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Stirling Castle History

In the foreground is a green grassy area. Bordering the castle is a lush garden bed filled with flowers - pink, purple, yellow, red, white, green, and lavender. The castle outer wall shows the round iconic castle tower with the slits along the wall for the archers to shot their arrows in defense. Next to the round tower is a rock outer wall with steps leading up to another garden area and the courtyard of the castle. The stone is all gray and weathered with carvings and decorative trim along the edges.
Queen Anne Gardens at Stirling Castle

Stirling Castle Background

Set high above the River Forth on a crag, sits Stirling Castle. This site has been a trading post, fort, church, or castle since the 1100s. The first written record of the castle was in 1115 when Alexander endowed a chapel here. In 1296, the English took over the castle. Then in 1297 the Scots, led by William Wallace and Andrew Moray retook the castle after defeating the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. You might remember William Wallace from the Mel Gibson movie Braveheart! Although not entirely historically accurate, Braveheart is a great movie and captures the Scots drive for independence.

At the time of William Wallace, the “castle” was more of a wooden fort and was mostly about defending the area from invaders – usually the English. After the Battle of Stirling Bridge, King Edward of England retook the castle in 1304, Then in 1314, Robert the Bruce defeated Edward and the English army at the Battle of Bannockburn (also in Stirling) and the Scots claimed the castle once again. Robert actually ordered for the castle to be destroyed thinking that would keep the English from trying to retake it. However, the castle went back and forth for another 30 years until the 1380s when King Robert the Bruce defeated the English and Scotland was recognized as an independent state. This led to several hundred years of stability with the Stuart family ruling. Scotland’s strong monarchy began with King James 1 in 1406 and continued through King James II, King James the III, King James the IV, King James the V, Mary Queen of Scots, and King James the VI of Scotland and the first of England (Kings James VI &I).

Stirling Castle Buildings

In the 1300s is when the stone buildings and outer walls began to be built. The oldest part of the castle still standing today is the North Gate built in 1381. The Great Hall is now painted in a bright yellowish gold called the Kings Gold. According to historians, the entire castle during the 1400s was painted this bright color. This was to demonstrate the wealth of the royal family as only the very rich could possibly afford to paint the outside of their house – let alone an entire castle.

Almost all the buildings seen today were constructed between 1490 and 1600. This is when Stirling Castle was a royal center used by the Stewart kings. On September 9, 1543, the infant Mary Queen of Scots was crowned in the chapel royal. She spent much of her early childhood at Stirling as it was considered a secure location. Mary was then sent to France in 1543 where she was betrothed to Francis, the Dauphin of France. Mary married Francis in 1558 and was the queen consort of France until1560 when Francis died. Now widowed at the age of 17, Mary returned to Scotland to claim her rule.

There are many ties to Mary Queen of Scots at Stirling Castle and even more to her son King James the VI of Scotland. James was baptized at Stirling in December of 1566. Then when his mother was forced to abdicate her crown, James at 18 months old, was crowned at the nearby Church of Holy Rude in July of 1567.

