Culloden Battlefield

Welcome to Culloden Battlefield, a stretch of windswept Highland moorland that serves as the final resting place for thousands of men and the graveyard of an entire way of life. I invite you to stand for a moment and listen to…

Before stepping out onto the exposed moorland, our journey begins at the modern Culloden Visitor Centre, an architecturally striking facility managed by the National Trust for Scotland. This building serves as the crucial…

As we exit the visitor centre and approach the battlefield, our attention is immediately drawn to a humble, single story structure known as Leanach Cottage. With its thick stone walls and sweeping thatched roof, it stands as a…

We now stand along the line of red flags, marking the position of the Duke of Cumberland’s Hanoverian government army. As you look down this line, try to visualize six and a half thousand highly trained, battle hardened…

Look now to the line of blue flags, fluttering in the distance across the expanse of the moor. This marks the tragic starting position of the Jacobite army, commanded by Prince Charles Edward Stuart. …

We are now walking through the perilous space between the two lines, the very ground over which the Highlanders made their legendary, terrifying, and ultimately disastrous charge. This is the heart of Drummossie Moor. …

We have reached an area of profound solemnity, known as the Well of the Dead. This small, unassuming spring marks the very apex of the violence at Culloden. …

As we walk away from the site of the clash, we enter a space that demands the utmost respect. We are walking among the long, raised mounds of earth that cover the mass graves of the Jacobite dead. …

Standing as the visual centerpiece of the battlefield is the Memorial Cairn, a massive, twenty foot tall conical tower of rough hewn stone. Like the clan grave markers we just visited, this imposing monument was not built by the…

As our journey across Drummossie Moor comes to an end, we return to where we began, looking out over the expanse of heather, the blue and red flags snapping in the relentless wind. The Battle of Culloden lasted for barely an…