A succession of castles has stood at Inverness since 1057, and Malcolm III is said to have built the original. King Robert I partially destroyed the first castle in 1307. James I arrested about fifty clan chiefs there in 1428, and in 1562 Mary, Queen of Scots was refused entry. The Frasers and Munros then took the castle for her. Sieges occurred in 1562, 1649, 1650, 1689, 1715 and 1746.
The present building is in an early castellated style, in red sandstone. William Burn designed the main southern block, completed in 1836. Thomas Brown II designed the north block, completed in 1848, and Joseph Mitchell designed the bastioned enclosing walls.
Inverness-shire County Council used it from 1889 until 1963. Sheriff court hearings moved out in 2020, and it closed to the public in 2021 for renovation. It is Category A listed.
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