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Stirling
and Stirling Castle Full Day
Our
first visit is to the imposing 220ft/70m William Wallace (Braveheart)
monument set high on Abbey Craig. From here, Wallace commanded
his troops at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, his famous victory
over the English in 1297. From the bridge we travel up to
the Castle which can be seen high above you, passing the ancient
Tolbooth (now beautifully restored as an arts centre) the
Mercat Cross and the ornate remains of Mar's Wark, a 1560s
Renaissance town house. Nearby is The Church of The Holy Rood
(Cross) where James VI of Scotland was crowned, later also
James I of England. The Castle visit includes the recently
restored mediaeval Great Hall, built in 1503, the largest
and most majestic in Scotland. We then visit Argyll's Lodging;
Scotland's finest surviving Renaissance mansion. Then either
to Bannockburn Visitor Centre and the magnificent statue of
King Robert The Bruce, who defeated the English army at Scotland's
most celebrated battle in 1314; or to Dunmore's Pineapple,
a 1740s exuberant 45ft/14m high garden folly. Finally to Scotland's
finest and most complete example of a 17/18th-century town,
the Royal Burgh of Culross.
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