HERITAGE campaigners have warned that a decision to plan commercial forest the battlefield at Sheriffmuir will permanent damage the site for future generations.

Forestry Commission Scotland has permitted landowners to plant 62 hectares of woodland on the historic site near Dunblane.

The 1745 Association have voiced their opposition to the plans by Kippendavie Estate, saying that it would prevent the area from being studied by archaeologists in the future.

A statement released by the Association said: "We believe that the loss of large swathes of the wider battlefield site would prevent appreciation of the context and environment upon which the battle was fought and consequently inflict permanent damage to the detriment of future generations.

"As the battle was fought over several acres of ground, the archaeology, potentially including human remains, will be scattered across several locations and any commercial planting operations would undoubtedly disturb and damage remaining deposits on the site.

"Furthermore, we appreciate that many people consider the battlefield a war grave site and therefore should remain undisturbed."

Around 600 men are thought to have died in the battle, an inconclusive, chaotic encounter that brought the 1715 rising to an end.

Many are thought to remain buried at the site, which some campaigners say should be considered a war grave.

The statement added: "While we acknowledge the considerations and conditions placed on the Kippendavie proposals by the Forestry Commission, we do not accept that developments predicated primarily on commercial concerns should take precedence over key considerations of disturbing archaeology and impacting on culture and heritage."

A Spokesman for Forestry Commission Scotland said: “The issues relating to the woodland creation scheme at Sheriffmuir have been carefully considered with key stakeholders over the last four years.

“Our decision letter and statement of reasons has fully assessed all the issues identified by stakeholders and applied a wide range of conditions to the proposal to mitigate any potential impacts of the woodland creation and enhance visitor access and interpretation.

“Conditions have been applied to cover issues such as archaeological survey, the discovery of any human remains and the development of new or improved paths to provide better access to the battlefield together with new and enhanced interpretation for visitors.

"We would be happy to explain our decision to the 1745 Association.”