Group set to recreate night march ahead of Battle of Culloden anniversary in bid to raise awareness of threat to historic landmarks
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MEMBERS of a conservation body will be undertaking a night walking challenge to raise awareness and funds to help protect a major historic site.
As the anniversary of the Battle of Culloden approaches, the team at National Trust for Scotland (NTS) in Culloden will be recreating the Night March done by the Jacobite soldiers the night before the battle took place in 1746.
The march will see volunteers walking from Culloden to Nairn and back – a total of approximately 20 miles – in a bid to raise money for Culloden's Fighting Fund and to raise awareness on the threats that the corridor outwith the Culloden conservation area is facing.
Ellen Fogel Walker, estates manager for NTS at Culloden Battlefield said: "Culloden is quite unique. We have an abundance of historical information that we don't have for other battlefields.
"As NTS, we look after only around one third of the actual battlefield, but we have been looking at better ways to protect the battlefeld in the larger landscape because, whereas for most of the time since 1746 there has not been much development in this area. However, since the 1950s, the east of Inverness has become a desirable area for housing developments. In this area we have seen some inappropriate development taking place, and of course we do not want that to happen.
"This past year, we have been looking not only at the battlefield but also at the night march that took place the night before the battle, which is a really important part of the Culloden story.
"We have followed historic evidence helped by Professor Christopher Duffy – who sadly passed away last November and who had a close relationship with the battlefield.
"He really allowed us to see where this corridor is, and for us, even thought it has been re-done in the past, we are really looking to do this to see how much of that landscape actually still exist. There is more development out that way because they are not protected as part of a conservation area like Culloden is."
The team is looking to see how much of the corridor still exists, she said. To explore the terrain, they have done several practice marches in the past weeks to prepare for the event and to get to know more about the terrain.
She added: "We are raising awareness on how this landscape is under threat.
"It's really important for us and we are really thankful for the donations, which also come from oversea and that shows how much interest there is in the battlefield itself which is great."
NTS have also released a podcast series to share the history of Culloden. The night march is described in the fifth episode:
The march will only be restricted to a small group of volunteers to protect the site, however over the weekend NTS has planned a series of events to commemorate the battle, with in-person and online events as well as the annual service at the memorial cairn.
