Stirlingshire stands across the gateway of the Highlands. The county spreads across the narrow band from the head of the Firth of Forth across the low hills of the Campsie Fells to Loch Lomond and within 4 miles of the Firth of Clyde.
The Campsie Fells rise to 1,896 feet at the highest, a low rolling range which with the Kilsyth, Fintry and Gargunnock Hills covers the bulk of the county.
The Forth marks Stirlingshire’s northern boundary, with Perthshire. The boundary runs from the head of Loch Lomond to the Forth and into the Firth, a short way above which is the City of Stirling, the county town. Stirling stands on a precipitous hill above the River Forth, crowned with an eleventh century castle. Stirling was Scotland’s capital or co-capital for centuries. Its importance though is also in its position; in the Middle Ages Stirling Bridge was portrayed as the only link joining the Lowlands to the Highlands, and the geography of the land was not far from it. The castle was the scene of fearsome clashes in the wars which racked the British Isles in the Middle Ages. Stirling is a somewhat more peaceful city these days, but it is still the major conduit for road and rail from the Lowlands to the Highlands.
Falkirk, the second town of the shire, is the centre of an urban conglomeration and industrial activity.
County Facts
County Town: Stirling
Main Towns: Bonnybridge, Bridge of Allan, Falkirk, Grangemouth, Lennoxtown, Milngavie, Stirling.
Main Rivers: Bannockburn, Carron, Avon, Teith, Allan, Devon, Enfrick, Kelvin.
Highlights: Bannockburn battlefield; Cambuskenneth Abbey; Loch Lomond; Stirling Castle; Wallace Memorial, Stirling.
Highest Point: Ben Lomond, 3,192 feet.
Area: 447 sq miles
County Flower: Scottish Dock
