Kirkwall, Orkney - Bishop's Tower (Palace) - Valentines postcard, local pmk 1906

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  The Bishop's Tower [or Palace], Kirkwall [Orkney]
• Publisher: Valentines 
• Postally used: yes
• Stamp:  Edward VII half d light green
• Postmark(s): Kirkwall 1906 cds
• Sent to:  Miss Newington, Mystole near Canterbury, Kent
• Notes / condition: 

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Image may be low res for illustrative purposes - if you need a higher definition image then please contact me and I may be able to send one. No cards have been trimmed (unless stated).

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NOTE: All postcards are sent in brand new stiffened envelopes which I have bought for the task. These are specially made to protect postcards and you may be able to re-use them. In addition there are other costs to sending so the above charge is not just for the stamp!

I will give a full refund if you are not fully satisfied with the postcard.

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Kirkwall (Scots: Kirkwaa, Scottish Gaelic: Bàgh na h-Eaglaise) is the largest town of Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland.

The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name Kirkjuvágr (Church Bay), which later changed to Kirkvoe, Kirkwaa and Kirkwall.

Kirkwall is 130 miles (210 kilometres) north of Aberdeen and 528 mi (850 km) north of London. It is situated on the northern coast of Mainland Orkney with its harbours in the bay of Kirkwall to the north, and with Scapa Flow 1.4 mi (2.3 km) to the south. Its parish, St Ola forms the isthmus between Firth and Holm. It is the most populous island settlement in Scotland.

The Bishop's Palace, Kirkwall is a 12th-century palace built at the same time as the adjacent St Magnus Cathedral in the centre of Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland. It housed the cathedral's first bishop, William the Old of the Norwegian Catholic church who took his authority from the Archbishop of Nidaros (Trondheim). The ruined structure now looks like a small castle.

Originally, it is thought to have been like a typical Royal Norwegian palace, with a large rectangular hall above store rooms and a tower house as the Bishop's private residence. King Haakon IV of Norway, overwintering after the Battle of Largs, died here in 1263, marking the end of Norse rule over the Outer Hebrides. The neglected palace had fallen into ruins by 1320.

In 1468, Orkney and Shetland were pledged by Christian I of Denmark and Norway for the payment of the dowry of his daughter Margaret, betrothed to James III of Scotland, and as the money has never since been paid, their connection with the crown of Scotland has been perpetual. In 1526, the palace came briefly into the possession of William, Lord Sinclair, before he was ordered to return it to the Bishop of Orkney. When King James V of Scotland visited Kirkwall in 1540, he garrisoned his troops in the palace and in Kirkwall Castle. Soon afterwards, extensive restoration was begun by Bishop Robert Reid, the last of Orkney's medieval bishops, who also founded the University of Edinburgh. Reid added a round tower, the Moosie Toor.

Ownership passed to Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Orkney, in 1568, then to his son Patrick Stewart, 2nd Earl of Orkney who planned to incorporate it into his Earl's Palace, Kirkwall, but debts forced him to return it to Bishop James Law. Earl Patrick's son Robert seized both palaces in 1614, and a siege followed, though it is not known if this caused damage to the structures, both of which are now ruins.