Spynie Palace was for five centuries the residence of the bishops of Moray. During that time, the palace stood on the edge of Spynie Loch, a sea-loch giving safe anchorage for fishing boats and merchant vessels. A thriving settlement developed about it. Today, nothing remains of either the sea-loch or the medieval town. The Palace was for five centuries the residence of the bishops of Moray. During that time, the palace stood on the edge of Spynie Loch, a sea-loch giving safe anchorage for fishing boats and merchant vessels. A thriving settlement developed about it. Today, nothing remains of either the sea-loch or the medieval town. However, the gaunt ruin of Spynie Palace does survive remarkably intact. Together with St Andrews Castle in Fife, Spynie remains the largest surviving medieval bishop’s house in Scotland. The earliest buildings at Spynie have not survived. The oldest surviving masonry – the enclosure walls running around the south and west sides of the courtyard and the stump of a projecting round tower at the SW angle – date from the 14th century. In the later 15th century, Bishop David built the great tower that was subsequently named after him, David’s Tower. By 1500, a large new great hall and chamber had been erected along the north side of the courtyard, an elaborate new gateway opened along the east side, and rectangular towers added to two of the corners. The last building works were carried out for the last pre-Reformation bishop, Patrick Hepburn – wide-mouthed gunholes inserted into the bases of the towers. He was clearly anticipating trouble. The Protestant Reformation of 1560 did not remove bishops at a stroke. Bishop Patrick was permitted to stay in office until his death in 1573. Thereafter, non-Catholic bishops periodically came and went as new forms of church government were tried and rejected. The last bishop, William Hay, left office in 1689 and went to live with his son-in-law in Inverness.
