Culloden Battlefield

I walked out in tears — great and effective exhibition that captured the sheer waste that war is. It’s a very balanced view with both Hanoverian and Jacobite view points evenly presented. The video at the end did an amazing job at recreating the battle and is a highlight.
I also loved the stories of everyday people and found the video projections to be amusing and sad and very human. The Bonny Prince Charlie memorabilia was also another highlight and the context was very well explained.
Def worth the money and a special mention for the cafeteria which showcases a lot of local produce (loved the map they have on the wall which shows the locations). Also ladies bathroom had a good number of stalls so line moved quickly.

Nearly 250 yrs ago a raging battle at Culloden battlefield killed a lot of Highland clan members, English soldiers and spectators. No one was spared, not even women nor children. The blood shed was overwhelming. It all started with a vision by the «Pretender» to conquer back the Stuart Throne after the «Union» was formed in 1707. In earlier years young exciled Charles was smuggled out of Scotland and brought to France where he grew up with the aspiration to one day return to Scotland and win back his kingdom, his birth right! He gathered his army at Glenfinnan and more and more highland chieftains and their clan members joined the common cause to defeat the English and drive them out of Scotland forever. The English under the Duke of Cumberland were tough and made it through the Scottish territory during a harsh winter. The battle at Culloden was fierce and Scottish hope and dreams shattered.
What we see today is a field with a closeby futuristic looking visitor centre. It’s a very modern build and I’m not so convinced its suitable for the area.
I have been to Culloden a few times before and every time it’s different. This time I arrived at dawn and parked my car at the small car park just before you pass the gates. It was about 7.30pm and I thought the territory might be closed for visitors, but this was not the case. I followed the little path from the car park and walked around the field. There are signs asking you to keep your dogs on the leash and to remember that a lot of people died there. Respect the area!
There are several monuments, large and small, the largest one being erected by the landowner to remember the past and all the soldiers who gave their lives. There are grave stones with clan names on them and blue and red flags indicating the position of the British and Highland armies.
What happened to Bonnie Prince Charlie? He survived and fled the field, was hidden and smuggled off the island by Fiona MacDonald. Sadly he died alone in a country far away many years later, in old age.
The aftermath of the Jacobite rebellion was savage. Scottish prisoners captured after the battle were either executed or deported to the Americas or West Indies. The Jacobites lost, but its better than never have tried at all!
Today, what remains are the memories of a past battle and the opportunity to walk around a field that holds a lot of symbolism! And whilst there definitely check out the visitor centre telling you all about the battle, offers coffee, food and toilets.

The original question was: is this an earlier version of the Vietnam war? In terms of political differences: socialism, colonism, or Victorian-​ism, was it neccessary for two groups of the same people to fight each other to gain land? Although there is quite a list of «-isms», highland rebellion was neccessary to defend the Scots from English rule.
This is why its important for tourists to visit the battlefield, a great teaching resource for the next generation of youth.
Thank you.

The main gate to Culloden closes at 6:30pm, but you can still get into the grounds even after that. It’s windy as all hell on the open field, so when it’s cold, it’s reeeeeeeaaallllly cold! The battlefield is historic and quite significant to Scots, so it’s worth a trip to truly appreciate the culture. I bet a guided tour would be really interesting.

I won’t give an overview of the battle/​history/​stories here. Culloden battlefield is well worth a visit.
On a Sunday, be warned, the 2B doesn’t run, but you can get the 5B or 5C to Balloch and it’s about a twenty minute walk (uphill for the most part).
On the battlefield the front lines of both sides are indicated by a line of flags (red and blue) so you can really get a feel for the amount of space the battle occurred in. Paths are laid out with small benches and information board with a map every so often. It’s about a 30 minute walk around if you read each one and take your time.
There’s small memorial stones for the Clans which fought and a large stone memorial for everyone who fought (on the Jacobite side, I believe). When you’re in this area of the field it’s requested you keep quiet.
After your walk you can warm up with a coffee in the visitors centre.

Ich muss zugeben, dass ich hier eher zufällig hingekommen bin, da mir die schottische Geschichte offensichtlich nicht in dieser Detailtiefe vertraut war. Unerwarteterweise habe ich aber dann den halben Tag vor Ort verbracht, weil die historische Schlacht so eindrucksvoll historisch aufbereitet wurde, dass es lange dauerte, bis Interesse und Wissensdurst gestillt waren. Empfehlenswert!

