Historic battle site on market
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The site in Sutherland where one of Scotland’s finest ever military commanders was finally defeated and captured is up for sale.
Presented to the market by Bell Ingram at offers over £70,000, Carbisdale Battlefield near Bonar Bridge comprises 53-acres of heather moor, pine woodland and open burns.
Carbisdale is significant as the last battle of James Graham, the 1st Marquis of Montrose, in support of the Royalist cause. His spectacular victories, which took his opponents by surprise, are remembered in military history for their tactical brilliance.
However, following his defeat at Philiphaugh in 1645, Montrose fled abroad only to be reappointed Lord-Lieutenant of Scotland by Charles II and return to Scotland in 1650. In March 1650 he landed in Orkney, then moved south to try to raise an army of Highlanders.
However, he failed, and on April 27, 1650, his small force was defeated at the Battle of Carbisdale.
The battle was a decisive victory for the Covenanter forces arrayed against Montrose, with his forces routed almost without firing a shot. Montrose himself escaped the field but he was handed over to the Covenanters a few days later and taken to Edinburgh to hear his sentence, then hung, drawn and quartered on May 21, 1650.
Carbisdale also marks the end of the internal struggles within Scotland as part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Their subsequent agreement with Charles II meant the Covenanters came into open conflict with Oliver Cromwell and the Protectorate instead, rather than Royalist supporters in their own lands.
Joanne Stennett, from Bell Ingram, says: “This is a unique opportunity to own a piece of Scottish history in the form of Carbisdale Battlefield.
"No application has yet been made for a dwelling house, but a site could be found, subject to necessary planning consents, for the sensitive development of a family house in keeping with the beautiful surroundings.”
The land sits in an elevated position with views to the Kyle of Sutherland and with Carbisdale wood to the rear of the site.
