Argylls Lodging - historic building in stirling

Stirlings' Old Town

The Castle
The Old Grammar School
Argyll's Lodging
Mar's Wark
Holy Rude Church
John Cowane's Hospital
John Cowane's House
Auchenbowie's House
Broad Street
The Tolbooth
Norie's House
Darnley's House
Robert Spittal's House
The Town Wall
The Smith Art Gallery

Many nobles who owned nearby estates built town houses near the castle to be close to the King's Court.

This house was bought and extended by the Earl of Stirling in about 1632. Before this he had traveled widely with the Earl of Argyll and had been made Governor of Nova Scotia where he encouraged settlement. His commitment to Canada is indicated on the carved stone panel over the main entrance. Here the Earl of Stirling's coat of arms is combined with the badge of Nova Scotia, and a Red Indian can be seen supporting the shield.

Twenty four years later the Earl of Arygll bought the house and extended it to the south and west, enclosing the courtyard. Here his boar's head crest appears over the windows.

Despite many alterations, the crow stepped gables, dormer windows, intricately carved stone windows and door frames, and round towers often housing turnpike stairs remain to remind us about the features of buildings of this period. It is one of the most important 17th Century town houses to survive in Scotland today.