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The castle itself is entered by climbing the tail of the rocky crag, crossing the first gateway and ditch, then into the Inner Gateway. The 15th century entry and portcullis house, from the time of James IV, opens to the lower courtyard. On the left is the Queen Anne Garden, which was once a bowling green, and is now a well-tended formal garden. The King's Knot, visible over the tall stone walls on the plain below, was once a huge formal garden. The outlines, laid out by William Watt in 1627, are all that remain of the grass covered hill.
The lower square of the castle is bounded on the left by the Palace, with the Great Hall straight ahead, and the Grand Battery which overlooks the town of Stirling and Stirling Bridge on the right. The Grand Battery is an impressive series of terraced casemenets that hold row upon row of cannons that cover all the approaches to the Castle.
