Stirling Castle

Set on an intrusive crag of the Stirling Sill with steep cliffs on three sides, guarding what until the 1890s was the furthest downstream crossing of the Forth, which is the whole reason for its importance. Most of the principal buildings date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, a few from the fourteenth, with the outer defences facing the town added in the early eighteenth. Before the union it was as much palace as fortress and one of the most used royal residences; Mary, Queen of Scots was crowned here in 1542. There have been at least eight sieges, the last in 1746.