What's on in the area

Stirling Castle

Daily

Cost: £8.50; concessions £6.50; children £4.25

Hours: Easter-Sep: 9.30am-6pm (last entry 5.15pm)
Oct-Easter: 9.30am-5pm (last entry 4.15pm)
Closed 25 & 26 Dec; check for opening times on 1 & 2 Jan

With a historical record dating back to the early 12th century and an existing building that was initiated in 1370 (with additions until 1750), Stirling Castle is on a site that was already used as a vantage point and fort before 1100.

High on an old volcanic outcrop and dominating the central Scottish town, the castle can tell a rich tale, not least about the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, whose museum is housed in the King's Old Building.

Stirling Castle was where Mary Queen of Scots spent her childhood. She was crowned there in its Chapel Royal in 1543 and her son, the future James VI (James I of the United Kingdom), was baptised there. In 1561 Mary narrowly escaped death by fire at the castle.

Earlier, the castle overlooked two famous battles of the Scots against the English; in 1297 William Wallace claimed victory at Stirling Bridge while just 17 years later Robert the Bruce defeated the Sassenachs at Bannockburn.

The glory of the castle is its resplendent architecture. In the 16th century, the Stewart kings, James IV, V and VI, gilded the castle with a wonderful design, including the gatehouse, the Great Hall, the Renaissance Royal Palace (currently undergoing major refurbishment, so closed to the public as part of the ongoing Stirling Castle project) and the Chapel Royal, where two completed tapestries from The Hunt of the Unicorn can be seen.

There is a new Castle Exhibition, in the Queen Anne Casemates, which traces the Stewart monarchy's significant contribution to the building as well as detailing the current restoration programme to recreate the Royal Palace as it would have looked in the mid-16th-century. Also worth visiting are the medieval Great Kitchens and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Regimental Museum, commemorating over 200 years of service since the formation of the 98th Argyllshire Highlanders on 9 July 1794 under the castle ramparts.

Stirling Castle