Scottish Castles Association

Preserving the Past for the Future

Stirling Castle - a peek inside the restored Hall and Palace

Back in 1963 when I first visited Stirling Castle as a (very) young man it housed a garrison. Officers occupied the Palace and other ranks were based in the Great Hall. The ditch housed the gym and war emergency' buildings were still standing 20 years after the war had ended.

Stirling great hall — Stirling Castle's Great Hall - harling based upon surviving fragments

By my next visit in 1966 the army had gone and the Great Hall was undergoing restoration - little did I know that it would be a further 40 years before I would see its completion!

Stirling roof chairs — **LEFT:** Towards the Royal Dias - note the restored hammer beam roof
**RIGHT:** The Royal Chairs - substantial windows light area (original glass leaded yellow and green panels)

Stirling palace — The Palace. Carvings originally polychromed and the walls 'washed' - probably to match the Great Hall

There was a mood at the time - still held by some today - that a building should not be restored' but left in its final state to exhibit all its transformations as witness to its history. If this philosophy had been followed at Stirling we would find, not the Great Hall and Palace of King James V, but barrack blocks with inserted walls, floors, staircases and widows; fire escapes; heating pipes; row upon row of iron bedsteads and ablution facilities all of which I was privy to back in 1966.

Stirling throne tapestry — **LEFT:** Throne Room with the Canopy of State of Marie de Guise
**RIGHT:** Tapestry 'The Hunt of the Unicorn' based on an original housed in The Cloisters Museum, New York

As testament to the positive benefits of faithful restoration, Stirling, after Edinburgh, is now the most visited castle in Scotland attracting tourists by the busload.