Braveheart Scottish political landscape in the mid to late 1990s. In 1997, a 12-ton sandstone statue depicting Mel Gibson as William Wallace in "Braveheart" was placed in the car park of the Wallace Monument near Stirling, Scotland. The statue, which was the work of Tom Church, a monumental mason from Brechin, included the word "Braveheart" on Wallace's shield. The installation became the cause of much controversy; one local resident stated that it was wrong to "desecrate the main memorial to Wallace with a lump of crap". In 1998, someone wielding a hammer vandalized the statue's face. After repairs were made, the
Stirling one of the flattest and most agriculturally productive expanses of land in the whole of Scotland. The land surrounding Stirling has been most affected by glacial erosion and deposition. The city itself has grown up around its castle which stands atop an ancient quartz-dolerite sill, known as the Stirling Sill, a major defensive position which was at the lowest crossing point on the River Forth. Stirling stands on the Forth at the point where the river widens and becomes tidal. To the east of the city the Ochil Hills dominate the skyline with the highest peak in the range being