Thistles Centre facts for kids

The Thistles Shopping Centre is a large shopping mall located in Stirling, Scotland. It first opened its doors in 1977. Today, it has 87 different shops and covers a huge area of over 500,000 square feet. It's a very popular place for shopping in the area.

Growing Bigger: The Thistles Marches

In 1997, the shopping centre got much bigger with a new part called Thistles Marches. This expansion added a large two-story car park with 970 spaces. It also included a new bus station with 14 stops.

The expansion also brought 40 new shops to the centre. This created about 400 new jobs for people. The Thistles Marches opened in September 1997. This helped Stirling stay an important shopping area outside of Scotland's main cities.

Today, The Thistles Centre has more than 500,000 square feet of shops. Its central location in Stirling means many people can easily visit. Over 500,000 people live within 20 kilometers of the centre. It is thought that over 12 million people visit the centre each year. About 3.7 million of these visitors are tourists from other countries.

Shops You Can Find

The Thistles Shopping Centre has many well-known stores. Some of the biggest shops are Debenhams, Marks and Spencer, Bhs, and Primark.

You can also find other popular stores here. These include Superdry, Zara, River Island, Topshop, CeX, and H&M. Other shops include H. Samuel, Boots, WHSmith, Ernest Jones, Sainsbury's Local, and HMV.

The Historic Thieves Pot

The thief inside the Thieves Pot

Inside the shopping centre, there's a very old jail from the 16th century. It's called the Thieves Pot. This jail is an important historical spot in Stirling. It was once part of Stirling's Town Wall, helping to guard the city.

You can find the Thieves Pot inside The Thistles Centre. It's located near the Port Street entrance. Look for two "flaming" torches on the wall. These mark the entrance to this underground jail.

To enter, you go through an opening in the wall. Then, you walk down a spiral staircase made of wrought iron. As you go down, you'll feel like you're stepping back in time. The busy shopping centre disappears, and you enter a small, old jail.

It's free to visit the Thieves Pot. You can go whenever the shopping centre is open.

When you look around, you'll see a round room made of rough stone. This was the original guardroom. It was part of the walls that protected Stirling long ago. This guardroom has different old items. These include a Justice Figure and Stirling Heads. They help tell the story of the room and what happened there.

Below this room is the actual Thieves Pot. This was the prison where people were kept. It's a dark, cramped space, also known as an oubliette. You can see it through a glass panel in the floor. Inside, there's a model of a prisoner. The original entrance to this prison was a trapdoor where the glass panel is now.

Fun Events at The Thistles

The Thistles Centre often hosts special events for visitors.

• Santa's Grotto: Every year, Santa sets up his grotto in the centre. Santa and his elves meet children. Kids can talk to Santa and tell him what they want for Christmas. After their visit, children get a photo with Santa and a Christmas gift.
• Fitness Fun: In September 2009, the centre was featured on STV's 'The Hour' show. A fitness expert named Stella Bartram surprised the cleaning, janitorial, and security staff. She showed them easy exercises they could do while working. Even though the staff walked many miles each day, they found new muscles they hadn't felt before!
• Recycling Bins: On January 18, 2010, new recycling bins were placed throughout the centre. Local mascots helped to show them off. These bins let customers recycle paper, plastic, cans, and general waste. The goal was to help reduce the centre's carbon footprint and encourage Stirling to be more eco-friendly.