Monument record MHG14275 - The Graves of the Clans - Culloden Battlefield

SMC given for GPR survey 19 June 2000

John Wood
-----
(Area NH 74254499) Grave (TI)- (Site not clear)
Grave (TI) - (N of Commemorative cairn)
Graves (TI) a) Grave of the Mackintoshes (thress)
b) Grave of the MacGillivrays, Macleans, Maclachlans and Atholl Highlanders (one)
c) Grave of the Stewarts of Appin (one)
d) Grave of the Camerons (one)
e) Grave fo the Mackintoshes (one)
f) g) Graves of Mixed Clans (one)
h) Grave of the Frasers (one)
Grave (TI) (Immediately n of graves of the Campbells)
graves of the Campbells (TI) - (Two)
Grave (TI) (60ms SW of Graves of the Campbells).

OS 6" 1906

The principal graves are on an elevated piece of ground and consist of two or three grass covered mounds rising slightly above the adjoining heath.
ONB 1871 No 20

The principal graves are as described by Authy. 2. Some are marked by an inscribed stone only, others (Campbells) have neither stone nor mounds. The four graves shown on OS 25" at NH7416 4485, NH 7417 4484, NH 7412 4479 and NH7409 4474 respectively are all graves of the Campbells. There is also a stone inscribed to the Campbells at NH 7414 4493. A stone close to the Well of the Dead is inscribed to the Chief of the MacGillivrays. The grave shown on OS 25" at NH7405 4515 is believed to be of the macDOnalds. The grave shown on OS 25" at NH 7397 4508 which is marked be a stone known as the Keppoch Stone is believed to mark the spot where Alexander MacDonald chief of the Keppoch MacDonalds fell.
Neil MacDonald, warden NT for Scotland Culloden.
Visited by OS (WDJ) 24 April 1962

In June 2000 and September 2001 a programme of fieldwork was carried out on the battlefield site by GUARD. The fieldwork included ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey of the clan graves and the 'Field of the English' (where Government troops are presumed to have been buried). The GPR survey revealed the presence of grave pits beneath the mounds in the clan cemetery. The area of the clan graves was also included in a topographic survey of the battlefield site. Results of the project were broadcast on BBC2 in early 2002 in the series 'Two Men in a Trench'. Reports on this work have appeared in the book which accompanies the TV series and a full academic report, probably to appear in monograph form with the other five British battlefields investigated as part of the project, will also be forthcoming. <1>

In April 2006, a programme of ground-penetrating radar survey was carried out by GUARD over the Jacobite Graves in the Clan cemetery. As suggested by earlier work, this indicated pits beneath each of the mounds. <2>

Previous work in the battlefield area had shown that the paths representing the opposing Government and Jacobite battle lines were incorrectly positioned, and new paths were laid out along more accurate alignments. Fieldwork was monitored by GUARD in 2008. The footpaths in the core area of the battlefield, known as the Clan Cemetery and designated a SAM, were also realigned and brought back to run along the old course of the B9006 road which ran through the cemetery area until the 1970s. The footpath monitoring results were also negligible, with no structural discoveries and only a handful of minor artefacts. One battle-related question which was partially resolved was the discovery of a much older (albeit undated) trackway sequence under the former B9006 road into the battlefield from the west. This is in keeping with contemporary maps which show a track through the battlefield to Leanach cottage, and this may have influenced how the conflict progressed. <3> (Awaiting full report)