Cubbie Roo's Castle

The late 12th century chronicle, the Orkneyinga Saga, tells of a Norwegian landowner named Kolbein hrúga, who built a 'fine stone castle" (steinkastala) on the island of Wyre around 1145 AD. The mid-13th century biography of King Haakon IV of Norway, Hagonar Saga, describes the castle as difficult to attack during a siege in 1231. The name, "Cobbie Row", is an alteration of Kolbein Hruga's Norse nickname, "Kobbie" or "Kubbie". "Row" (or "Roo") is adapted from his second name, "hrúga". The castle has been also referred to as "Cubbie Roo", "Cubbie Row", and "Cobbie Roo". Cobbie Row's Castle is believed to be the oldest medieval castle in Scotland. At the bottom of the hill where the castle…

The remains of the early medieval stone fort sits on a low hill on the island of Wyre in Orkney, Scotland. The earliest building on the site is the small tower, measuring approximately 8 m square and has remaining walls that are 2.34 m in height and are approximately 2 m thick. The ground floor is the only surviving floor in the tower, and was constructed with coursed rubble. A narrow ledge on the north wall, originally used to support joists on the first floor, is also visible. It is believed that interior ladders were used to gain access to the first floor, since there is no ground floor doorway. The ground floor was most likely used for storage supplies. It originally contained a water…