Ultimately, it brought an end to the sporadic civil uprisings between the highland clans and the English government and its Scottish supporters. It was a bloody affair that took less than 1 hour to reach a conclusion, to all intents and purposes, a massacre. The site of the battle has been preserved and now supports a nice visitor centre that attempts to give an impression of what Jacobite life was like at the time. This includes a recreated stone cottage to the rear and various artifacts inside. Its about £3 to get inside, but you can view the battlefield for nothing.

In all honesty, there's not much to see, but the attraction is to be able to identify with the conditions, terrain, and undeniable atmosphere under which several thousand men attempted to knock seven bells out of each other and to experience the site on which many men died in a very short space of time. See it at its best, when the weather is not that good, to experience the eeriness of the site.

The parking isn't free unless you're quick like I was. Don't wear your best shoes if you want to walk around the battlefield.

The site of the battle, Drumossie Moor, now known as Culloden, is approximately 10 miles from Inverness, on the B9006. It is a wild and desolate-looking place - a deliberate effort by the National Trust for Scotland, who own the site and are attempting to restore it to something approaching the conditions prevailing in 1746. There is an excellent heritage centre, with a display of Jacobite artefacts and a film which enables the visitor to learn about the background to the Jacobite Rising and the battle which ended their cause.

The suggested route around the battlefield takes you past the positions of the various regiments on the day of the battle, but if you get the opportunity, join a guided tour, which lasts for about an hour and costs about £4.00, on top of your entry fee. It is money well spent. Our tour was led by a Highland gentleman, resplendent in plaid, who was able to demonstrate the causes of disaster and brought the events of the day to life in a way that walking around holding a guidebook just cannot.

There are memorials dotted around the site to all the clans who lost men - the bodies are buried in trenches, whose headstones bear the names of the clans. Local tradition has it that heather, which otherwise predominates, will not grow over the graves.

An evocative and desolate place, but if you are interested in history it is an absolute must-see on your travel itinerary. It is impossible not to be affected by it.

More information may be found at this website.