Murray Cook

This paper reinterprets Feachem's 1950s excavation of Castlehill Wood dun, revealing a roofed pre Roman structure with cells and galleries linked to wider Iron Age architectural and ritual traditions. It also republishes artefact reviews from West Plean Homestead and Gallow Hill, clarifying Stirling's complex settlement history.

The Scottish Wars of Independence: a titanic struggle over the fate of the Scottish nation which made heroes of Robert the Bruce and William Wallace, and saw many clashes that have gone down as among the most significant in the country's history. None, however, were to be quite as momentous as the epic Battles of Stirling Bridge and Bannockburn. In this book, archaeologist Dr Murray Cook revisits these critical campaigns with reference to his many excavations around the area and the exciting historical discoveries that are still being unearthed to this very day. He explains the background of the battles and the personalities involved, describes the action that took place on those fateful days, and discusses the far-reaching impact the Wars of Independence had on the future of Scotland. Bannockburn and Stirling Bridge culminates in a five-stage walk around Stirling and the surrounding area in which the author describes the ways that the Wars of Independence shaped the city's destiny: an influence which can still be witnessed today through the many different historical sites and archaeological finds located throughout the vicinity. He brings the past alive with detailed illustrations drawn from the tumultuous events of bygone centuries, and encourages his readers to seek out the nation's vibrant history for themselves.

White Castle: The evaluation of an upstanding prehistoric enclosure in East Lothian describes the results of a four year research programme of archaeological works between 2010 and 2013, at the later prehistoric enclosure of White Castle, East Lothian, carried out under the auspices of the Rampart Scotland project. The site is a Scheduled Monument, but, despite being subject of mapping and survey for some 200 years, it has never been examined by excavation prior to the Rampart Scotland project’s interventions. White Castle was the first of the series of comparable sites to be excavated in the Lammermuir area. The programme of archaeological evaluation and sequence of radiometric dates furnished evidence for four major phases of activity at White Castle – with the main enclosure period dating to the second half of the first millennium BC. The excavations demonstrated a clear sequence of enclosure development over time, whereby the design and visual impact often appeared to be more important than defence alone. White Castle’s location on the main route through the Lammermuirs with surrounding upland pasture is also highly suggestive to its function and it seems probable that the site’s economy was concerned primarily with controlling access to grazing. The final phase of the prehistoric enclosure appears to combine two key factors: impressing visitors and stock control. While maintenance of White Castle’s enclosure system was abandoned in the closing centuries BC, it is unlikely that the area was deserted and there is also limited evidence for two later phases of activity on site around the Medieval and Early Modern Periods.

Stirling is Scotland's smallest city and one of its newest. But, strangely, it's also the ancient capital and one of the most important locations in all of Scottish history. If you wanted to invade or to resist invasion, you did it at Stirling. It has witnessed Celts, Romans, Britons, Picts, Scots, Angles, Vikings, Edward I, William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, Edward II, Oliver Cromwell, Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Duke of Cumberland, and even played a decisive role in D-Day. This huge history has left its mark all over this tiny place. Stirling is Scotland's best preserved medieval city, boasting one of Europe's finest Renaissance palaces, the world's oldest football, Mary Queen of Scots' coronation, James III's grave and murder scene, the site of a successful 16th century assassination of Scotland's head of state, Scotland's first powered and unpowered flights, Scotland's biggest royal rubbish dump, one of Scotland's earliest churches, Scotland's two most important battles, vitrified forts, Scotland's oldest and best preserved Royal Park, connections to King Arthur and the Vikings, Britain's last beheading, Scotland's largest pyramid - and its oldest resident is 4000 years old This book tells Stirling's story through its secret nooks and crannies; the spots the tourists overlook and those that the locals have forgotten or never visited. Join Stirling's Burgh Archaeologist, Dr Murray Cook, as he takes you on a tour of a fascinating city's history which is full of heroes and battles, grave robbing, witch trials, bloody beheadings, violent sieges, Jacobite plots, assassins, villains, plagues, Kings and Queens... and much, much more besides.