Why the A9 should not be dualled over a 335-year-old Jacobite battlefield

While almost all Highlanders want to see the A9 dualled, there are calls for an alternative plan at the site of an important Jacobite battlefield

Killiecrankie is home to one of the oldest Jacobite battlefields in Scotland.

Against the odds, Bonnie Dundee led his men to victory in support of the exiled King James VII at the Battle of Killiecrankie in 1689.

Despite being outnumbered by more than 1,000 men, this is one of the few battles the Jacobites won - and one of the area’s most iconic landmarks, Soldier’s Leap, took its name from one of the fleeing redcoats Donald McBane.

Killiecrankie, Fincastle and Tummel Community Council

However, there is a modern-day row brewing over the site of the battlefield - the A9 dualling project.

The Killiecrankie to Glen Garry section of the mammoth infrastructure programme will see the road expanded over the site of this historic battlefield, something locals have spent the past few years campaigning against.

“No-one objects to the construction of a dual carriageway,” said Loretta McLaughlan, from Killiecrankie, Fincastle and Tummel Community Council. “The concern is that the existing road cuts through the site of an important battlefield.

“Transport Scotland’s plan is to expand the existing road on the northbound carriageway where historians claim that the fighting and slaughter was concentrated. They and the design engineers paid scant attention to this aspect, and maintain that the core of the battlefield is of no specific importance.”

The Scotsman's exclusive series on the A9 continues | NationalWorld

Since 2017, there have been 183 objections to the proposals, coming in from all over the world.

The campaign has been brought up in both Westminster and Holyrood. Locals have taken the fight directly to First Minister John Swinney, who is the constituency MSP for Killiecrankie.

However, Ms McLaughlan said Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government “have no reverse gear” when it comes to the plans to dual the A9 between Killecrankie and Glen Garry.

She said: “When Transport Scotland warned that any modification to the plan would risk frustration not only on the Killiecrankie to Glen Garry section, which includes the battlefield, but could threaten the entire A9 dualling programme, objectors knew the game was up.

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“Ministers accepted Transport Scotland’s entire scheme even though reports had been recommended that should ministers wish to reduce the footprint of the scheme within the battlefield, they could reconsider the question of including lay-bys there.”

Procurement for this section is due to begin in winter 2028/29, with a contract being awarded in autumn 2030. It is one of the last sections due to be finished, meaning the dualled road will not be operational until 2035.

The beautiful Pass of Killiecrankie, just outside Pitlochry, was the scene of one of the bloodiest Scottish battles of all time in 1689. The Battle of Killiecrankie was the first of the Jacobite Rising, fought between the Jacobites and the Williamite government, and resulted in up to 3,000 deaths. It was won by the Jacobites but they paid a heavy price in casualties, including their commander Viscount Dundee. Today you can visit the Pass, which has a small visitor's centre, and see Soldier's Leap, where an English soldier allegedly jumped 18 feet across the River Garry to escape the Scots.

Ms McLaughlan said many in the area did not believe the project would be completed by this new target date.

She said: “We’ve calculated that in 2031, there could be 25.8 miles of the repackaged north section under construction, as well as 26.2 miles of the central section. That would mean 52 miles under simultaneous construction.

“Given the level of disruption and driver frustration that occurred during the construction of less than six miles from Luncarty to Pass of Birnam, it is difficult to imagine how this could be managed.

“Transport Scotland says that sequencing of procurement and continuous traffic management during construction will help, but locals remain sceptical.

“Perhaps what’s left of the battlefield may survive after all.”