History
Trace the timeline of Stirling’s story over the centuries.
81AD
The Romans march past on their way to quell the barbarians on the Northern edge of their Empire.
c700
A howling wolf rouses the townspeople saving Stirling from Viking attack.
1124
Alexander I dies at Stirling Castle, the first of over 25 royals associated with the city.
1130
Around this time Stirling is created one of the first four Royal Burghs in Scotland.
1297
William Wallace routs the English knights at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.
1314
Robert the Bruce wins the Battle of Bannockburn, securing Scottish independence until 1707.
1488
James III is murdered after defeat by his son at the Battle of Sauchieburn. He is buried at Cambuskenneth Abbey.
1542
James V completes the Renaissance royal palace started by his father.
1543
Mary Queen of Scots is crowned in the Castle.
1547
The Town Wall is strengthened against ‘our auld innimeis of Ingland'.
1567
Infant James VI is rechristened as a Protestant and crowned in the Church of the Holy Rude.
1608
The Town Council bans late-night drinking as offending God and disturbing the neighbours.
1745
Stirling surrenders to Prince Charles Edward Stuart. The Young Pretender returns the next year on his way to defeat at Culloden.
1787
Poet Robert Burns scratches a verse on a window of his inn about the ruinous state of the Castle.
1800
Ninety alehouses serve a town of 5000 people.
1820
The ringleaders of the Radical Rising are hanged as traitors outside the Tolbooth.
1832
New roads and a bridge relieve traffic and open up the town at the foot of the hill.
1848
The railway arrives in Stirling, encouraging Bridge of Allan’s development as Scotland’s premier spa.
1849
Queen Victoria visits the Castle and pronounces it 'extremely grand'.
1861
The foundation stone of the National Wallace Monument is laid to the cheers of the largest crowd ever seen in the city.
1892
Local MP and future Prime Minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman receives the Freedom of Stirling.
1911
The first aeroplane to visit Stirling lands in King's Park.
1912
A start is made to clear the slums. By 1970 the Old Town looks very different.
1939
Thousands of troops from all over central Scotland muster in Stirling at the start of the Second World War.
1964
Stirling is chosen for Scotland’s first ‘new University’.
1977
The Thistles Centre, one of Scotland’s first indoor shopping malls, opens.
2002
Queen Elizabeth II grants Stirling city status.