Abbey Craig

Last updated

Abbey Craig
Abbey Craig.JPG
Abbey Craig with Wallace Monument on top
Highest point
Elevation 111 m (364 ft)
Prominence 83 m (272 ft) [1]
Coordinates 56°08′18″N3°55′05″W / 56.1382°N 3.91815°W / 56.1382; -3.91815
Geography
Stirling UK relief location map.jpg
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Abbey Craig
OS grid NS809956
Topo map OS Landranger 57

The Abbey Craig is the hill upon which the Wallace Monument stands, at Causewayhead, just to the north of Stirling, Scotland.

Contents

Physical geography

Abbey Craig, 2008 Abbey Craig - geograph.org.uk - 770473.jpg
Abbey Craig, 2008

The Abbey Craig is part of a complex quartz-dolerite intrusion or sill within Carboniferous strata, at the western edge of the Central Coal Field, known as the Stirling Sill. [2]

The quartz-dolerite, being much harder than the surrounding coal measures, has been exposed due to erosion, including by glaciation. The characteristic crag and tail shape of the crag reflects this glacial shaping.

Toponymy

Craig, or crag, describes a post-glacial crag and tail landscape feature. The abbey is Cambuskenneth Abbey, [3] on the north bank of the River Forth, about 1 km to the south.

History

The hill is the site of William Wallace's HQ ahead of the battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297, which was part of the Scottish Wars of Independence.

The hilltop was also defended during the Early Medieval Period, and features a vitrified hillfort, [4] destroyed by fire in the 6th or 7th centuries AD and then refortified in 8th or 9th centuries AD, as demonstrated by two phases of archaeological excavation, the first by SUAT Archaeology in 2001 and the second by Murray Cook, Stirling Council's Archaeologist in 2012. [5] [6]

References

  1. "Abbey Craig". www.hill-bagging.co.uk.
  2. Loughlin, S. C. "Wallstane". Geological Conservation Review. 27. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  3. Ross, David. R. (1999). "Stirling Bidge". On the Trail of William Wallace. Dundurn. ISBN   9780946487479 . Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  4. Historic Environment Scotland. "Abbey Craig (Site no. NS89NW 10)" . Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  5. "Prehistoric Archaeology Blog". prehistoricarch.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  6. "Abbey Craig: Not just another Iron-Age hillfort : Archaeology News from Past Horizons". Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2014.