RESIDENTS have launched a bid to buy a Grade A-listed mansion near Stirling that Bonnie Prince Charlie made his headquarters in 1746.

Bannockburn House and grounds, near the M9, was put on the market earlier this year.

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In 1746, after the Battle of Culloden, the Jacobite-supporting owner, the third Baronet Sir Hugh Paterson, a relative of the Jacobite commander the Earl of Mar, entertained The Young Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart, there.

The Prince caught a fever and was nursed back to health by Sir Hugh’s niece, Clementina Walkinshaw, who would go on to become his lover and the mother of his only child.

The house was put up for sale for £1.25 million by octogenarian businessman Peter Drake.

More than 2,000 people recently attended an “open weekend” at the historic house that was organised by volunteers who have now formed a trust to launch a community buyout bid.

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Local SNP councillor Alasdair MacPherson, who is part of the newly formed trust, said: “We are going full tilt on a community buyout.”