Green light for trees on battle site sparks outcry
Forestry Commission approval for 62 hectares of planting
Thousands of trees are to be planted at a Stirling area battlefield site – despite calls for it to be preserved as a national war grave.
Opponents of the plan say the trees will change the historic landscape of Sheriffmuir, near Dunblane, where the Jacobite Rising of 1715 was halted after a bloody battle with government troops.
Forestry Commission Scotland has approved planting 62 hectares of woodland on the moorland, where it is believed hundreds of men remain buried more than 300 years on.
Objectors, including the Scottish Battlefield Trust, will contact the Scottish Government as a matter of urgency to try to halt the planting, which is due to begin later this summer.
Arran Johnston, director of the trust, said: “What is proposed will fundamentally and perhaps irreparably change the historic landscape of Sheriffmuir, and that is very disappointing.
“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 are still failing to see our battlefields as key assets.
“We are very worried about this proposal and will be submitting our renewed objection to the Scottish Government.”
Historians across the world, including France, America and Russia, were among objectors who have described tree planting on the iconic site as a “desecration”.
Campaigner Virginia Wills, an expert on the battle who lives close to the site, said the proposal was akin to planting trees on The Somme.
She added: “It is hugely disappointing that Sheriffmuir has not been afforded greater protection. It is a fabulously beautiful landscape on which 800 Scots men are buried. The desecration will be unimaginable.”
Forestry Commission Scotland said an original proposal for 78 hectares of woodland had been “extensively amended” after feedback gathered over four years.
Cameron Maxwell, Forestry Commission Scotland’s conservator for the area, said: “We have listened to all the concerns raised by members of the public and stakeholders and worked hard to reach an acceptable proposal that does not have a significant effect on the environment.
“The revised scheme will both protect the key landscape characteristics of the battlefield and help to enhance and augment the site for visitors, with improved interpretation and access.
“As the project develops, detailed archaeological survey work and reporting will be a good opportunity to increase public engagement with the site and hopefully will improve knowledge about the battle.”
The Battle of Sheriffmuir, fought in November 1715 in the hills above Dunblane, was a turning point in Scottish history.
The Duke of Argyll’s government forces and a Jacobite army under John Erskine, the sixth Earl of Mar, faced each other at a pistol shot’s range - around 60 yards apart.
Despite superior numbers, the Jacobites could not inflict a decisive victory.
The Jacobite Rising was brought to an end and the “Old Pretender” James Stewart was unable to pursue his claim to the throne, eventually returning to France.
The bodies of many of the fallen still lie where they died. Musket balls, horseshoes, buttons, coins and other artefacts have been found in recent years.