Old Photograph Guild Hall Stirling Scotland

Old photograph of the Guildhall in Stirling, Scotland. Cowane's Hospital was a 17th century almshouse in the Old Town of Stirling. It was established in 1637 with a bequest of 40,000 merks from the estate of the merchant John Cowane, born 1570, died 1633. During the later 17th and early 18th century the hospital was well used by pensioners, though a strict set of rules seems to have discouraged some from taking up residence. Further improvements to the gardens were ordered in 1712 when Thomas Harlaw, gardener to the Earl of Mar, was appointed to draw up plans for the site. Around 1720 the hospital was converted, by removing internal partitions, into a hall for use of the Merchant Guildry. The building was subsequently referred to as the Guildhall. In 1832 the building was pressed into service as an isolation hospital during a cholera epidemic which killed around one third of Stirling's population. The hospital building itself is now used as an arts venue, and remains in use by the Merchant Guildry.



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