Understanding the site: some classroom activities
1. Understanding the battlefield
Though the National Trust for Scotland owns only a small part of it, the
battlefield is a large area and it can be hard to orientate yourself on
site in a short time. To help prepare pupils for this, project one of
the modern day maps of the battlefield in this pack on to a wall in your
classroom or help pupils locate Culloden using a common web-based map
feature such as www.streetmap.co.uk. This can be traced over on to paper
so that you have a large-scale map as a teaching aid. As you investigate
the events of the battle, different elements can be added to or removed
from the map.
If you take any photographs when you visit the site, these can be added
to the appropriate part of the battlefield map afterwards.
2. Looking at the evidence
Pupils can compare different contemporary maps of the battle – which
vary considerably (e.g. compare The
Finlayson Map and Yorke’s sketch
map). This again is a useful lesson in the reliability or unreliability
of evidence. What features do they all mark? What features are only indicated
on some of the maps? Why might this be?
You can also look at the route taken by the Jacobites on their failed
night march to Nairn the night before the battle (see The Finlayson Map
in the Resource Bank) and also look at the route taken by the Government
army on their way to Culloden on the day of the battle. Trace the route
on a modem day map if possible. Plot the terrain that both armies would
have gone through. Help them think about how these journeys had an impact
on the battle. If you can get hold of a DVD of the BBC series: Battlefield
Britain - The Battle Of Culloden 1746 by Peter Snow and his son Dan Snow,
this is particularly interesting in setting the ‘night before’
scene.
3. Evidence from the site
Discuss with pupils what further evidence the battlefield itself can provide.
When on site pupils can draw conclusions about the impact of the terrain
on the outcome of the battle – how the heather and boggy ground
affected the highland charge. Most important in recent years perhaps has
been the role of archaeology in changing our view of the battle. Show
pupils the plan from the Resource Bank called Map
of Object Finds. This shows where all the archaeological material
recovered from the moor was found and is quite revealing. The density
of personal objects found close to the government lines indicates desperate
hand to hand fighting, the surprising gap in this area possibly where
bodies were piling up, and the concentration of pistol shot close to Culwhiniac
a sign of the ambush by the Argyleshire men.
