Stirling Old Bridge is a stone bridge which crosses the

River Forth The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Gaelic name for the upper reach of t ...

. For over 300 years it provided the lowest crossing point of the Forth and so had strategic importance.

History

The stone bridge was constructed on rubble foundations around 1500 and replaced earlier wooden bridges, including that on which the

Battle of Stirling Bridge The Battle of Stirling Bridge ( gd, Blàr Drochaid Shruighlea) was a battle of the First War of Scottish Independence. On 11 September 1297, the forces of Andrew Moray and William Wallace defeated the combined English forces of John de Warenne ...

was fought. The bridge originally had arches at either end and a defensive gate at the end nearer the burgh. Tolls were levied on goods being taken across the bridge. In December 1745 General Blakeney, lieutenant governor of Stirling Castle, had one of the bridge arches destroyed to hinder the movement of the Jacobite Army. The destroyed arch was rebuilt in 1749. In May 1833 the adjacent new road bridge was opened to traffic and the Old Bridge was closed to wheeled traffic. The bridge was designated as a

Category A Listed Building Category, plural categories, may refer to: Philosophy and general uses *Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally *Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) *Category (Kant) * Categories (Peirce) * ...

in 1965.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Stirling Old Bridge Listed bridges in Scotland Category A listed buildings in Stirling (council area)