County Dossier
Stirlingshire
A central county of battles, castles and crossroads.
Stirlingshire spans the gateway to the Highlands, stretching from the Firth of Forth in the south-east to Loch Lomond in the north-west.
At a glance
Stirlingshire at a glance
A central county of battles, castles and crossroads.
- Stirling = “key to kingdom”
- Charters call it Strivelyn
- Strategically vital
- Area: 447 sq miles
- Population: 244,092
- County Top: Ben Lomond
County Geography
Stirlingshire meets Perthshire to the north, Clackmannanshire and Linlithgowshire to the east and south-east, Lanarkshire to the south, and Dunbartonshire to the west and south-west. The county is shaped by the Forth, the Campsie Fells and other Lennox hills, the north-western rise toward Ben Lomond, and the broad carse and basin around Stirling and Falkirk.
River basin, hill rim, and gateway position give Stirlingshire a strong county form.
Map Reference
View Stirlingshire on the map
Stirlingshire is the county. The map also shows lieutenancies and council areas that use the county name.
The county.
The lieutenancy.
Council areas.
Places and routes
Stirling, Falkirk, Denny, Kilsyth, and Drymen show the county from the Forth gateway and south-eastern belt to the western side below Loch Lomond.
Connections
The county’s routes have long converged on Stirling, followed the Forth-side plain, and run west below the hill lines toward Loch Lomond. The movement follows the natural gateway from Lowland basin to Highland edge.
Names
- Stirlingshire
- County of Stirling
- Siorrachd Shruighlea
Siorrachd Shruighlea is the Gaelic form of Stirlingshire. County of Stirling is the formal historical style, Stirlings is the shortened documentary form, and charters preserve older spellings such as Strivelyn.
The county was a sheriffdom by the twelfth century and long held the strategic river crossing at Stirling, the key approach between Highlands and Lowlands. That crossing-and-basin geography still gives Stirlingshire a clear historic-county shape.