This site is a true piece of history trying to bring back the events of the battle between the Jacobites and the Government Troops in 1746.
There is a visual display and a visitors centre which are being replaced and due to be finished at the end of this year. The old centre was great it had a great gift shop and café and the museum and audio display were very informative and gave you a real feel for how things were. So the new upgraded visitors should be excellent, I can’t wait.
The battlefield is something else, ok when you drive up your looking over a large marshy area with four flags waving in the wind at each corner and you’re thinking is this it.
But after walking through the museum and watching the displays the moment you set foot on that ground something happens. The place has a real feeling of intensity about it, the grave stones where hundreds of soldiers fell from both sides are scattered around the designated pathway, information boards also show the area’s in which soldiers from both sides stood preparing for battle. There’s a large memorial and a small well named ‘The Well of the Dead’.
This site has a defining place in Scottish history and I for one am glad that they are trying to improve the experience for all tourists and Scots folk alike
Well Done

Fantastic historical site. The main building has been newly refurbished and now holds a guest café, shop, toilets and a very impressive museum full of artifacts, documents and art from the period. The inside tour is self guided and very informative. Once done inside, you can tour the grounds on your own with a recorded guide or join one of the frequent tours. Very educational and touching monument to history.

An eerie feeling in the air when you visit the Battlefied, named stones. Film can be viewed of the last battle fought. Small shop & café.

Die Schlacht von Culloden zwischen englischen Regierungstruppen und aufständischen Jakobiten fand auf dem Culloden Moor nahe der gleichnamigen Ortschaft östlich von Inverness in Schottland statt und endete mit einem Sieg der englischen Regierungstruppen.
Vor einigen Jahren wurde hier ein Visitor center, eine Art Museum eröffnet.
Man bekommt dadurch nähere Hintergrundinformationen und der anschließende Gang über das Schlachtfeld lässt das alles sacken. Bedrückende Stimmung auf Grund der Gedenksteine, die hier und da auf dem Feld verteilt sind.
Einzigartige Landschaft und absoult Sehenswert!

Sehr beeindruckend, da es aber nur eine große Wiese ist, ist es ein «schön Wetter» Ausflug.

A very good display and film, with cheapish goods in the shop and a good café. There are names of donors on the roof of the café.
Culloden was the last battle to be fought on British soil.

The new visitor centre at Culloden is an absolute triumph. This is the site of the battle between the Jacobites and Hanovarians in 1746, and the windy, tranquil moorland creates a sobering counterpart to the story of the battle housed in the visitor centre.
The visitor centre itself walks you through the political and social context of the battle. There is a theatre for a short film (played on screens all around you) depicting the battle, plus actors in silhouette describing their views and their role in the conflict. There is so much information that some very simple parts of the exhibition are particularly powerful, such as the passageway where you can hear the heavy rainfall on the night before the battle.
The visitor centre has a nice airy café serving locally produced food. There is also a large giftshop with pottery, sweets, books and the like.
It is also good to note that if you join the National Trust for Scotland here, as we did, it also gives you access to National Trust properties in England. The joining fee for the National Trust for Scotland is also cheaper than its English cousin.

The new visitor centre was opened in April 2008 and certainly makes the whole experience so much more. There is a host of visual and audio aids that tell the story of the 17? Jacobite rebellion. It takes quite some time to go through the centre but it is well worth it as it gives you a host of information but in such a fun way. The battlefield itself seems quite a bleak place and in some ways I feel that it should given the history. There are a number of information points as you walk round but I would recommend that you take the guided tour as the guides provides the information in a great and interesting way. Point to note is that both the visitor centre and the battlefield has been adapted for wheelchair and buggy access. Well worth a visit.

The battlefield itself is a bit bleak and featureless so you wouldn’t get much out of it without a guide to explain things unless you’re already a Scottish history expert — this is why it’s well worth paying to look at the exhibition which puts it all in context and explains the importance of the site. Suddenly it’s all fascinating!
If you’re really too tight to fork out go on St Andrews day when you can not only get free entry but also be fed haggis and neaps and tatties and shortbread and tea and coffee. And listen to bagpipes :)

I went here for a 2 hour visit with my 6 year old daughter. I have other children but thought that they would be too young for it and it would be a waste of admission price and I was right. The new visitor centre is lovely and modern inside, their is a gift shop and tea room, which was actually ok priced and had homemade baking etc. Within the visitors centre, it is quite interactive and you can hear actors voices explaning the situation they are in, which make it more realistic than reading it off a board. Even in late Sunday afternoon it was still busy. You can go out to the battlefield if you want and they give you a set of headphones with sat-​nav type equipment, you walk out to the different numbers and stop and listen to the commentary, then move on. It is deadly silent on the battlefield and it just makes you think about the number of people who lost their lives in this battle. Although the weather was good that day, it was windy and chilly on the moor, so we didnt spend a lot of time on it. If its not a good day wrap up as you will feel the elements. When I returned to the visitors centre i noticed that although we were getting picked up, that there was a car parking charge notice in the car park, which I thought was a bit greedy if you were visiting the visitors centre as well. it is not cheap to get in but this is probably reflected in that it is a newly launched visitors centre.

