Stirling has featured strongly in the history of Scotland, especially during crucially important times. In and around Stirling has a fantastic selection of excellent visitor attractions and a huge amount of places and monuments to photograph. In article that follows I include details of three places to visit in Stirling; Stirling Old Town Jail, Argyll’s Lodging and Stirling Castle:

Stirling Castle

Standing guard, 250 feet above the city of Stirling, and surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs is Stirling Castle. The castle is incredibly important in Scotland’s history, there have been a number of coronations at the castle, including that of Mary Queen of Scots in 1543. Stirling Castle was also witness to a violent murder in 1452. The 8th Earl of Douglas was victim to James II in 1452. Stirling Castle is the home of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, although they are, unfortunately no longer garrisoned there. However, the regimental museum of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, is situated within the castle.

Stirling Old Town Jail

The Stirling Old Town Jail we see today is not the first jail in Stirling, for four hundred years, Stirling’s prisoners were held in the Old Tollbooth Jail. This jail was seriously overcrowded, and smelled disgusting, with 24 prisoners in each cell, and zero sanitation. The Tollbooth jail was condemned, due to the fearful living conditions there, and in 1847 the new jail opened. Although the jail was classed as a custodial prison, from 1888 to 1935, it was also the only military prison in Scotland. Today the Stirling Old Town Jail is a tourist attraction, and was only renovated in the 1990’s. As well as guided tours, there is a glass paneled elevator that rises to a viewing platform at the top of the jail. From this superb vantage point you is able to gaze out across the Forth Valley, and soak in the atmosphere of the Highland mountains.

Argyll’s Lodging

Argyll’s Lodging can be found on Castle Wynd, situated in the center of Stirling and is Scotland’s finest surviving renaissance house. The house was built around 1630, by Sir William Alexander, originator of Nova Scotia and Viscount Canada. Sir William Alexander who was appointed Secretary of State for Scotland, and was then appointed the 1st Earl of Stirling. Argyll’s Lodging became the property of the Argyll family on his death and was extended by the ninth Earl in 1666. The rooms which include the dining room, bed chamber, drawing room and laigh hall, have all been superbly furnished and restored, as they would have looked when the ninth Earl lived there, around 1680.

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