Spynie Palace

Spynie Palace stands on a low rise in Moray, Scotland, five hundred metres from the ruined Holy Trinity Church. Built in the late 12th century as a wooden hall for the bishops of Moray, it became their fortified home for half a millennium. The bishops moved between Birnie, Kinneddar and Spynie before settling here permanently in 1208. Although the cathedral moved to Elgin in 1224, the bishops kept Spynie as their residence. The first stone buildings appeared in the 13th century, including a chapel with coloured glass. The palace is worth the journey for its long and dramatic history. In 1390 the Wolf of Badenoch burned Elgin Cathedral and King Robert III ordered him to stay away from Spynie. Bishop David Stewart built David’s Tower in the 15th century to withstand threats from the Earl of Huntly. The tower still rises twenty-two metres with six storeys above ground and a vaulted dungeon below. Bishop Patrick Hepburn added gun loops and enlarged windows after the Reformation. Visitors find a grassy courtyard surrounded by the remains of stone ranges. David’s Tower dominates the north side, its plain walls showing where the spiral stair rose through each floor. The ground-floor hall once held large windows with stone seats. To the south a walled garden once held an orchard and a doocot added in 1569. The east gate still shows the gatekeeper’s room with its small fireplace. Beyond the walls the land slopes gently down to the old churchyard.