Page 31 - NTS Culloden 300 Report

Conclusion: bringing threads together
It is the intersection between the story of the site, the landscape itself and how this is tied up with issues of cultural identity that give the site its sense of place. Whilst these things are intangible, the feelings that they engender are legitimate and valid. The sense of place that is created by these elements working in harmony
is difficult to measure, but unless carefully managed it can easily be lost. Fowler refers to spaces like Culloden as a ‘landscape of ideas’ , where even though tangible evidence of human activity on the landscape is not obvious, the cultural impact of the events that took place in the space is significant. For Culloden it is the actions that took place on the battlefield and the impact of these actions over time that give the place its cultural significance. It is reasonable to say that those actions affected not only the local populations but resonated throughout Scottish and UK culture, and ultimately resonated around the world in the aftermath of the battle. The landscape, cultural memory, and, to some,
spiritual significance of the events on the field contribute to a powerful sense of place that stretches beyond the boundaries of the National Trust for Scotland’s property.
Inverness is a community under pressure – by 2021 the population of the Inverness area is estimated at 83,302, and there are strategic infrastructure improvements planned in the Culloden/Smithton area as well as land allocated to over 4,000 homes in the Inverness East
area. Currently the Highland Council is undergoing a
call for sites as part of a review and update of the Inner Moray Firth Local Development Plan . It is vital that issues surrounding development in the cultural landscape associated with Culloden are reflected in any regional planning.
The significance of the sense of place has been recognised by Highland Council (through the Culloden conservation area) and Historic Environment Scotland
A report on the Culloden 300 project . 31