
Cared for by Historic Environment Scotland
One of the places Historic Environment Scotland looks after; members usually get in free. About ↓
Scheduled monument
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.
Weather by the month
The warmest months in Kirkwall are July and August, with highs of 17°C.
Bishop's Palace
Its upkeep is handled by Historic Environment Scotland. 7 Wikipedia editions have an article on it.
- Type
- Castle
- Run by
- Historic Environment Scotland
- Listed
- Scheduled monument
- Wikipedias
- Covered in 7 languages
- Town
- in Kirkwall
Bishop's Palace on the map
Orange: Bishop's Palace.
© OpenStreetMap contributors · Numbers: the places near it, as listed below. The dashed line is Kirkwall’s locality. · NRS locality 2022
Bases near Bishop's Palace
From nearest to farthest, these towns all list it.
Kirkwall
Combine it with these
There are 10 within 15 km, 3 museums, 2 attractions and a cathedral among them.
CathedralSt Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall100 m away2
Castle · Historic Environment ScotlandEarl's Palace100 m away3
MuseumOrkney Museum100 m away4
MuseumOrkney Wireless Museum400 m away5
Historic houseBalfour Castle6.2 km away6AttractionAttractionHighland Park Distillery1.3 km away7AttractionAttractionScapa Distillery2.4 km away8MuseumMuseumShapinsay Heritage Centre6.4 km awayWithin 15 km, close and well known first. Numbers match the map.
Questions about Bishop's Palace
Where is Bishop's Palace?
Bishop's Palace is in Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, inside the town’s locality.
What is Bishop's Palace?
Palace in Kirkwall, Scotland.
Who runs Bishop's Palace?
Historic Environment Scotland, so members usually get in free; check opening times before you go.
When is the best time to visit Bishop's Palace?
July and August are the warmest months in Kirkwall, with afternoon highs of 17–17°C (Met Office 1991–2020 averages).
Is Bishop's Palace a listed building?
Yes: scheduled monument.
What else is there to see near Bishop's Palace?
Within 15 km: St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall (100 m), Earl's Palace (100 m), Orkney Museum (100 m) and Orkney Wireless Museum (400 m).
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)
- Bishop's Palace: Van de Beek at nl.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, 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
- Orkney Museum: Andrew Abbott, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Orkney Wireless Museum: G J Coyne, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Balfour Castle: Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, 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.