Culloden Battlefield

[seanachie]

I am heading to Northumberland in January and hoping to make it to Inverness for a couple of days (direct train service between Newcastle and Inverness and then heading home direct service from Inverness to Euston). The Visitors Center is closed for almost the whole month of January (an absolute crying shame, why??) and I sent off email to the National Trust people there and they said that there were not probs visiting the battlefield itself and it was open daily. My question is, not having been there before, will there be much of anything to see with the Center closed. I will have to find bus service out and back from town and wanted to make sure it was worth the journey.

Thanks

[DougC]

Not much to see--there is a house and the Clan Monument and a pathway around the battle field. I think having a guide would make it more interesting. But...if you are there and never been (and you dress warmly), you should go.

[Jock Scot]

If there is snow and there could well be, then there will be little to see. I am not sure if there are buses to the battlefield,but failing that, there are plenty of taxis and the trip is only about 4 miles from Inverness city centre.

[The Thing]

Inverness is a nice little city, there's enough to keep a man or woman entertained for a few days. Hope you have a good time, I spent alot of time up that way and should have gone to Culloden. It's always the way.

[kennethrmc]

Whether there is "much to see" w/out the visitors' center is a hard one to answer.

On the one hand, the center has much, much more to examine/learn/read/watch. It has state of the art displays and is chock-full of both media and artifacts. By comparison, the battlefield is barren.

However, that being said...the center impacted me no more nor less than most museums. But when I stood on the battlefield and saw the marker for my clansmen's graves, I actually cried. The place itself impacted me emotionally, much more than the center.

So...not much to "see" but the actual site can be very valuable--if you understand the significance and still feel that connection to the past.

[Taygrd]

Might check and see when the visitors center is open, I seem to remember it is not year round.

[Urchurdan]

I am there at least once a year, and only ever went to the visitor centre once, anyone with Scottish blood in their veins has to go there, you will know why once you are there, as one of the other posters said, there is a haunting 'feeling' on the field that can't be explained to the casual visitor, many of us go there and simply cry, last year I was fine, then a total stranger came up to me and asked me who I was (Clan wise) I answered, and then the two of us just stood looking at each other crying openly.
Without another word, we shook hands and went our seperate ways - thats the magic of Drumossie Moor to the Scottish psyche....Trust me, you will never regret going, visitors centre or not...

[ThistleDown]

I have been a volunteer at Culloden for long years. If you have an opportunity to visit the centre (yes, it is closed for part of January) then you must. It is superb, although I do have some concerns about the historical accuracy of some of the commentary.

The field itself, however, is not enclosed and is available to you anytime. It is always bleak and bitterly cold in January and, as Jock said, there may well be snow. If there is you may want to put off your visit until another time.

Pay particular attention during your walk-about to the newly rebuilt bit of drystane diking that marks the site of the original enclosure torn down by the Argyll Militia to allow the dragoons access to the right flank of the Jacobite army. Worthy of a few moments of contemplation is the stone marking the place where Macgillivray of Dunmaglas died. Look at it in relationship to the line of Government troops.

The far left of the Jacobite line is beyond the modern road, but the sad angle can be seen by standing near that road and looking across the moor to the Government line.

Then there are the massed graves noted earlier. In earlier years a road was build right over these and the large cairn was right beside it. You will see the longest grave, that of the Mackintosh/Clan Chattan contingent, is interrupted by a wide grassy strip. That was the old road and, in fact, there are many bodies beneath it.

There is bus service from Inverness to Croy. Culloden is a brisk walk from there and in January you will definitely feel the need to move quickly!

Rex

[bdkilted]

I wish I could give you some information, but when we were there last year, the Queen was doing the grand opening of the visitor's center... of course visitors weren't allowed in. ( She was also at Holyroyd house when we were in Edinburgh so we could go in there either).

[seanachie]

I appreciate the replies, I was told but don't have a timetable in hand, that I can take a bus from the city centre. Perhaps it would be a long wait for a bus back at this time of the year. As several people mentioned, there might well be snow. I am hoping not too bad, as my dates coincide with rail service being disrupted last winter. If it is too bitterly cold it might be a day for the tall stool. However, I was heartened to hear that a gentleman who does walking tours of Inverness runs the tours year round so I was pleased at that.