Tour Stirling

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Stirling Castle

Stirling is a historic town on the River Forth, in a
strategic position to the northeast of Glasgow and to the
northwest of Edinburgh, controlling access by land from the Lowlands to the Highlands, not least because it was the lowest bridging point on the Forth until comparatively recent times. The medieval bridge, dating from the late 15th or early 16th century, now a footbridge in the care of Historic Scotland, can still be seen to the north of the modern bridge; in 1905 the remains of an earlier wooden bridge were found a little upstream.

Tour Mysterious Stirlingshire Scotland.

A former royal burgh and county town of Stirlingshire, it is now the administrative centre of Stirling local authority. The old town is on a steep volcanic rock crowned by Stirling Castle. In medieval and early modern times it was one of the main royal residences. The principal buildings comprise the Great Hall, completed in 1503 and recently restored; the Palace, built 1537-52; and the Chapel Royal, built in 1594. During the 14th-century Wars of Independence, the Castle was twice captured by the English and recaptured, first by William Wallace in 1297 after the Battle of Stirling Bridge; it was the last stronghold to capitulate to Edward I in 1304 and was retrieved by Robert The Bruce in 1314 after the Battle of Bannockburn. William Wallace is commemorated in the National Wallace Monument, a tall baronial tower on Abbey Craig to the northeast.

Mary, Queen of Scots was crowned in the Castle as an infant in 1543 and James VI was baptised there, as was his first born son, Prince Henry. From the 18th century until the 1950s Stirling was an army base, with a garrison in the Castle and a depot beside the railway. Much medieval and 17th and 18th century building survives in the town. The 15th and 16th century Church of the Holy Rude, where James VI was crowned, was divided into two in the 17th century, much altered in the 19th, further restored in the 20th, being reunited as one church in the 19305. Mar’s Wark is the remains of a mansion built 1570—72 by the Earl of Mar, Regent for James VI.

Argyll’s Lodging is a well-preserved Renaissance town house at the top of Castle Wynd, begun in 1630 by Sir William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, and completed in 1666 by the 9th Earl of ArgyIl. In 1799 it became a military hospital and later a youth hostel; now in the care of Historic Scotland. Cowane’s Hospital was built in the mid 17th century as an almshouse, designed by John Mylne; it was converted for use as a Guildhall in 1852; it is now used for music and arts events. The Old High School was converted and extended to become the Stirling Highland Hotel.

The Tolbooth or Town House in Broad Street was built 1703 to 1705 to a design by Sir William Bruce; it is now used as a venue for music and arts events. The Old Town Jail (1845-1847, by Thomas Brown Junior) was restored as a visitor centre in the 1990s, giving a vivid picture of prison life then and now.

Stirling developed in the 19th century as an industrial and
commercial centre, alongside the railway, and has handsome and substantial Victorian suburbs, notably in the King’s Park area. The Smith Art Gallery and Museum by John Lessels (1871—1874), in classical style, was founded by the painter and collector Thomas Stewart Smith. Cambuskenneth Abbey is nearby.

Stirling Walks

Braveheart
The Battle of Stirling

The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Salute from Stirling Castle

Aberfoyle is a village in the region of Stirling,

Loch Lomond, Trossachs, Stirling and... Clackmannan Walks.

Robert the Bruce: A Scots Life (Scots... Scots Legends)

Loch Lomond to Stirling (Landscape... Fashioned by Geology)

Stirling and Central Scotland (Pevsner... Guide)

Stirling Girls: Towards a Women's... History of Stirling.