A residential area in SE Stirling Council Area, Bannockburn is 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Stirling. The original village developed in the 18th and 19th centuries as a centre for coal mining and textile manufacture, specialities being the production of carpets and tartan. The National Trust for Scotland's Bannockburn Heritage Centre, opened in 1987, is associated with one of Scotland's most historic sites. On a battlefield nearby King Robert the Bruce routed the army of King Edward II of England in June 1314 to win freedom for the Scots from English domination. A few yards from the Centre is the famous Borestone site which by tradition was Bruce's command post before the battle.
The site is enclosed by a Rotunda which focuses on the approach route of the English army intent on capturing Stirling Castle. The Rotunda was inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth in June 1964 when she also unveiled the statue of Bruce by Pilkington Jackson. In 1930 a committee under the 10th Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, head of the Bruce family, successfully raised funds to purchase 23.5 Ha (58 acres) of the site of the battlefield. This land was eventually gifted in 1960 to the National Trust for Scotland which acquired further land. The Bannock Burn Valley is a major open space within the Stirling conurbation.
