Battlefields

Battles were often iconic events in Scottish history, and battlefields form an important part of our historic environment.

Physical features or memorials associated with battle sites are scheduled or listed when they can be. For example, the battle sites of Glenshiel (1719) where breastworks survive above the valley floor) and Culloden (1746) where various cairns and graves are scheduled) are scheduled as monuments of national importance. Some buildings or memorials associated with battles, such as the clan monument at Sherrifmuir, are listed.

Battlefields can also be protected through the planning process and can be a material consideration in the planning system and formally recognised through appropriate policy in development plans. Responsibility for the protection of battlefields through the planning process lies with local planning authorities.

However, in the majority of cases battlefields cannot be given statutory protection because they do not have any visible physical remains and there is often not enough documentary evidence to allow the site to be delineated accurately on a map. Historic Scotland is working to improve the protection of this aspect of our cultural heritage by establishing a policy for their protection, in our series Scotland’s Historic Environment Policies (SHEPS) - these can be viewed and downloaded from our publications section.

To inform this work we recently commissioned the Battlefield Trust to compile a report on the issues and a gazetteer of key sites We are now developing this work further with a view to creating an Inventory of battlefields.

The draft policy and the proposed Inventory will be available for public consultation in due course.