Stirling Castle Chapel Royal, Stirling

It is likely that there has been a chapel within Stirling Castle for as long as there has been the castle itself. Indeed, the earliest evidence of the castle's existence was the investiture of a chapel inside it, by Alexander I, in 1110. There are frequent later references to chapels at Stirling Castle, and at times it seems possible that there might have been more than one.

There are also frequent references to a Chapel Royal in particular. Perhaps the most famous of them is that infant Mary, Queen of Scots was brought to Stirling Castle for safety and crowned in the Chapel Royal on 9 September 1543. Another one is that she, controversially, celebrated Mass here upon her return from France, in 1561. Still, rather confusingly, none of this happened in the actual Chapel Royal that we see today.

The collegiate chapel established by James IV, in 1501, lay between the King's Old Building and the Great Hall, but it was further south than the present building. It was there that Queen Mary was crowned. When James VI's first son, Prince Henry, was born in 1594, it was decided to rebuild the chapel as a suitable venue for the royal christening.

The new building was erected within a year, north of the old site, to improve access to the hall. The chapel, with its Italianate arched windows, was the work of the Royal Master of Works, William Schaw. The interior was decorated by the painter Valentine Jenkin prior to the visit of Charles I, in 1633. The chapel, too, was later modified for military purpose, and was added with a dining room.

The extensive restoration began in the 1930s rediscovered the wall paintings and saw the removal of the extra floor. However, it took until 1996 for the Chapel Royal to be fully restored to the condition it's seen in today, complete with the reconstruction of the magnificent decoration put in place for Charles I's visit.