Battle of Prestonpans 1745

The Battle of Prestonpans
1745 Heritage Trust
The Battle of Prestonpans 1745 Heritage Trust was established
in 2006 on the initiative of the Prestoungrange Arts Festival
with the support of Prestonpans Community Council and a
wide range of other interested parties. Quite simply, the aim
of the Trust is to ensure that the famous victory at Prestonpans
on September 21st 1745 is better understood and remembered
in the community and presented much more effectively to the
many visitors to the battle site.
In 1995 the town presented a most significant re-enactment
spectacle which attracted many visitors. And over the past
250 years a number of specific memorials have been created –
there is a Battle Cairn, an obelisk to Colonel Gardiner, a
remembrance marker for the Thorntree under which that same
Colonel was mortally wounded in 1745 and a vantage point
bing at Meadowmill at the top of which interpretation boards
enable visitors to comprehend the battle sequence.
It was the general opinion in the community that these
existing memorials did not do justice to the battle’s role in
Scottish history. As importantly, there had never been an in
depth evaluation either of the battlefield itself or of the Hope
and Ambition that the Victory aroused.
Creating a year round ‘Living History’ presentation
The Trustees undertook further widespread consultation in the
community, explored exemplars across Scotland and
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