The battlefield: Tour and activities

For each stopping off point, we have indicated additional supplementary material which may enhance this stage of the tour – for example, maps of the battle, eyewitness accounts which can be read aloud to pupils, photographs of the battle re-enactment. These materials can be downloaded here or can be located in the 'Resource Bank' section of the website. These can be printed off and laminated to take with you.

A tour of the battlefield

• Visitor Centre rooftop
• At close range: the Government front line
• The clan grave markers
• The Memorial cairn
• The Jacobite front line
• The first shots
• Ambush in the field: the Culwhiniac enclosure
• Leanach cottage

Before your start your tour, ask a pupil to make a note of the time the tour starts. It is likely that your tour will take around the same time as the battle itself – between 45 minutes to an hour.

Suggestions for wet weather
It is very likely that the weather will be poor on the day of your visit – the site is exposed, bleak and often windy and wet – a useful lesson in historical empathy! Please urge your pupils at least to dress warmly and ideally to wear waterproofs and trainers.

However, if it is exceptionally wild, wet or cold then you may wish to curtail your site visit. A suggested shorter route might be as follows:

• Visitor Centre rooftop: Point1
• Hand to hand fighting: Point2
• Clan graves: Point3
• Memorial cairn: Point4

This does not take pupils out as far as the Jacobite line but covers the main features of the site.
The site can also be sunny and there are few opportunities for shade on such days. Please make sure that your pupils have adequate protection against the sun and are carrying water.