Stirling Castle

This was the last castle we visited and I didn’t like it as much as the others.  I’ve tried to figure out why and I guess its because it doesn’t feel as authentic.  It was the center of Scottish nobility for hundreds of years, but eventually fell into disrepair and was converted into a military barracks in the late 1800s.  It lost much of its glamour and structure during this time.  In the 1960s the military left and the work began to restore the castle to look more like it had in its heyday.  The Great Hall and Chapel had been subdivided into barracks and all of that subdivision structure had to be removed.  The Great Hall’s walls required 780 tonnes of stone for repairs, and the roof took 350 giant oaks.  It looks quite impressive, but still feels “new”, which is weird for a castle that is so old (most of the original structures date back to the 1500s).  The other castles that we visited were either ruins (and obviously old), or were still inhabited and thus somewhat modernized, which made sense and made the castle feel like a home.  Stirling felt neither old nor homey to me.  Still, it was fun to learn about the significant history surrounding it.

Magnificent view from the top of the hill

 The restored chapel.  Mary Queen of Scots was baptized here.

 Great Hall with all the new oaks used to restore the roof.

 Great Hall on the left (bright building), Royal Palace to the right (in the shadows)

The royal wing had the King and Queen’s chambers in it, along with hosts in period costume telling about what it was like to live in the castle during the rule of King James IV (or was it V??)  The Queen’s presence chamber has giant tapestries that had been woven about 10 years ago following the patterns and colors of the original tapestries (with unicorns).  It was neat to see the old patterns brought back to brilliant color (this was one “newness” I could like).

Kings chambers

 Queens chambers

 Unicorn taptestry

The King’s chamber had carved heads of many great leaders in the world.  The originals were preserved in the museum, but reconstructions were on the ceiling and were brightly painted as they had once been.

(original)

 Picture of how they would have looked fully painted historically

Apparently the 250 statues on the exterior of the building were also brightly painted, which is hard to imagine with how they look today.

The castle is situated on top of a high hill that had a magnificent view of the valley and the mountains in the distance.  It has a long history of sieges and changing hands that I can’t accurately recall, but many of Scotland’s efforts at independence from England were centered on the castle and its nobility.

The kitchens were filled with fake bakers and food to give you a sense of how full and busy they would have been during the day.  Men were the cooks (“The kitchen was not a place for women”).  The bread ovens were heated with fire and coals, then these were removed and the bread was placed inside and the opening sealed off.  The radiant heat cooked the bread. (The only thing missing is the rats in the corners)

  Part of the original entrance to the castle grounds.   A much grander gate was made later.