Mar's Wark, Castle Wynd

Maintained by Historic Scotland, Mar’s Ludging was built in the 1570s to be the townhouse of James Erskine, 17th Earl of Mar and 3rd Regent of Scotland (the previous two had been assassinated) during the childhood of King James VI, heir to Mary, Queen of Scots. Some claim it’s ruin is the result of The Curse of Alloa Tower, placed on Mar by the Abbot of Cambuskenneth – as punishment for tearing down the walls of Cambuskenneth Abbey, whose bricks were used to build his fine new home.

The top floor was blown off by Stirling Castle’s cannons in January 1746 when Bonnie Prince Charlie set up his own guns here, during the ’45 Jacobite Rebellion. By this time the Ludging had become ‘Mar’s Wark’ – the Burgh Workhouse.