Page 126 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Scotland

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Stirling Castle . Palace VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
The sumptuous interiors of the
Rising high on a rocky crag, this magnificent castle, which royal apart ments contain the Practical Information
carved, wooden Stirling Heads.
dominated Scottish history for centuries, now remains one of The rooms have been restored to Castle Esplanade, Stirling.
the finest examples of Renaissance architecture in Scotland. their mid-16th-century Tel (01786) 450000.
Open Apr–Sep: 9:30am– 6pm
Legend says that King Arthur wrested the original castle from appearance. daily; Oct–Mar: 9:30am– 5pm
the Saxons; however, the first written evidence of a castle daily. 8 ^ museum.
is from 1100. The present building dates from the 15th 7 limited. 0 - =
∑ stirlingcastle.gov.uk
and 16th centuries and was last defended, against the
Jacobites, in 1746. From 1881 to 1964 it was
used as a depot for recruits into the Argyll . Chapel Royal
and Sutherland Highlanders, though it Seventeenth-century frescoes
Equestrian statue at the Battle of by Valentine Jenkins adorn the
Bannockburn Experience now serves no military function. chapel, built in 1594.
6 Stirling
Robert the Bruce
Central. * 45,750. 3 @ n Old In the esplanade, this modern statue
Town Jail, St John St. (01786) 475019. shows Robert the Bruce sheathing
∑ destinationstirling.org his sword after the Battle of
Bannockburn in 1314.
Situated between the Ochil Hills
and the Campsie Fells, the town
of Stirling grew up around its
castle, historically one of
Scotland’s most important
fortresses. Below the castle the
Old Town is still protected by
the original walls, built in the
16th century to keep Mary,
Queen of Scots safe from Henry
VIII. The medieval Church of the
Holy Rude, on Castle Wynd,
where the infant James VI was
crowned in 1567, has one of
Scotland’s few sur viving
hammerbeam oak roofs. In front
of the church, the ornate façade
of Mar’s Wark is all that remains
of a grand palace which, though
never completed, was com­
missioned in 1570 by the first Grand Battery
Earl of Mar. It was destroyed Following the unrest after the
by the Jacobites in 1746. deposition of the Stuarts (see p49), this
parapet was built in 1708, to strengthen
Environs the castle’s defences.
Just 3 km (2 miles) south of
Stirling, the Battle of
Bannockburn Experience Entrance KEY
stands by the field where
Robert the Bruce defeated the 1 Forework
English in 1314 (see p47). After Stirling Battles 2 Prince’s Tower
the battle, he dismantled the
castle so it would not fall back At the highest navigable point of the Forth 3 The King’s Old Building houses
the Regimental Museum of the
into English hands. A bronze and holding the pass to the Highlands, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.
eques trian statue com memo­ Stirling occupied a key position in
rates the man who became an Scotland’s struggles for independence. Seven 4 Nether Bailey
icon of Scottish independence. battlefields can be seen from the castle; the 5 The Great Hall, built in 1500, has
67-m (220-ft) Wallace Monument at Abbey a roof similar to that of Edinburgh
n Battle of Bannockburn Craig recalls William Wallace’s defeat of the Castle (see pp64–5).
Experience English at Stirling Bridge in 1297, 6 The Elphinstone Tower was
Glasgow Rd. Tel (01786) 812664. foreshadowing Bruce’s victory in 1314. originally home to the constable
Open 10am–5:30pm daily (to 5pm The Victorian Wallace Monument of the castle.
Nov–Feb). & 7 = « Stirling Castle in the Time of the Stuarts, painted by Johannes Vorsterman (1643–99)
For hotels and restaurants see pp175–6 and pp186–7

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