Balfour Castle, Shapinsay is a Grade A listed building in the Orkney Islands local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 8 December 1971. Mansion. 2 related planning applications.
Balfour Castle, Shapinsay
- WRENN ID
- dreaming-portal-ochre
- Grade
- A
- Local Planning Authority
- Orkney Islands
- Constituency
- Orkney and Shetland MP: Mr Alistair Carmichael (LD)
- Country
- Scotland
- Date first listed
- 8 December 1971
- Type
- Mansion
- Address
- Balfour Castle, Shapinsay, KW17 2DY
- OS grid reference
- HY 474 164
- Coordinates
- 59.0317, -2.91678
- Source
- Historic Environment Scotland listing
Description
Balfour Castle in Shapinsay is a large Scots Baronial mansion built between 1846 and 1859, designed by architect David Bryce. The building features three storeys and a garret, along with a four-storey tower and one-storey offices. It is constructed from stugged ashlar and includes distinctive architectural elements such as turrets, corbie steps, and bay windows, all topped with slated roofs.
The garden gateway at Lady's Walk is dated 1674 and is a fragment of the House of Sound, which was burned down by Hanoverian soldiers in 1746. This gateway has a round arch flanked by engaged columns and is topped with an armorial panel. The rounded pediment displays the monogram AB/MB along with the date.
Local climate
Balfour Castle, Shapinsay sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 1,130 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 89% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 97% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 2 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 99% of listed buildings. Of these, 2 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 2 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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