The distinctive crossed swords and date 1314 on the OS map of this area announce it to be their identification of the site of the Battle of Bannockburn.
The battle had two decisive stages over two days, the first near the Visitor Centre and the second near here when the Scots woke the English with an attack that was never really countered. The rout spread over the flat plain towards the Forth and beyond.
The recent announcement of an upgrade to the Centre in time for Homecoming 2014 includes money to accurately map the battlefield which might cause the OS to reconsider the positioning of the symbol.
You might think that this location would have been a good place to watch the events of June 24th 1314 but you would be wrong because the 'hill' you are standing on wasn't here then. It is in fact the remains of the 'bing' or waste tip from the Polmaise 1 & 2 mine also known as Millhall Colliery.
Clackmannanshire-born Archibald Russell had grown a small family coal mining business into a limited company when he sank the two 150 m shafts of Polmaise 1 & 2 between 1902 & 1904. The workings expanded and eventually connected with the Fallin mine.
The mine produced anthracite, household coal and steam coal and in later years the marvellously titled 'Sun Briquettes' of the Polmaise Patent Fuel Company. These were made using soft coal which was compressed into solid bricks and bound with pitch. They were a domestic version of a product developed for South American steam locomotives and were reknowned for burning slowly and as the slogan says "Staying alight overnight". Despite such innovations the site here closed in June 1958 but coal from its workings were extracted from Fallin for several years afterwards.
See also Fallin Bing GC255J8 about Polmaise 3 & 4.
Information about Millhall was obtained from a superb book by Guthrie Hutton entitled 'Mining from Kirkintillock to Clackmannan & Stirling to Slamannan'.
*** Robert Burns - FTF There's snow stopping him ***