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A view of Inverness Castle from Ness Bank.

There has been a castle on this site from the 12th century. In the ensuing 500 years it was destroyed and rebuilt on several occasions. Shaw MacDuff, second son of the 5th Earl of Fife, was made hereditary Constable of Inverness Castle by Malcolm IV in 1163. Command of the castle was given to Baliol in 1292 but, after the outbreak of war in 1296, it was taken by the army of Edward I of England. It was recaptured by Andrew de Moray during the Wars of Independence, was taken again by the English until, in 1307, it was regained by Bruce who ordered its demolition.

By the end of the 14th century a new castle had been built on the site though this was destroyed by Donald, Lord of the Isles, in 1411. The following year rebuilding was begun by Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar. This castle was taken at the behest of Edward IV in 1463. It was recaptured by Alexander MacDonald of Lochalsh in 1491. In 1508 the Earl of Huntly was appointed Heritable Sheriff of Inverness and Governor of the Castle. In 1562, when Mary, Queen of Scots came to Inverness she was refused admission to the castle by Alexander Gordon, Huntly's deputy. Her forces eventually overpowered the defenders and Gordon was hanged. It was besieged, though not taken, by the Duke of Montrose in 1643 and, four years later, captured by Royalist forces. Its condition deteriorated until, in 1715, it was refurbished by forces loyal to George I as a stronghold against the Jacobites. This turbulent history culminated in 1746 when Charles Edward Stuart ordered its demolition. The site remained a ruin until 1833.

The southern end of the present castle, the courthouse, dates from 1833-6 with the northern section being added as a jail in 1848. In 1901, after the building of a new jail at Porterfield, that part of the castle became the headquarters of the Inverness-shire Police whilst the court house became the Council Chamber of Inverness-shire County Council. After local government reorganisation in the 1970s it became the District Court-room.

The old Ness Bridge can be seen on the left

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Find out more about the photograph collector - Joseph Cook