New war over a key battlefield

THOUSANDS of trees are to be planted on one of Scotland’s key battlefields despite calls for it to be kept as a national war grave.

Opponents say the trees will change the historic landscape of Sheriffmuir, near Dunblane, Perthshire, where the Jacobite Rising of 1715 was halted after a battle with Government troops.

Forestry Commission Scotland has approved planting 62 hectares of woodland on the moorland, where it is thought the remains of hundreds of men remain buried.

Objectors, including the Scottish Battlefield Trust, say they will contact the Scottish Government to try to halt the planting, which is due to begin later this summer.

Trust director Arran Johnston said: ‘What is proposed will perhaps irreparably change the historic landscape of Sheriffmuir.

‘Our battlefields are under attack. In the last four or five years we have seen similar problems at Culloden and Prestonpans.

‘Scotland is renowned for its history and heritage and its economy relies upon it, so it is extraordinary that we still fail to see our battlefields as key assets.’

Historians around the world, including experts in France, America and Russia, were among objectors who described the tree planting plan as a ‘desecration’.

Forestry Commission Scotland said an original proposal for 78 hectares had been ‘amended’ following feedback.

Spokesman Cameron Maxwell said: ‘The revised scheme will protect the key landscape characteristics of the battlefield and enhance the site for visitors, with improved access.’