Pictures of Stirling Castle

Queen Anne's garden looking down from the castle entry. The green lawn is bordered with flowers that fill the area next to the castle wall. The castle wall and end tower extends to the edge of the rock. The mountains are visible in the distance.
Queen Anne’s Garden
The outside of the Great Hall. The exterior walls are painted a yellowish gold. Four large stain glass windows are visible under the decorative edge of the roof.
The Great Hall
The castle entrance at night. The archway is lit up from within the castle and the two round towers on each side are visible.
Castle entry
Nighttime view of the castle. Queen Anne's garden is at the bottom as the castle wall rises with the lights shining on the flowers and the walls.
Stirling Castle at Night
The interior of the great hall as it was set for the Romeo and Juliet play. There are rows of red chairs lining the hall. The wood-beamed ceiling and the white walls show off the size and magnificence of the great hall. There are also large fireplaces along the walls and the green curtain-like wall coverings.
The entry to the great hall with the upper windows displayed above the porch-like covering.
Entry to the Great Hall. From the cobblestone castle courtyard, there is a wooden overhang with poles covering the front entry to the great hall. The large windows show the above the entry covering.
Kay and Melody in the garden with red rose bush behind us.
Entrance to Stirling Castle. The stone walkway leads up to the arched entrance of the castle. On either side of the arch are two statutes - one of William Wallace and one of Robert the Bruce. Beside each statute are the cut outs for the archers to shoot through. Above the statutes is the emblem of Scotland - a red lion on a yellow shield background. Decorative stone work add to the grand entrance.
Stirling Castle from the gardens. At the foreground there are yellow and red roses with lavender purple flowers at the front of the bed. There is a wide green, grassy area. On the side next to the castle walls there are flowers of yellow, bright pink, light pink and greenery. Behind the flowers are rounded castle walls with slits in the walls where the archers could protect the castle. Behind an outer rock wall the top of the Great Hall painted a bright yellow color is peeking up.
Stirling Castle from a distance. Set high atop a mountain crag near Stirling, the castle's base is a large rocky outcrop. Below are trees and a wooded area. Rising from the rock are the walls of the castle.
Stirling Castle from Distance
The round stone tower of Stirling Castle. The tower has two slit like openings in the walls. These slits were used for the archers to defend the tower. Across the top of the tower the roof line is notched - also to allow for defenses. The garden area is at the bottom of the tower and vines and greenery reach part of the way up the tower.
Round Tower
Near the castle wall there is a terrace area of the garden. This terrace has a flower bed that has three rock garden areas. One rock garden is the blue and white Scottish flag, one is the yellow and red Scottish Lion emblem and one is a unicorn, the emblem of Scotland. These rock garden areas are bordered by flowers and greenery next to the castle walls.
Rock Garden Area
Entry to Stirling Castle from the Car Park. Margie is standing with the castle in the background. There are two main buildings showing up on the hill with the rock wall surrounding the castle.
Flower bed in the Queen Anne Garden. In the foreground are daisy-like flowers with white and yellow, small purple flowers and greenery. The flower bed extends along the castle wall with the royal apartment tower in the background.
Margie standing in the Queen Anne Garden with a flower bed of mixed flowers of orange, white, red, yellow, and purple. The iconic round tower in the background with the high rock castle wall above the flowers.
Kenny, Kay and Margie standing at the front entrance to the castle. The dark, rock walls stand in contrast to the lush green grass that surrounds the castle.

The Tapestries at Stirling Castle

These tapestries, in the castle today, are recreations of the Hunt of the Unicorn series from the 1500s. These recreations took 13 years to complete. They were woven and embroidered using the same processes from the 1500s. There are different interpretations of the story portrayed in the tapestries. The most common story is that of Christ with the Unicorn representing Christ as the people look for peace and eternal life. The tapestries are in seven panels and cover the walls of the Queens Inner Hall. If you can, zoom in so you can see the intricate details. For more information on the tapestries, please sese s: The Stirling Tapestries (stirlingcastle.scot)

The throne chair sits on a small raised platform. The chair has deep red cushions and a yellow pillow. Above the throne is a velvet hanging with the unicorn, the crown, and the eagle representing Scotland. The bottom half of the wall has dark red wallpaper with gold decorations. The top half of the wall is covered with several panels of the tapestries.
Continuing around the room, the wallpaper continues along with more panels of the tapestries. Now the ceiling is visible with brightly pained panels in the same colors as the tapestreis and the wallpaper.
Continuing around the room the character actor is explaining the meaning of the tapestries and using his sword is pointing out the various images within the tapestries. In this instance the horn of the Unicorn is touching a wounded dog to heal the dog. This corelates to the healing that Christ brings.
A large fireplace with a brightly painted picture of the Unicorn, the shield of the Stewarts and the Eagle. The walls are painted white with a decorative dark red border half way up the wall and a wider ceiling border.
The queens ceremonial bedchamber with an elaborate bed with purple drapes and a velvet dark purple canopy. The canopy has silver details and scalloped edges. Behind the bed ore more purple drapes. The ceiling is elaborately painted in greens and whites.
The Douglas Garden area. A large rock wall is in the background with trees, greenery, and flowers filling the flowerbed next to the wall.
In the Douglas Garden, there is a small building in the background with a beautiful flower bed and large tree in the foreground. Between the building and flower bed there is a smaller garden area and a bench on the grassy area.
The kitchen area at Stirling Castle. There are life-sized figures to represent the busy kitchen area. Two figures of men are carrying a "deer". There are barrels of wind and spices next to a table filled with bread and figures of ladies behind the table cooking. Suspended form the rock ceiling are bags of spices. Two windows provide light for the area.
Castle Kitchen
Kenny, Kathy and Scott standing next to one of the cannons. The cannon is pointing away from the castle and there is a cut out area of the rock wall.
Scott and Kathy standing next to the rock wall overlooking the town of Stirling.
The Queen Anne garden in the foreground with the view out to the hills of the Highland Mountains in teh background.
View from Queen Anne’s Garden
A statute of Robert the Bruce that stands outside of Stirling Castle. Robert is holding a sword by his side, has long hair and a bushy beard. He is wearing a crown. The base of the statue says, King Robert the Bruce, June 24, 1314 on one side. His shield - the Lion of Scotland - is engraved on the front of the statute.
King Robert the Bruce