Prehistory

The earliest known structures on Gillies Hill were built by Iron Age people over 2000 years ago. Two structures are known, what is currently called Wallstale Dun^[2] on the southern end of Touchadam Craig and Gillies Hill fort^[3] on the northwest end of the craig. From both the dun and the fort the countryside may be seen for miles providing line-of-sight connections to other duns and forts (Touch Muir's Castlehill Duns, the Baston Burn Duns, Wester Craigend Dun, etc.).

In 1984 a trial trench was opened at Gillies Hill fort across the defences in the south sector.^[4] Three stone faced ramparts were explored - material for the construction of the rampart had been obtained by surface quarrying of the surrounding area. Within the fort was a layer of occupation debris containing pottery, including the upper half of a decorated vessel with more cultural material recovered from within the ramparts. This material, along with radiometric dates, suggests activity from the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age and the Iron Age – the presumption being that the ramparts derive from the later, Iron Age activity. The nature of the earlier Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age activity on the hill remains uncertain.

Bannockburn, 23 to 24 June 1314

The name "Gillies Hill" may come from the tale of Robert the Bruce's camp-followers, who before the second day of the battle were ordered to wait in the safety of forest cover within sight the battle. According to John Barbour,^[5] an early Scottish poet writing in 1375, these "sma’ folk" were called down by The Bruce from the Borestone where he had raised his standard, late on the second day of the battle at a crucial stage. The sma' folk descended the slopes of a hill yelling, banging pots and pans, and waiving pieces of clothing in the air at which point the English troops thinking the newcomers were reinforcements, fled. Barbour does not mention any hill by name, hence the attribution of this event to Gillies Hill is uncertain. Modern historical analysis most commonly proposes Coxet Hill, adjacent to St Ninians, as the location of the events Barbour describes.

Bruce’s Well

According to Peter Paterson, Cambusbarron historian, on the day before the Battle of Bannockburn Robert the Bruce came to Cambusbarron Chapel to take the sacrament and to drink from the Chapel Well, formerly known as Christ's Well, and currently known as Bruce's Well. Water from the well was sprinkled on the field of Bannockburn before the battle. A granite block donated by Stirling Stone with a plaque inscribed by Scotia Granite, was placed at the site of Bruce's Well to commemorate its role in the battle for the 700th anniversary in 2014. In 2022 a new footbridge was built from the footpath to the site.

Bonnety Tree

The cliff edges of the northwest side of Gillies Hill, known as Touchadam Craig, are the habitat of several dozen ancient Scots pines. One of these pines that has since fallen to the expansion of the Murrayshall Quarry, was known as the Bonnety Tree and is said to have been the tree upon which the Gillies hung their bonnets before their descent onto the battlefield. In 2016 a new "Bonnety Tree" was planted on the southern end of the hill with the cooperation of the Ogilvie Group.

Polmaise Castle

The ruined Polmaise Castle set in the middle of Gillies Hill was built for £30,000 by Col. John Murray, 23rd Laird of Touchadam and Polmaise, upon his return from the Crimean War. Murray commissioned David Burn to design the Scots Baronial mansion in 1865. The building was demolished in 1966 long after the death of the Murray's only son and heir in The Great War. The original Murray house was known as Touchadam Castle which was located to the west of Gillies Hill near Gartur. Only its ruins remain today. In 1673 Murrays Hall located beneath the western craig of Gillies Hill was built as a gift from the Laird to his son. It was eventually occupied by Jacobite Ladies of Murrayshall. These three maiden ladies who lived their entire lives in Murrays Hall were regionally known for their hospitality and kindness to those of all walks of life. Perhaps the most colorful of their stories involves loyalty to the Jacobite cause; the ladies would discreetly end each meal with either a verbal toast "To Him over the water," or by a delicate movement of the glass over the pitcher of water on the table if more discretion were required. The last of the Jacobite Ladies died in 1829, at which point Murrays Hall became a farmhouse lasting until it was destroyed in its entirety by 20th Century quarry operations.

