Sunday, September 30, 2018

Now Culloden Battlefield is under threat from development

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I don't know if its just a coincidence or a sign of the pressure for development across the country, but Bosworth is not the only historic British battlefield being encroached upon.

Today's Observer reports on what is happening at Culloden:
A development of 16 luxury houses by Kirkwood Homes has been approved despite pleas to the Scottish government by conservation groups to have the plans called in for further scrutiny. Several other planning applications are in varying degrees of progress. 
The developers maintain that the new buildings will be on the periphery of the ancient battlefield, and that the site itself will not be disturbed. Opponents, though, are aghast at the prospect of the hallowed site being eventually hemmed in by an extensive multi-use development that, they say, will alter drastically the fundamental character of the place. 
Less than the length of a field away from the scene of battle a digger can be glimpsed amid mounds of earth as a building site begins to take shape.
The Observer goes on to say that a demonstration against the development will be be held on the battlefield on 13 October.

And a petition against development garnered almost 100,000 signatures.

2 comments:

nigel hunter said...

What with Bosworth and now this the floodgates could open and our history to be taken over by property developers. Organisations should get together NOW to form a united opposition to all threats . We must not sell our past to the highest bidder

Phil Beesley said...

When did people first make accurate records of the locations of historic events? Is there any archaeology to be revealed on an ancient battlefield site?

There's an "Oh, people died in warfare here" factor at the Bosworth and Culloden sites. Almost every town in Britain is built on or around a historic event. Put a pin in the map at random and something happened close by.