Proposed AI Data Centre Threatens Historic Battlefield Landscape at Dunbar
The fields around Dunbar were the setting for two major battles that were significant in Scotland’s history. The battle in 1296 was the first battle of the First Scottish War of Independence between the forces of Edward I of England and John Balliol. The second, in 1650, was between Cromwell’s New Model Army and a Scottish Army commanded by David Leslie. It was one of the largest engagements in Scottish history and the most important battle in Scotland during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
Today there is another kind of “battle” linked to this historic landscape. The developer Thistle Sands Data Ltd have submitted plans for a hyperscale data centre covering 60.2 hectares of agricultural land. The proposed data centre would sit between the two battlefields, close to the boundaries of both designated sites.
Both battlefields are listed in the Historic Environment Scotland Inventory of Historic Battlefields, recognizing their national and cultural significance.
What would be lost if the proposal is approved?
Key topographic features that played important roles in the battles can still be identified, meaning that today we can look out on the fields from the same places as the people who were there at the time. We can picture how the armies moved across the landscape and consider how the land helped or hindered the fighting.
From an archaeological perspective, the two battlefields survive in different ways. Parts of the 1650 battlefield have been affected by later development and some archaeological evidence associated with the battle may already have been damaged or lost. However, key topographic features remain, allowing the landscape to be understood and interpreted in a meaningful way.
The 1296 battlefield is less likely to retain substantial archaeological remains because evidence from battles of this period often does not survive well in the ground. The significance of both sites therefore extends beyond what may remain beneath the surface. Their importance lies in the surviving landscape, the viewsheds and the ability to understand how troops moved across the terrain, used high and low ground and negotiated natural features such as burns and field boundaries. Although the landscape around Dunbar has changed over time, important views remain intact and continue to provide an understanding of how the battlefield would have been experienced historically.
As noted in the Historic Environment Scotland Inventory of Historic Battlefields, “Important views such as those looking from the summit of Doon Hill towards Broxmouth House and Dunbar in the north are intact and provide the same outlook as it would have done in the 17th century.”
We support and agree with Dr. Arran Johnston’s from Scottish Battlefields Trust statement in the National last week. Whilst the proposed development is not directly on the battlefield itself, an industrial development of this scale would spoil the experience of engaging with the history of this heritage landscape.
Find out more and help make your voice count
The proposal was submitted to East Lothian Council on 07/10/2026 and the planning application number is 25/00008/SCR. The link to this is below:
Further information about the data centre proposal is available on the APRS site, although they do not mention the battlefields. Dunbar (West Barns Mains) - Action to Protect Rural Scotland
There is also a petition to oppose the development in Dunbar: Petition · Oppose the building of a hyperscale data centre in Dunbar - United Kingdom · Change.org
Learn more about the battlefields: Dunbar (1296) and Dunbar (1650)