[1][2] Items in the collection include the Viking 'dragon' whalebone plaque from the Scar boat burial, a Pictish symbol stone from the Knowe of Burrian, and the wooden box in which the remains of Saint Magnus Erlendsson were kept.

[3][4] The earliest parts of the building (the north and south wings) were constructed in the 1530s as two separate houses that served as manses for the cathedral.

[5] Following the Scottish Reformation the houses were purchased from the church by the archdeacon Gilbert Foulzie, who in 1574 built an additional wing (the east wing) and the entrance archway facing onto Broad Street which bears his coat of arms and Latin inscriptions.

He also had a large bench built in the courtyard, the 'dole's seat', where beggars would wait to receive alms from Foulzie.

The preserved Baikie library and drawing room remain on display.