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When a civilization ends, it does not leave behind a tombstone. Instead, it leaves stackings of stones (i.e. buildings.) We lose the remembrance of individual people, the things they said, did, and wrote, but we remember what they built because those things endure for much longer. The Ancient Greeks and Romans tell us about themselves through their Classical Architecture. We remember the Medieval period in Europe from its castles and Gothic Cathedrals. We remember the early 20th century from the Art Deco buildings it left behind. The style tells us something about their priorities, what they believed, what they knew, and what their hopes were. In a sense, the buildings a culture leaves behind are a kind of epitaph.
Let’s look through the structural epitaphs of our ancestors.
Occasionally, an intense wave of Scottish nationalism seizes the hearts and minds of Scots and others alike, and we all find ourselves commemorating William Wallace. In the late 20th century, we got the film Braveheart. In the 19th century, we got this incredible, towering, ominous Victorian Gothic Tower.
Just for some historical context, this tower was under construction while the Americans were fighting a Civil War and while the Germans and Italians were both completing their respective national unity fights. One is left to assume that there was just something in the air, sparking human souls, in those years.
The value of commemorating a national mood in the form of architecture is that you give voice to that mood, forever after, in the shape and form of its stone.
The National Wallace Monument (generally known as the Wallace Monument) is a 67 m (220 ft) tower on the shoulder of the Abbey Craig, a hilltop overlooking Stirling in Scotland. It commemorates Sir William Wallace, a 13th- and 14th-century Scottish hero.
National Wallace Monument and Ochil Hills in autumn
The tower is open to the public for an admission fee. Visitors approach by foot from the base of the crag on which it stands. On entry there are 246 steps to the final observation platform, with three exhibition rooms within the body of the tower. The tower is not accessible to disabled visitors.
History
The tower was constructed following a fundraising campaign, which accompanied a resurgence of Scottish national identity in the 19th century. The campaign was begun in Glasgow in 1851 by Rev Charles Rogers, who was joined by William Burns. Burns took sole charge from around 1855 following Rogers’ resignation. In addition to public subscription, it was partially funded by contributions from a number of foreign donors, including Italian national leader Giuseppe Garibaldi. The Victorian Gothic monument was created by architect John Thomas Rochead.
The sandstone tower, which is 67-metre (220-foot) tall, took eight years to build. It was completed in 1869 and cost £18,000 (about £1.8million in 2024).
Visitor attraction
The monument is open to the general public. Visitors climb the 246-step spiral staircase to the viewing gallery inside the monument’s crown, which provides expansive views of the Ochil Hills and the Forth Valley.
Stevenson’s statue of Wallace on the monument in May 2024
The original Victorian statue of Wallace stands on the corner of the monument and is by the Edinburgh sculptor David Watson Stevenson.
Sir William Wallace statue at Edinburgh Castle gate
Braveheart
Tom Church’s statue “Freedom”
In 1996 Tom Church carved a statue of Wallace called “Freedom”, which was inspired by the film Braveheart. It has the face of Mel Gibson, the actor who played William Wallace in the film. Church leased the statue to Stirling Council, who in 1997 installed it in the car park of the visitor centre at the foot of the craig. The statue was deeply unpopular, being described as “among the most loathed pieces of public art in Scotland”. and was regularly vandalised before being placed in a cage to prevent further damage. Plans to expand the visitor centre, including a new restaurant and reception, led to the unpopular statue’s removal in 2008. It was returned to Church, who, after an unsuccessful attempt to sell it at auction, reportedly offered it to Donald Trump‘s Menie estate golf resort. However, it remained in the garden of the sculptor’s home, where it was incorporated into a replica of a castle, and with additions to it that included the head of the decapitated governor of York. In April 2016, it was reported in local press that the statue might be moved to Ardrossan‘s old Barony Church. In September 2021, it was moved to Glebe Park stadium in Brechin.
For an excellent virtual tour of the Wallace Monument, I highly recommend the following video. You’ll get some excellent drone footage of the detail near the tower’s top as well as getting to see the monument’s interior as well:
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