What is recorded here
Shapinsay, Balfour Castle, Gate Piers stands as a 19th Century structure dated 1850, marking the entrance to a castle that still holds the memory of human ambition. The stone piers rise from the Orkney landscape like sentinels guarding a doorway no longer visible, inviting imagination about the lives that passed through them. They remind us that even when buildings disappear, their thresholds remain, shaping how we picture the world they once framed.
Scotland's National Record of the Historic Environment records Shapinsay, Balfour Castle, Gate Piers as Gate Pier(s) (19th Century) (1850). The official map says its point is accurate as follows: NGR given to the nearest 1m. The record does not by itself mean that the public may enter the place.
The historic-place record does not grant public access. Check current conditions and ownership before entering land or a building.
Places near here
Drinks are served in the Gatehouse of Balfour CastleCastle, fort or tower · 18 yd
Phone kiosk on Balfour Castle pierCastle, fort or tower · 59 yd
Balfour HarbourHarbour (post Medieval) · 68 yd
Iona: Balfour Harbour, Shapinsay, Wide FirthMotor Vessel (20th Century) · 88 yd
BalfourBarrow (bronze Age)(possible), Cist (bronze Age), Cremation (bronze Age), Cinerary Urn (steatite)(bronze Age) · 166 yd
Shapinsay, Balfour Castle, GatewayGateway (19th Century) · 678 yd
Petrel: Holm Sound, Shapinsay Sound, North SeaCraft (19th Century) · 911 yd
War Memorial at ElwickHeritage place · 1200 yd
Carness BatteryNo Class (event) (21st Century) · 1.4 mi
Thieves HolmIslet · 1.4 mi
Bay of CarnessBay · 1.6 mi
Bay of FurrowendBay · 1.7 mi