An excellent place to go for walks and see some history of the Battle of Culloden. You can walk the Battlefield for free or go into the museum for a small fee. It has a restaurant where the food is very good and homemade. I would recommend it for a short visit but not for a day out.

A 5 star place to go for a day out to find out more about the history of Inverness and is good if you are interested in the Jacobites and the battle with the Government. The Centre has recently been rebuilt and is a great place to go for a visit. There is the video presentation which is good and there are sometimes enactments or tours of the battlefield which can be very informative.

I;ve been here a few times now and evertime I vivit it has the same effect on me.
Theres an eerie stillness at culloden and without getting all poetic, you really can almost hear the voices of the fallen.
Theres surprisingly a fair bit to see on the battlefield itself, and the visitors centre is pretty good too, with very good facilities all round.

The NEW Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre is fantastic.
The Battlefield remains the same spooky moor and has been preserved to remain in keeping with the time of the battle.
The new visitor centre is a fantastic eco friendly, award winning building with plenty of exhibits to inform you of reasons for the battle and the exact events on the day.
Suitable for kids and adults (my toddler happily wandered about) with plenty of space inside and great access for disabled people. The film is excellent but a little scary for little kids or those of a sensitive nature.
The café is fantastic — good food at a reasonable price.
Look out for offers on the admission price since it is a bit steep (especially for families).
The staff are informative and friendly and even have brollies spare if you forget yours!

A fifteen-​minute drive along the B9006 east of Inverness takes you into tranquil moorland, and onto the site of the last major battle fought on British soil. On these rolling grasslands in April 1746, several thousand men fought a pitched battle to decide which Royal dynasty would prevail over Britain, the Catholic Stuarts, or Protestant Hanoverians. The Highland chieftains at the time were mostly behind the Stuart cause, although there were many exceptions, most notably the Campbells. The Scottish Lowlanders were overwhelmingly behind the Hanoverian claim to the throne, and had long viewed their northern Gaelic-​speaking neighbours with fear and suspicion.
The visitor centre is an excellent place to drop in and get to know something of the background to the battle before embarking on a walking tour. There are full-​sized dummies of the Hanoverian commander-​in-​chief, the Duke of Cumberland (who gained the epithet ‘Butcher Cumberland’ for his brutal treatment of the defeated Jacobite army), as well as ordinary Hanoverian soldiers (or British redcoats) and fiercesome Highlanders.
Entering the centre you are directed to a small but comfortable theatre where there is a short film about the battle, and the Stuart/​Jacobite rebellion that commenced in 1745.
The moors themselves have flags to show the original line-​up of the rival armies. There are also memorials marking the spot where so many Scotsmen (and Irish and French mercenaries) fell on the Jacobite positions, victims of the far superior firepower of the Hanoverian troops. Aside from tweating skylarks, the setting is eerily peaceful, making an unnerving experience as you imagine the screams that brutal afternoon 250 years ago.
The centre’s souvenir shops are brimming with books and other momentos, and a much larger centre is currently being constructed. A small cottage used as a field hospital by the Hanoverians has been faithfully restored, so you can stoop inside and imagine the scenes in less peaceful times!

This place is amazing, the site of the last battle ever fought in Britain and the experience is not to be missed.
This site is a true piece of history trying to bring back the events of the battle between the Jacobites and the Government Troops in 1746.
There is a visual display and a visitors centre which are being replaced and due to be finished at the end of this year. The old centre was great it had a great gift shop and café and the museum and audio display were very informative and gave you a real feel for how things were. So the new upgraded visitors should be excellent, I can’t wait.
The battlefield is something else, ok when you drive up your looking over a large marshy area with four flags waving in the wind at each corner and you’re thinking is this it.
But after walking through the museum and watching the displays the moment you set foot on that ground something happens. The place has a real feeling of intensity about it, the grave stones where hundreds of soldiers fell from both sides are scattered around the designated pathway, information boards also show the area’s in which soldiers from both sides stood preparing for battle. There’s a large memorial and a small well named ‘The Well of the Dead’.
This site has a defining place in Scottish history and I for one am glad that they are trying to improve the experience for all tourists and Scots folk alike
Well Done