Our Clan and Craft Gift Shop has now opened and, pleasingly, seems to be as popular with visitors as we’d hoped. All three castle shops have been refitted and rebranded over the winter – with quite a few new products and ranges being introduced to reflect the wider changes taking place at the castle.

Perhaps the most obvious will be the transformation of the former whisky and book shop into the Palace Gift Shop. This is due to open its doors on Monday 11, April and will stock gifts and mementoes linked to, and inspired by, our Renaissance royal palace which is being returned to how it may have looked when Mary Queen of Scots lived there as a little girl. We are still waiting for some of the new ranges to come in, but you will already be able to get Stirling Castle exclusives like the Stirling Castle Heads range and the Stirling Castle Mouse range for children.

The biggest challenge has been number three, which isn’t just being upgraded and updated – the whole building is being extended. It will re-emerge as the Courtyard Gift Shop and will offer lots of great products including ones related to the castle. These will include old favourites such as plastic swords and helmets for young knights, along with guidebooks postcards and history books. There will also be new arrivals like the Stirling Castle Tartan Kitchen Range and new Whisky lines. This will also be the location of the main ticket office, and a brand new system is just being installed. It’s one of those things that doesn’t sound very exciting to visitors, but the benefits of the new system will be very real, with faster and more efficient service and the additional advantage of being able to book online. This is especially important at peak times – and all the more so as the opening of the palace is likely to bring a substantial increase in visitor numbers.

You will be able to get an idea of the kind of modern, comfortable shopping environment we are aiming for by popping into the Clan and Craft Gift Shop. Here we are emphasising goods with a traditional feel. Some of my favourites are the 1920’s inspired Ortak Jewellery and Anna McNeil hats & scarves. And as it’s located on the esplanade, you don’t even have to be a castle visitor to pop in and have a browse.

Christine Brownlee, Stirling Castle Trading Manager