THE National Trust of Scotland has launched a major public consultation on how to protect the scene of Britain’s last land battle.
Conservationists fear Culloden Moor - where Redcoats finally defeated Jacobites in 1746 - is facing a new confrontation as housing developers encroach on the site.
The battlefield has been heaving with visitors in recent years thanks to the US television drama Outlander but is in danger of being surrounded by Inverness’s ever wider-sprawling suburbs.
NTS believes the moor is a “a place of great cultural significance” but that current safeguards do not protect the area, and the fear is that unsympathetic development with plans for housing and businesses will ruin the historic landscape forever.
Culloden is widely seen as a “pivotal moment” in Scottish and British history, the end of the last of the Jacobite rebellions and the single violent even which cemented the then still new United Kingdom as a unitary, protestant state.
Raoul Curtis-Machin, Operations Manager for Culloden Battlefield and Visitor Centre at the National Trust for Scotland said: “Culloden is a place that many people are passionate about for its important place in Scotland’s story. We want to hear people’s views on their hopes for Culloden’s future and how this site should be protected and presented for future generations.
“The reality is that there are pressures for land in this area and what we want to achieve is a planned and positive approach that protects Culloden and what it represents to so many people.
“We know what getting this wrong means -- we just need to look at Bannockburn to see how a piecemeal approach to planning can harm our important historical sites.
“That’s why we are acting now and seeking the input and expertise from everyone who feels a connection with Culloden and its story.”
The Culloden 300 consultation will run from 4 April 4 till August 31.
There will be an exhibition stationed at Leanach Cottage on the battlefield site for anyone interested in finding out more.
There will also be town-house style events running in June and July. For anyone wishing to submit their comments electronically, a short survey can be filled out here: www.culloden300.org.uk
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