Throughout 2026, a selection of archives and souvenirs featuring images of the iconic Inverness Castle will be on display within the first floor museum gallery, to celebrate its new chapter as a visitor attraction. The display explores some of the Castle's history and the role it has played in the tourism of Inverness and the Highlands, even before it opened to the public. The eye-catching red sandstone building has been captured in guidebooks, postcards and artistic interpretations throughout its existence.
Inverness Castle has been an iconic part of the Inverness skyline for hundreds of years, going through several phases in that time to become the building we see today. The earliest recorded castle built on Castle Hill was in the 11th century and, from then on, the site has been developed and re-built, as successive buildings were damaged or destroyed.
The earliest part of the building still recognisable today is the ‘south tower’, begun in the 1830s following the decision to create a new courthouse and jail for Inverness. This first phase, containing the courthouse, was completed in 1836. The second phase, the ‘north tower’, contained the prison block, completed in 1848. Even though its purpose was no longer as a castle, it was built in a castellated style, mimicking some of the design features of historical castles.
In 2020, the Inverness Sheriff Court officially moved out of the Castle to new premises at the Inverness Justice Centre on Longman Road. The Castle’s new incarnation, as the Inverness Castle Experience, opened to visitors in December 2025 after extensive redevelopment.
