Mote Hill

Mote Hill is the northern tip of the Gowanhills, Stirling, the northern half of the Royal Park that extends around Stirling Castle. The wider park includes the Kings Knott,[1] and sections of a 2-metre-high deer wall, first established in the 12th century.

Ten thousand years ago, Mote Hill was a promontory projecting into a lost prehistoric sea. On the opposite bank of the River Forth lies Abbey Craig, upon which sits the National Wallace Monument.[2] These two rocky outcrops were, for thousands of years, the lowest crossing point of the Forth.

Mote Hill is also known as Heiding Hill or Murdoch's Knowe and is the location of the Beheading Stone,[3] the traditional execution block of medieval Stirling. The stone itself is now on a concrete mount and under an iron cage, but you can still see the axe marks from the executions.

Mote Hill is also the site of a vitrified fort, destroyed by fire in the first half of the first millennium AD. This date was confirmed by excavation by Murray Cook, Stirling Council's archaeologist.

  • Mote Hill on Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland

References

  1. ↑ "The Castle Gardens & King's Park". Stirlingcastle.gov.uk. 2015-04-30. Retrieved 2015-05-07.
  2. ↑ "Official Website of The National Wallace Monument, Stirling, Scotland : Welcome". Nationalwallacemonument.com. Retrieved 2015-05-07.
  3. ↑ "Stirling Council - Beheading Stone". Stirling.gov.uk. Retrieved 2015-05-07.

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