Stirling Castle (22)
The previous picture, apart from illustrating an important event in Stirling Castle's history, illustrated that we do not know what the castle looked like in 1304 - in fact we don't really know what it looked like until the beginning of the 16th century, when King James IV initiated the major building programme that continued on through his son's reign.

This image, drawn by John Slezer and published in Theatrum Scotiae in 1693, shows some of the features of James IV's castle from 200 years earlier.  The forework of front of KJ4's castle consisted of a gatehouse, with 4 round towers, with curtain walls extending off to either side, ending in rectangular towers.  The tower at the west end still exists, incorporated into the Palace, and known for the last 400 years at least, as the Prince's Tower.  At the nearer (east) end, there was a similar tower, called the Elphinstone Tower, however by Slezer's time, it had been reduced in height by two-thirds and a gun battery placed on its new roof.  

The gatehouse we will look at a bit more in the next picture.
stirling stirlingcastle scotland fortress engraving johnslezor theatrumscotiae gatehouse forework