Clackmannan Tower

Clackmannan Tower

Clackmannan Tower stands in lofty isolation on King’s Seat Hill, overlooking the town of Clackmannan from its western side. The site is potentially of great antiquity, and almost certainly the location of a royal residence, probably a hunting-lodge, from the 12th century. David II spent his sixth birthday there in 1330.

King David II, son of Robert the Bruce, granted Clackmannan to his kinsman Sir Robert Bruce in 1359. The earliest part of the existing tower seems to date from this period. Extensive alterations to the tower took place in the 1400s, including heightening of the tower and the addition of a second tower to the south, creating an ‘L’ plan. A mansion was added in the late 1500s or 1600s.

Clackmannan remained occupied by the Bruces until the late 1700s. By the end of that century the mansion and tower were abandoned, and the mansion was demolished in the early 1800s.