The seven-gun Grand Battery dates back to the days of the first Jacobite Rising in 1689.

In December 1688, James VII of Scotland and II of England fled into exile in France. He was succeeded by his daughter, Mary, and her husband William. However, James still had many supporters, known as Jacobites (from Jacobus, the Latin for James).

In the spring of 1689, John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee raised a Jacobite army in Scotland. In July 1689, they defeated the government army at Killiecrankie, less than 40 miles from Stirling.

William and Mary’s government immediately ordered the strengthening of Stirling Castle’s defences. The Grand Battery was the chief result. The guns mounted here all point towards old Stirling Bridge, the lowest crossing point of the River Forth, where the Jacobites were expected to march.

Guns also covered the low hill in the foreground, the Gowane Hill. It was there that the Jacobites would most likely place their heavy artillery.

The final Jacobite Rising came 55 years later, in 1745–6. It was led by James VII’s grandson, Prince Charles Edward Stuart, known as ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’. By January 1746, having led his army as far south as Derby, Charles and his weary troops were in retreat. Nonetheless, they attempted to take Stirling Castle.

No sooner had the Jacobites mounted their three guns on the Gowane Hill than the castle artillery opened fire. Within a few hours, the Jacobites were put to flight. This was the last siege of any castle in Britain.