Leanach Cottage

 

This is Leanach Cottage, the only original building to remain standing on Culloden Battlefield. The house was built in 1730 and during the Battle of Culloden, it was situated between the Government lines. Its purpose immediately following the battle is up for debate, with some saying it was likely used as a field hospital by the government troops while others tend to believe the account that following the battle 20-30 wounded Jacobite men ensconced themselves in a nearby farmhouse. Further, once they were discovered by the Government Troops, the cottage was locked, with the men still inside, and set on fire, burning them alive.

 The last inhabitant was Belle MacDonald. Belle and her family offered tours of the battlefield to interested visitors. Belle died in 1912.

 In 1944, landowner Duncan Forbes, who had managed some restoration work on the cottage and who is also responsible for building the memorial cairn on the battlefield, donated the land to the National Trust for Scotland. The Trust used the cottage as the visitor centre for the battlefield from 1961.

 The Trust has restored the roof to the original high pitch design. In 2019, the cottage was opened for visitors to see the inside.

 Oh the stories these walls could tell…