Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
For the chance to see the castle at night, look out for special
events
such as the
Hogmanay (new year) party and concerts in the atmospheric Great Hall by luminaries
such as the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
The Great Hall
In the central part of the castle, the
Outer Close
is the first of two main courtyard areas.
Looming over it is the magnificently restored
Great Hall
, dating from 1501-03 and used as a
barracks by the British army until 1964. he building stands out across Stirling for its
controversially bright, creamy yellow cladding, added in the 1990s after the discovery during
renovations of a stretch of the original sixteenth-century limewash behind a bricked-up
doorway. Inside, the hall has been restored to its original state as the finest medieval secular
building in Scotland, complete with five gaping fireplaces and an impressive hammer-beam
ceiling of rough-hewn wood created from 35 oak trees.
The Palace
he exterior of the
Palace
, the largest building in the castle, dates from 1540-42 and is
richly decorated with grotesque carved figures and Renaissance sculpture, including, in
the left-hand corner, the glaring bearded figure of James V in the dress of a commoner.
Inside in the royal apartments are the
Stirling Heads
, 56 elegantly carved oak
medallions that once comprised the ceiling of the Presence Chamber, where visitors
were presented to royalty. Now costumed actors play the role of various nobles, while
specially commissioned tapestries and furniture have returned the rooms to something
like their appearance in the mid-sixteenth century.
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Chapel Royal and the King's Old Building
On one side of the Inner Close, the steeply sloping upper courtyard of the castle, is the
Chapel Royal
, built in 1594 by James VI for the baptism of his son. Alongside, the
King's Old
Building
, at the highest point in the castle, houses the museum of the Argyll and Sutherland
Highlanders regiment, with its collection of well-polished silver and memorabilia.
Douglas Gardens
Go through a narrow passageway between the King's Old Building and the Chapel
Royal to get to the
Douglas Gardens
, reputedly the place where the eighth earl of
Douglas, suspected of treachery, was thrown to his death by James II in 1452. It's a
lovely, quiet corner of the castle, with mature trees and battlements over which there
are splendid views of the Highlands, as well as a bird's-eye view down to the
King's
Knot
, a series of grassed octagonal mounds which in the seventeenth century were
planted with box trees and ornamental hedges.
The Old Town
Stirling evolved from its castle, gradually spreading south and east onto the low-lying
flood plain. At the centre of the original
Old Town
, Broad Street was the main
thoroughfare, with St John Street running more or less parallel, and St Mary's Wynd
forming part of the original route to Stirling Bridge below. Because Stirling is a
compact town, sightseeing in the Old Town is best done on foot.
Town Walls
he old centre of Stirling is fortified behind the massive, whinstone boulders of the
town walls
, built in the mid-sixteenth century and intended to ward off the advances of
Henry VIII, who had set his sights on the young Mary, Queen of Scots as a wife for his
son, Edward. he walls now constitute some of the best-preserved town defences in
Scotland, and can be traced by following the path known as
Back Walk
. his walkway
was built in the eighteenth century and in the upper reaches leads right under the
