Hotels near the National Wallace Monument

On a Pictish hill fort site, the National Wallace Monument marks William Wallace's 1297 defeat of the English. Inspired by 19th-century resurgent Scottish nationalism, the 1869 tower, with its 246 steps, was later joined by the Hall of Heroes.

Celebrating William Wallace's defeat of Edward I's troops at the Bridge of Stirling on 11 September 1297, the National Wallace Monument, designed by JT Rockhead cost £10,000 raised from across revolutionary 19th-century Europe. Wallace's two-handed broadsword represents him in the Hall of Heroes, opened in 1888, alongside marble statues of Robert the Bruce, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Burns and David Livingston.

Unfortunately, Wallace's success was short lived. He was defeated on 22 July 1298 and fled before being caught, tried in London and hung, drawn and quartered on 23 August 1305.