Lochalsh, General

LOCHALSH

Separated from Kintail by Loch Long and the River Ling, and almost entirely encircled by water, Lochalsh was historically part of Rossshire until boundary changes in 1975 brought it into closer association with its Invernessshire neighbours of Skye, Glenshiel and Glenelg. By the 1570s, the Mathesons of Lochalsh had relinquished most of what they had not lost to the Macdonalds to the all-powerful Mackenzies, who in 1801 sold Lochalsh for £38,000 to Sir Hugh Innes, a West Indian planter. In 1831 Innes left it to his niece, Katherine, who with her husband, Isaac Lillingston, became the first in a succession of unusually benevolent landlords. Notable among these was Sir Alexander Matheson (1805-86), whose father had sold Attadale - the last of the Mathesons' Wester Ross properties - in 1825. A nephew of Sir James Matheson (see p.263), Alexander had worked for Jardine, Matheson & Co in the Far East and returned to the Highlands vastly enriched by the profits of tea and opium trading. He amassed extensive landholdings in the Highlands, including Ardross in Easter Ross (1846), and Inverinate (1844 ), Lochalsh (1847, for £12 0,000) and Attadale (1861 for £14 ,520) in the West. In 1919 his son Kenneth sold the western part of Lochalsh to Sir Daniel and Lady Hamilton, who 'opened up the mountains and glens by restoring old hill-roads and constructing many miles of winding tracks, along which everyone is free to roam'. The local community benefitted greatly from their bequests, which culminated in the transfer of the majority of Balmacara Estate to The National Trust for Scotland in 1946.

Taken from "Western Seaboard: An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Mary Miers, 2008. Published by the Rutland Press http://www.rias.org.uk