Clackmannan Tower is a tall tower standing on the top of a hill called King’s Seat Hill, at the top end of the old High Street of Clackmannan. The Black Devon River flows around the base of the hill into the Forth, and doubtless the area was extremely boggy in medieval times, making the site extremely well defended naturally.

The tower was built in more than one phase, and the date of the older part is not accurately known. However it was certainly built by the time King David II issued a charter for the castle and manor of Clackamman to Robert Bruce in 1364. Clackmannan had been held by Robert’s father Thomas as early as 1330. There had been a royal property at Clackmannan since the 13th century at least, suggesting that Thomas Bruce may have been an illegitimate son or nephew of King Robert.

The rectangular tower was made into an L-plan by the addition of a taller wing in the 15th century, and a single storey building was placed in the angle much more recently as a kind of forework covering stone stairs to the main entrance of the tower on the first floor. A spiral stair in the thickness of the wall served all floors, which contained only a single room on each floor in each tower.

The Bruces of Clackmannan held the tower until 1791, but for most of the 18th century were in dire financial straits. The last of the Bruces, Henry, fought for the Jacobites in 1745, but was not forfeited. When his widow died in 1791, the tower was left uninhabited. By this time a large mansion had also been added to the tower, and a number of farm buildings were also built nearby, a