Free Green

The Old Drove Road whose old name of The Commondry leads to what was once Cambusbarron's Free Green, located near the current gate to the quarry. In the past it was here that villagers and drovers gathered to tether their stock. Up until 1953 it was also used for celebration bonfires for special events.

Climate

The weather of Gillies Hill is predominantly influenced by air currents from the Atlantic Ocean with a prevailing south-westerly wind. Winters are wet and windy. The area has an annual average rainfall amount of 1060 mm (41.73 inches) and an annual average mean temperature of 8.8-9.3 °C (48-49 °F). (1971 to 2000: Met Office, UK)

Hydrology

The site is bordered on the south by the Bannock Burn which joins the River Forth at N 56° 07.250 W 003° 52.835 which flows east to the North Sea; and on the north and northwest by several small tributaries which flow into the Forth: The Baston Burn, the Touch Burn, Johnny's Burn, and the Glenmoray-Raploch Burn which runs through Cambusbarron passing the site of Bruce's Well. To the west the Bannock Burn is contained by North Third Reservoir.

Geology and topography

The hill is one of a series of parallel "crag and tail" formations (including Abbey Craig, Stirling Castle, Kings Park, and Sauchie Craig) that march across the Carse of Stirling between the Touch Hills and the Ochil Hills. These formations were created by the movement of glaciers over the carse shaping the more resistant (usually volcanic) plugs into cliff-like crags ("craig" in Scots) with trailing wakes of softer material called "tails."

Gillies Hill is located in Central Scotland east of the city of Stirling and south of the town of Cambusbarron within the Bannock Burn and River Forth watersheds. A crag and tail formation, the hill rises gradually from an altitude of approximately 79 meters at the Bannock Burn Bridge at Sauchie Craig on its southern end to drop off in a series of crags (cliffs) - some natural, some the result of quarrying - at its northwest end at an approximate altitude of 160 meters.

The underlying geology of Gillies Hill is a layer of quartz-dolerite approximately 100 meters thick of the Late Carboniferous tholeiitic Midland Valley Sill-complex (Stirling Sill). The hill is one of a series of crag and tail formations that cross the Carse of Stirling separated by faults into distinct hills such as Abbey Craig, Kings Park, Sauchieburn and Stirling Castle rock. These crag and tail formations were created by glaciation that terminated about 10,000 years ago.

The quartz-dolerite of the hill, highly resistance to erosion, is a ready source of "whin-stone" for road beds and sea walls; concrete aggregate and kerbstones. Several whinstone mines have operated on Gillies Hill over the years. Beneath the hill's quartz-dolerite layer is a layer of Murrayshall Limestone.

There is evidence that the limekilns in the area have been in production from about 1790 into the 20th Century, producing lime to be used in building mortars, iron production and agriculture. The limestone, calcium carbonate, was roasted with coal in the Murrayshall, Craigend, and Cambusbarron kilns (respectively: at the south end of Gillies Hill, eastward up the Bannock Burn and north of Cambusbarron) to produce calcium oxide (quicklime), followed by the production of calcium hydroxide in slaking pits - and was then spread on agricultural fields.

The remains of the kilns can be found at three locations around Gillies Hill: at Murrayshall Limeworks on the SW of Gillies Hill beside the entrance to the current quarry; at Hollandbush Limeworks off Kersebonny Road and at Craigend Limeworks on the south bank of the Bannock Burn near Castlehill Dun. Extensive tunnels lie beneath Gillies Hill; the mine adit is located in Cambusbarron and the mine air shaft is on the hill itself.

Habitats

Gillies Hill displays a considerable diversity of habitats from Scots pine/heath to semi-natural woodland of ash, oak and rowan.

The following are the habitat divisions of the hill as classified in a Phase 1 habitat survey conducted in 2010: Broadleaved semi-natural woodland, Broadleaved plantation woodland, Coniferous plantation woodland, Mixed semi-natural woodland, Dense continuous scrub, Scattered scrub, Recently felled coniferous woodland, Semi-natural neutral grassland, Marshy grassland, Continuous Bracken, Standing water, Running water, and Rock exposure & waste/quarry. Dominant species found on Gillies Hill include sycamore, birch, broom, common ash, beech, larch, bracken, spruce, oak and willow.

