Overview of Linlithgow Palace

One of the most magnificent of Scotland's ancient monuments, Linlithgow Palace stands on a promontory jutting into Linlithgow Loch, with vistas north the M9 Stirling-Edinburgh motorway. It is likely that this promontory was originally an island, as past water levels are estimated to have been some 12m (40 feet) above present levels. The Palace, which was a royal residence from the 12th to the late 16th century, was occupied in 1298 by King Edward I of England on his way to the Battle of Falkirk. In 1301 he returned to establish the town as his headquarters for the campaign of 1301-2, erecting a new castle and reinforcing the Palace's defences. This castle was partially destroyed soon after in an ambush led by farmer William Bunnock, but it was restored at least by 1334.

Following Bannockburn (1314), King David II razed the English fortifications and built a royal manor, later destroyed by fire in 1424. The construction of the present building was begun in 1425 for King James I and completed over the next century.

Among those born at the Palace were King James V (1512) and Mary Queen of Scots (1542). Following the Union of the Crowns in 1603, the Palace fell into neglect and King Charles I was the last king to sleep there (1633). The Scottish Parliament met there several times, ultimately in 1646. Other notable visitors have included Oliver Cromwell and Prince Charles Edward Stuart (1745). The Duke of Cumberland, in pursuit of the Jacobites, also occupied the palace in 1745, his Government troops destroying much of the inside of the building.