Abbey Craig
| Abbey Craig | |||
| Perthshire | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Abbey Craig and the Wallace Monument | |||
| Range: | Ochil Hills | ||
| Summit: | 364 feet NS809956 56°8’18"N, 3°55’5"W | ||
The Abbey Craig is a wooded, crag-bound hill climbing to 364 feet above sea level overlooking the River Forth to the south, and the City of Stirling. It is within Perthshire, but just at the edge of Stirlingshire (an extrusion of which reaches north of the Forth here, lapping at the foot of the hill).
Upon the hill stands the grand tower that is the Wallace Monument, giving a prominence to this little hill.
Physical geography
The Abbey Craig is part of a complex quartz-dolerite intrusion or sill within carboniferous strata, at the western edge of the Central Coal Field, known as the Stirling Sill.
The quartz-dolerite, being much harder than the surrounding coal measures, has been exposed due to erosion, including by glaciation. The characteristic crag and tail shape of the crag reflects this glacial shaping.
Name
Craig, or crag well describes the shape of the post-glacial crag and tail landscape feature. The abbey to which the name refers is Cambuskenneth Abbey,[1] on the north bank of the River Forth, about half a mile to the south.
History
In 1297, William Wallace and Andrew Moray established their encampment on this hill ahead of the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297, at which they defeated an English army commanded by John de Warenne 6th Earl of Surrey and Hugh de Cressingham.
The hilltop was also defended during the Early Middle Ages, and the remains of a vitrified hillfort are found here.[2] The fort was destroyed by fire in the 6th or 7th centuries AD and then refortified in 8th or 9th centuries AD, according to archaeological investigation.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Abbey Craig) |
- Abbey Craig: Hill Bagging
References
- ↑ Ross, David. R. (1999). "Stirlin Bidge". On the Trail of William Wallace. Dundurn. ISBN 9780946487479. https://books.google.com/books?id=MOEXOizkMRAC&q=%22Abbey+Craig%22+Cambuskenneth&pg=PA67. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
- ↑ CANMORE (RCAHMS) record of Abbey Craig