• Stirling Castle is located in central Scotland. Perched high on natural hills and rocks, it is integral to much of Scottish history.

  • A tour bus on the way to Stirling Castle passes Mar’s Wark, the ruins of a lavish Renaissance townhouse built by John Erskine, Earl of Mar, in the 1570s. The building was occupied by the Jacobites during the Rising of 1745 and destroyed by fighting. Only the decorated facade remains.

  • A statue in honour of Scottish King Robert The Bruce stands outside the gates and walls of Stirling Castle. In the distance, the National Wallace Monument tower, which commemorates 13th-century hero Sir William Wallace, can be seen on the summit of Abbey Craig.

  • The Royal Palace that James V built within Stirling Castle for Mary of Guise was the first Renaissance palace in the British Isles. Inside are chambers for the king and queen.

  • The queen’s Presence Chamber of the Royal Palace has been restored to how it would have looked in the 1540s, when it would have been the childhood home of Mary Queen of Scots.

  • The seven “Hunt of the Unicorn” tapestries were designed to be hung in a particular sequence around the room. The tapestries tell the story of the hunt and capture of a unicorn, but they also contain hidden meanings that can be considered both a religious and a medieval love story.

  • This tapestry shows the hunt in full swing. The unicorn has been pursued through a forest and has jumped into a stream.

  • The seventh tapestry is a recreation of an original 15th-century Flemish piece, which was damaged to the extent that only two fragments of the original survived.

  • The Royal Palace’s exterior sculptures are of classical and allegorical figures, considered a unique collection of Scottish Renaissance sculpture.

  • The Nether Bailey occupies the lower part of the castle rock. In the foreground is the purpose-built, chalet-like Tapestry Studio, where the team wove the tapestries; it is now an interpretive centre for visitors.

Scotland’s Stirling Castle

History, woven.

Stirling Castle in Scotland is built upon a large volcanic rock above the River Forth, considered the natural meeting point between the Lowlands and Highlands of the country. Two of Scotland’s most well-known battles took place in this area: the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297, when William Wallace defeated the English; and the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, when Robert the Bruce and his soldiers prevailed over the much larger English army. Stirling Castle has a tumultuous history; it has been under siege at least eight times, survived numerous fires, seen many kings and queens crowned, and even witnessed the murder of William Douglas, 8th earl of the line, by King James II, in 1452.

It was in the time of James V that the castle went through a period of stability, and the king brought to life his vision to create a vibrant and cosmopolitan royal court. James V and his French wife, Mary of Guise, constructed the Royal Palace with magnificent apartments and lavish interiors. Inventories from the 16th century show the many tapestries, furnishings, and costumes that would have existed. James V owned more than 100 tapestries; there is no record as to how these great works disappeared.

Historic Scotland decided to recreate a series of tapestries for the Royal Palace as part of an initiative to refurnish the castle as it was in the 16th century. An international search led Historic Scotland to a series of original 15th-century Flemish tapestries called The Hunt of the Unicorn at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and so, a recreation began. It is considered the largest tapestry project undertaken in Great Britain in the past century, spanning 14 years and costing about two million pounds.

The final tapestry in the series of seven is The Mystic Hunt of the Unicorn, and Vancouver’s own Ruth Jones was its head weaver. She wove the maiden based on evidence from another artwork that included a bit of sleeve and a hand on the unicorn’s neck; the maiden’s face was inspired by Italian Renaissance portraits. Jones went to France to study a specialized skill called faiseur de chair, which means “maker of flesh,” to create the maiden’s face.

Stirling Castle is surrounded by several major historical sites. There is the Battle of Bannockburn Experience, where Robert the Bruce’s battle against the English can be relived; tourists can also climb to the top of the National Wallace Monument or wander through Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park. And of course, they can enter the castle and view the finished tapestries, hanging grandly on the walls.

See it all. Visit our Travel section. 

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January 13, 2017