Historic Places in Stirling

Rob Roy MacGregor's grave in the churchyard at Balquhidder in the Stirlingshire Highlands is one of the most visited heritage sites in the Scottish Highlands, the last resting place of the famous Highland outlaw, cattle drover, Jacobite supporter and folk hero whose life has been celebrated in novels, films and plays since Sir Walter Scott made him the subject of his 1817 novel Rob Roy and cemented his place in the mythology of Highland Scotland. The grave, with its simple iron-railed enclosure containing several MacGregor family graves, stands in the peaceful churchyard of the ruined old church of Balquhidder in a setting of great beauty above Loch Voil. Rob Roy MacGregor was born in 1671 and died in 1734 after a turbulent life of cattle dealing, money lending, military service with the government and against it, outlawry following the ruin of his business dealings with the Duke of Montrose and the various episodes of adventure and escape that made him a legend in his own lifetime. His transformation from a complicated and sometimes morally ambiguous historical figure into the romantic Highland hero of Scott's novel and subsequent popular culture reflects the process by which Scottish Highland culture was reinterpreted for Romantic sensibilities in the early nineteenth century. The Balquhidder churchyard contains graves from both the original medieval church and the subsequent building, and the ruined walls of the older structure frame the MacGregor graves in a composition of considerable charm. The Glen Voil road providing access to the more remote glens beyond and the walks along the lochside from Balquhidder village provide excellent opportunities to experience the Highland landscape that Rob Roy inhabited.

Culcreuch Castle near Fintry in Stirlingshire, dating from the fourteenth century, is considered one of the oldest inhabited castles in Scotland and is operated as a hotel within its historic fabric. The ancestral seat of the Galbraith family for several centuries, the castle is set within an estate of over 1,600 acres in the Endrick valley with the Campsie Fells rising dramatically behind. The original fifteenth-century tower forms the core of the building with later additions maintaining a consistently historic atmosphere. Fintry village is enclosed on three sides by the Campsie, Fintry and Gargunnock hills and accessible through the dramatic Crow Road pass from Lennoxtown, and the surrounding Endrick valley landscape is exceptionally beautiful and relatively little visited.

Buchanan Castle is situated west of the village of Drymen in Stirlingshire, Scotland. It was designed by William Burn as a manor house in Scottish baronial style, with an L-plan tower, turrets, bartizans and stepped gables. The building is still standing but in poor condition and being invaded by plants. The castle is listed by The National Trust of Scotland as a historical site that needs restoration. The last Laird of Buchanan died in 1681 and the house and estate were bought by the 3rd Duke of Montrose (of the Graham family). The original castle on the site was the ancestral seat of the Clan Buchanan, and burned down in 1852. The current building was built by the 4th Duke of Montrose in 1854. This new house replaced Mugdock Castle as the official seat of the Clan Graham - no Buchanans have ever lived in this building. The castle was sold in 1925, and was used as a hospital during the Second World War - one of the patients there was Rudolf Hess. The roof was removed after the war, and the building fell into disrepair.

Stirling Castle stands on a volcanic crag above the city of Stirling at the geographical and strategic heart of Scotland, a castle of extraordinary historical importance that controlled the lowest crossing of the River Forth for centuries and was consequently the pivot on which the history of medieval Scotland turned with a frequency matched by no other site in the country. The castle's command of the route between the Scottish Highlands and Lowlands made it the key to Scotland during the Wars of Independence and the subsequent centuries of Scottish political history, and its walls witnessed some of the most significant events in Scottish national life. The castle is built on the same type of volcanic plug that supports Edinburgh Castle, its sheer rock faces providing natural defensibility on three sides that was exploited in every period from the Iron Age onward. The surviving fabric is primarily of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when the castle served as the principal residence of the Stuart royal house and was developed on a lavish scale befitting a major European court. The Great Hall, built for James IV around 1503, is the largest secular medieval building in Scotland and was recently restored to its original appearance with limewashed exterior and medieval windows. The Royal Palace, built by James V in the 1540s, is decorated with the finest Renaissance sculpture programme in Scotland, including the extraordinary carved stone figures that have been restored to their original positions on the exterior walls. The castle is associated with the coronation of Mary Queen of Scots as an infant in 1543 and her subsequent childhood at the castle under the regency of the Earl of Arran. The battles of Stirling Bridge in 1297 and Bannockburn in 1314, both fought within sight of the castle, represent the decisive Scottish victories in the Wars of Independence that secured Scottish independence for three centuries.

Doune Castle lies 8 miles north-west of Stirling where the River Teith flows into the River Forth. It is located on a wooded bend on the river across a bridge from the village of Doune. It is one of the best-preserved medieval castles in Scotland. The site is defended on three sides by steep river bank and the north is defended by earthworks. The Castle has a narrow gateway and long vaulted passageway that leads to a large central courtyard. Off the courtyard, there are steps up to the Great hall which is connected to a large kitchen. Doune Castle was a royal retreat and hunting lodge for the Scottish monarchs, including Mary Queen of Scots. Doune Castle was built at the end of the 14th century by Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany, brother of King Robert III. In 1570 Sir James Stewart, the first Lord Doune, was granted possession of Doune by James VI. Lord Doune's grandson became the Earl of Moray by marrying the Regent Moray's daughter, and the Earls of Moray have owned it ever since. During the Jacobite Rising of 1745 Doune Castle was a prison for government supporters captured by the Jacobites. During the late 19th century, the castle was renovated and the roof was replaced. The castle is now maintained by Historic Scotland and is open to the public. The Arts Doune Castle was used extensively in the making of the movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". In Walter Scott's first novel Waverley, Edward Waverley is rescued by Highlanders and brought to Doune Castle.