We visited Stirling Old Town Jail on the first Saturday of the trip. It is one of the first things that came up and is highly reviewed when looking for things to do in Stirling.
The jail was built in 1847 to replace the appalling conditions of the Tolbooth jail opposite (now an arts centre) and set up as a modernising prison where the inmates had their own cells, were taught literacy by the guards and had the opportunity to earn a wage. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this system fell apart because of resistance to the progressive nature of the system and budget cuts (times never change!), with more prisoners in each cell and fewer guards, meaning the education element fell by the wayside.
Later in the century, it became a military detention centre. Eventually, it was closed as a jail and used for storage during the Second World War.
The tour was conducted by an actor switching between different characters, conveying information about the history and life in the jail. It was extremely well put together and wasn’t too stressful. As a family, we are not big fans of “immersive experiences”, but this was fun informative, and the guide was knowledgeable. I was immersed enough to fail to take any photos of the jail itself! The views from the observation tower were great, though!
After the visit, we had an exploration of the town itself. We popped into Cowane’s Hospital and the Church of the Holy Rood. The “Made in Stirling” shop had some interesting gifts and a selection of old cameras which were very tempting!