Culloden and Cairns

Culloden near Inverness is one of the most famous battlefields in all of the United Kingdom. In 1746 the Jacobite rebellion against the English crown finally petered out as the Stuart forces of Bonnie Prince Charlie were routed by the Hanoverian forces (the House of Hannover held the British throne through George I) lead by the Duke of Cumberland.

At the modern Visitors centre we followed the story of the uprising through to the brutal battle and it's aftermath through an impressive audio, video and still display. We also got to view a range of artefacts left over from the battle - at least what was turned up on the battlefield and in the years after (the victorious forces apparently did a good job looting the dead).

After Culloden a very short drive brought us to a group of ancient burial mounds. Known as the Clava Cairns, these Bronze age mounds are around 4000 years old. We had a quick wander looking at the various stone tombs. It's surprising so much remains given the propensity for stone to be "repurposed" over the years as new civilisations rise and old ones fall.

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EE & S Adventures

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