Wallace Monument

Wallace Monument

The National Wallace Monument (generally known as the Wallace Monument) is a tower standing on the summit of Abbey Craig, a hilltop near Stirling in Scotland.  It commemorates Sir William Wallace, the 13th century Scottish hero.

The tower was constructed following a fundraising campaign which accompanied a resurgence of Scottish national identity in the 19th century.  In addition to public subscription, it was partially funded by contributions from a number of foreign donors, including Italian national leader Giuseppe Garibaldi.

Completed in 1869 to the designs of architect John Thomas Rochead at a cost of £18,000, the monument is a 67-metre (220 ft) sandstone tower, built in the Victorian Gothic style.  It stands on the Abbey Craig, a volcanic crag above Cambuskenneth Abbey, from which Wallace was said to have watched the gathering of the army of English king Edward I, just before the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

The monument is open to the general public. Visitors climb the 246 step spiral staircase to the viewing gallery inside the monument's crown, which provides expansive views of the Ochil Hills and the Forth Valley.

A number of artefacts believed to belong to Wallace are on display inside the monument, including the Wallace Sword, and a 1.68-metre (5 ft, 6 in) long claymore.

Stirling

Stirling

Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area.  The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth.

Historically it was strategically important as the "Gateway to the Highlands", with its position near the boundary between the Scottish Lowlands and Highlands, and its crossing of the Forth, the nearest to the river mouth.

It is a centre for local government, higher education, retail, and light industry.  Its population in 2010 was 33,710, for Stirling itself, the wider urban area including Bridge of Allan and Bannockburn has a population of 45,750.  This makes it the smallest city in Scotland: indeed it is smaller than many of Scotland's larger towns.

One of the principal royal strongholds of the Kingdom of Scotland, Stirling was created a Royal burgh by King David I in 1130, which it remained until 1975, when the county of Stirlingshire was absorbed into Central Region.  In 2002, as part of Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee, Stirling was granted city status.


Stirling was originally a Stone Age settlement as shown by the Randolphfield standing stones and Kings Park prehistoric carvings that can still be found south of the town.  The city has been strategically significant since at least the Roman occupation of Britain, due to its naturally defensible crag and tail hill (latterly the site of Stirling Castle), and its commanding position at the foot of the Ochil Hills on the border between the Lowlands and Highlands, at the lowest crossing point of the River Forth.

It remained the river's lowest crossing until the construction of the Kincardine Bridge further downstream in the 1930s.  It is supposed that Stirling is the fortress of Iuddeu or Urbs Giudi where Oswiu of Northumbria was besieged by Penda of Mercia in 655, as recorded in Bede and contemporary annals.

A ford, and later bridge, of the River Forth at Stirling brought wealth and strategic influence, as did its port.  The town was chartered as a royal burgh by King David in the 12th century, with charters later reaffirmed by later monarchs (the town then referred to as Strivelyn).  Major battles during the Wars of Scottish Independence took place at the Stirling Bridge in 1297 and at the nearby village of Bannockburn in 1314 involving William Wallace and Robert the Bruce respectively.  There were also several Sieges of Stirling Castle in the conflict, notably in 1304.