History

The original part of the house, the kitchen was built in the early part of the nineteenth century, (probably around 1820). However, the use of the Gaelic name Balachladdich, which means “shore town” suggests that there has been human settlement on the site for a much longer period of time. The word “town” in this sense means a settlement which might contain as little as two or three houses. If you look out the back of the house you will see the all that remains of a much older building which predates the existing structure.

In 2006 the owners, Harry and Lynda Munro, started a major renovation of the house which entailed stripping the walls back to the bare stone and replacing the roof timbers. The original stone slates were individually removed so that they could be replaced on the new roof timbers. The walls are all two or more feet thick and are “random rubble built”, consisting of a wide variety of stone types and sizes which were skillfully bonded together with lime mortar by local masons. Cut stone was rare in the Highlands and so the lintels above the windows are hand hewn wood. The house has no basement but instead sits on “founds” which are granite field boulders.

The house only got electricity and mains water in the sixties relying on a well and diesel generator prior to then.

Across the yard is a traditional Scotch barn or “steading” which was a working farm building up until 2004, housing up to forty bullocks (steers to our North American guests) through the winter months. Unfortunately the ravages of time have worked their way into the roof and we urge you and your guests not to venture into or around the building. At one time the steading contained a water driven mill, if you look carefully at the top of the drive on the left hand side as you are leaving you can still see the depression of the old mill pond which provided the water to drive the wheel.

The farm is part of the Foulis Estate and has been farmed by the families of Munro’s for many generations. While it is now part of Foulis Farms originally Balachladdich would have consisted of a hundred and fifty acres, extending from the top road down to the high water mark of the Cromarty Firth to the woods to the West and to the line of trees to the east. Old plans of the district show that there was a small lochan lying below the house which was drained in the 1880’s to make way for the railway right of way.

The land on the other side of the Firth is the Black Isle or Eilean Dubh, named because its forests at one time gave it a black appearance. In fact it is a peninsula and not an island at all. If you look very carefully along the shore of the Black Isle towards the East, you will see the ruins of Castle Craig once a stronghold of the Bishops of Ross.

Immediately behind the house on the other side of the back road is Foulis Castle which has its own section in this binder. At one time Foulis had its own station and if you look out of the front door to the right i.e. West, you will see first, the cottages used to house the surface-men who were responsible for maintaining the track and beyond that the Stationmasters cottage. If you feel adventurous instead of going through the village to get to the main road, you can drive down the public road to the old station and negotiate your way through the gates and over the level crossing continuing on down to the A9 road.