Taken from the train on my way to Inverness
The battle of Stirling Bridge took place on 11 September 1297 when unfortunately the English forces of John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey, and Hugh de Cressingham were defeated by the forces of Andrew de Moray and William Wallace.
Little is known about Wallace apart from his military campaign of 1297-98 and the last few weeks of his life in 1305; his parentage and birth place have not been established.
In 1470 the minstrel, Blind Harry wrote from oral tradition describing events, but much of the poem is at variance to with known historical facts and records of the time, and is fabricated using exploits of others and attributed to Wallace.
A bit like Robin Hood, legends have grown around him.
The tower was constructed following a fundraising campaign, which accompanied a resurgence of Scottish national identity in the 19th century. The monument was completed in 1869 to the designs of architect John Thomas Rochead at a cost of £18,000, over 550 years after William Wallace’s death
