This bridge was built around 1500 and was the lowest bridging point over the River Forth for almost four centuries. Duties were levied on goods entering the Burgh and customs men sat in a covered booth in a recess in the middle of the bridge.

In 1571, a gallows was erected on the bridge to hang Archbishop Hamilton. In 1745, the southernmost arch was blown up by General Blackney to prevent the Highlanders from crossing. Before this Bridge was built there were earlier structures, including the wooden bridge where Sir William Wallace defeated the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297, a shattering defeat for the English - it showed that, where conditions were right, infantry could be superior to cavalry.

The Battle of Stirling Bridge was a battle of the First War of Scottish Independence. On 11 September 1297, the forces of Andrew Moray and William Wallace defeated the combined English forces of John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey and Hugh de Cressingham near Stirling, on the River Forth. Surrey had won a comfortable victory over the aristocracy of Scotland at the Battle of Dunbar, and his belief that he was now dealing with a rabble seems to have affected his judgement - the small bridge at Stirling was only broad enough to allow two horsemen to cross abreast.

The Scots waited as the English knights and infantry made their slow progress across the bridge on the morning of 11 September. The disorderly Scottish army of 1296 was gone - the Scots spearmen came down from the high ground in rapid advance towards the bridge, quickly seizing control of the English bridgehead.

Stirling New Bridge, designed by Robert Stevenson, the famed lighthouse engineer, was opened in 1833.