Flora

Gillies Hill hosts a large array of plants native to Central Scotland. The hill is home to at least 38 Ancient Woodland indicator species from the AWVP – Europe/National/Scotland list and 21 from the AWVP - Scotland list, a record Scots Pine, a record Rowan, and an abundance of wildflower, lichen, fungi, moss, and grass species. Eight of the top ten Scottish plants listed on the Scottish Biodiversity List (a list of flora, fauna and habitats considered by Scottish Ministers to be of principal importance for biodiversity) as most popular among Scots can be found on Gillies Hill: common and bell heather, Scottish bluebell or harebell, Scots Pine, oak, thistle, rowan, ferns, and common spotted and Northern marsh orchids. Three of these including the heather, harebell, and Scots pine are predominantly found on the hill's heath out-crops which are threatened by quarry expansion, as is the only known population of blaeberry on the hill.

Plants and History

The flora of Gillies Hill is intricately entwined with its history. The Murray family who built Polmaise Castle in 1865, created landscaped gardens incorporating many of the exotic coniferous trees that still grace the woodland. Like much of 19th Century British aristocracy, the Murrays were enamored with planting landscape gardens filled with newly discovered plants from around the world. Often these outdoor plant collections included tall conifers imported from North America. A fine example of this is the grove of Sierra Redwoods (or Wellingtonia), Sequoiadendron giganteum, growing at the apex of Gillies Hill. These five Redwoods were planted in the 1860s by the Murray family along the walk from the castle to the large natural loch that was once on the upper portion of Gillies Hill, but was lost to quarrying. If left undisturbed, these giants could well live over 3000 years and attain a mass of over 1400 cubic meters potentially becoming the most massive trees in Scotland.^[6] Along with others of that era, these trees may have been grown from some of the first Sequoiadendron seeds brought to Scotland by John D. Matthew in 1853 and given to his noted horticulturist father Patrick Matthew of Gourdiehill near Errol in Perth Shire who then gave many of the seedlings away to friends and family as living gifts. Unfortunately, the five redwoods on the top of Gillies Hill are within the quarry zone. Efforts are currently being made to try to save the grove.

The woodland that surrounds the Grotto or "Secret Spring" of Polmaise Castle supports a number of woodland species such as wood anemones, wood sorrel and bluebells. In the area around the Grotto many towering, ‘exotic’ conifers were planted in the 1860s by the Murray family which include four Sierra Redwoods, two Coast Redwoods (which can reach over 350’ high becoming the tallest trees on Earth), Douglas-firs, and a South American Monkey-puzzle tree.

Native trees inhabiting Gillies Hill including silver birch, rowan, holly, oak, ash, hazel and clinging to the western cliffs, gnarled Scots Pine which form an essential part of this woodland ecosystem, their cones providing an excellent source of pine nuts for native Red Squirrels and Crossbills. Also found on the hill are species which were introduced by humans and have since become naturalized. These include "archaeophytes" (pre-1500) such as the Flanders Poppy and Spearmint; and "neophytes" (post-1500) such as European Beech, Sycamore, and Red Elderberry. Polmaise Castle is home to many exotic species of plant that were introduced as part of the estate's gardens and designed landscapes. To the west and south of the castle are rows of English yew trees which once formed clipped hedges enclosing stately lawns. Other trees found here include an English holly, Portugal laurels, and a magnificent copper beech. In other areas of the hill, the natural woodland has been replaced with commercial species such as Sitka and Norway Spruce, which form dense canopies limiting undergrowth; and larch, a non-native deciduous conifer, which allows sunlight to penetrate to the ground flora.

Fauna

Gillies Hill is populated by an array of animals both resident and migrant, most of which are native, but some of which are threatening the existence of native species.