Glenfinnan Monument

Glenfinnan Monument

The monument was erected in 1815, by which time the Jacobite cause was no longer deemed a political threat to the Hanoverian monarchy. Alexander Macdonald of Glenaladale, a minor branch of the Clan Donald, built the memorial tower at Glenfinnan to commemorate the raising of the standard by Prince Charles Edward. In 1745, at the beginning of the last attempt to restore the exiled Stuarts to the throne.

The tower was designed by the Scottish architect James Gillespie Graham. The statue of an anonymous highlander, referred to at the point of commission as Charles Edward Stewart, by John Greenshields, was added in 1835. The monument is recognised as a tribute, not just to Bonnie Prince Charlie, but to all those clansmen who fought and died for him.

The monument's location at Glenfinnan was made possible because of a new road between Fort William and Arisaig built by Thomas Telford in 1812, now the A830.

Since 1938, the Glenfinnan Monument has been in the care of the National Trust for Scotland. The Trust constructed a visitor centre, providing tickets, information, exhibitions, a shop, cafe, and toilets. A visit to the visitor centre wouldn’t be complete without taking part in the audio tour, depicting the Prince’s campaign from Glenfinnan to Derby and back to his final defeat at Culloden.

The tower is also a monument to Alexander Macdonald, who dies before its completion. Jacobite enthusiasts gather at the tower each year on 19 August to remember the Rising of '45.

The nearby Glenfinnan Viaduct is also a point of interest in the area, whether you are coming in on it by steam train, viewing it from the road below.