Gatehouse of Stirling Castle

Forework or Gatehouse of Stirling Castle.

Installed by James IV around 1500, the Forework now stands as a concealed inner entrance to the castle. But it was built as a highly visible façade, on a site that had long been the castle's main entrance. In the 1580s, it was described as „the whole outward beauty of the place“.

The French Spur and Dury's Outworks masked a much earlier line of defence. Anyone approaching the castle in the early 1500s would have seen a very different frontage. The castle would have appeared far more elevated, with the visitor confronted by James IV's French-influenced frontispiece, immediately proclaiming his power and majesty.

It was originally five storeys high, but even in its much reduced state the Forework cannot fail to impress, integrating defensive and accommodation roles. Access to the main gate may originally have been by a timber bridge, rather than by the ramp in use today. The central triplet gatehouse was originally more than twice as tall, capped with crenellated wall-walks and tall conical roofs, and with a drum tower at each corner. Each of the three gates was provided with a portcullis, operated from the chambers above, and one of these still survives.

Overall, the gatehouse resembles the processional west door of a great church, and is even reminiscent of a Roman triumphal arch. The high curtain was bookended by an accommodation tower projecting at each end, flanked on each side a by a half-round tower (now demolished).