Wallace monument to be built in Glasgow

Glasgow’s first monument to William Wallace is to be erected in the summer, it has been announced.

Sir William Wallace Pic from Wallace's Lanark

The two metre tall sandstone column will commemorate The Battle of the Bell o’ the Brae, which Wallace fought in July 1297.

The memorial will be located in Glasgow’s Necropolis, near where Wallace routed an English garrison of around 1000 men and took over Glasgow Castle which stood at the site.

Just two months later, Wallace followed up his success with his historic victory over a vast English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

The Society of William Wallace has campaigned for a monument in Glasgow since 2009.

Convenor Gary Stewart said the design, by artist Andrew Hillhouse, will feature a sculpted medieval helmet and Wallace’s famous broadsword.

He added: “The memorial should be in place for people to see by the summer. We are delighted as we have fought for such a long time for a monument to Wallace in Glasgow.

“It’s also means a lot because this battle is largely forgotten about. Very few people know that Wallace was in Glasgow, let alone won a battle there.

“Wallace’s victory boosted his reputation at an important time. It was part of the sequence of events that led to his most famous victory, at Stirling Bridge.”

The Battle of the Bell o’ The Brae is included in the account of Wallace’s life by the minstrel Blind Harry, and later histories of Glasgow.

Wallace is said to have rode with 300 men to Glasgow following the Scottish nobility’s capitulation to an English army at Irvine.

Wallace split his force in to two divisions. He led one unit up the High Street towards Glasgow Castle, while the Laird of Auchinleck made a circuit to attack the English rearguard.

They attacked the garrison on two fronts on the steep ascent known as The Bell O’ the Brae.

Earl Percy, the English leader, was killed and those of his men who survived fled to Bothwell under pursuit.

Wallace was left in command of the castle, a fortress first mentioned in 1258 and demolished in 1792 when the city’s Royal Infirmary was built.