There are a number of settlements dotted around the parish of Kilmorack which were once home to ancient farmers. They adopted this way of life almost 6,000 years ago. An upland settlement would have consisted of a group of dwellings built of stone and roofed with heather or thatch. With an earth floor and a hole in the roof for the smoke to escape it was a very primitive way of live, but one which provided some sort of shelter from the elements.

Probably, the earliest form of permanent dwelling in the parish would have been built of timber or stone by early farmers. Before 1,000 BC, the dwellings could have been square, oblong or oval. After about this date, they had a tendency to be circular. These dwellings would be common in upland areas where they can be recognised by low stone foundations.

Much later, approximately 12th - 13th century came the medieval settlement, which consisted of homes built of timber and covered with wattle and clay. Obviously these buildings would disappear from the landscape far more quickly than those built of stone.

Where the timber, wattle and clay would be home for the farmers of the time, the noblemen fared better with a timber castle surrounded by a motte or moat. The building sat on a huge flat-topped mound, surrounded by a strong wooden fence or stockade. Inside the perimeter of the stockade would be the domestic buildings and the motte, which circled the bailey, would be water filled for defence.

By the 14th century, settlements called ring works would have contained a hall for a nobleman plus domestic buildings. These ring works would consist of a stockade containing a low flat mound surrounded again by a moat. Usually rectangular in shape, these homesteads could have been farms or hunting lodges.

From the 12th century onwards, the rich noblemen would replace the timber structures with substantial stone castles and on a smaller scale, tower houses. Erchless Castle in Strathglass is an example of an early 17th century tower house, although permission to build was given in 1529 to Hugh, Lord Lovat. Erchless has a late 19th century baronial addition. The upper windows of the castle being Georgian.

Later, the homes of the people in the area would be much the same as in earlier times, still primitive but with the addition of perhaps a byre tacked on to the end of the building to house the animals. The hearth would be in the centre of the floor as in years gone by so there was no improvement in the smokey, sometimes choking atmosphere of the dwelling. The hearth consisted of a group of flat stones with peat piled up on them to provide the heat for the cooking pot, which would be suspended by a chain attached to a tripod. All the cooking was done on this one fire. Although they were not big dwellings, the crofts had to house a family and animals also. They were built to withstand the severe weather of the Highlands and local materials were used. Again, a byre would be built on to house the livestock. There are still many crofts dotted around the hills and glens of Kilmorack. Some of them have been left to disintegrate, and some still stand empty and uninhabitable, but what a tale they could tell!

The first great clearance of Strathglass was in approximately 1801 when the wife of William Chisholm was blamed for clearing the whole Chisholm clan from the glen. This obviously left many crofts empty to fall into disrepair. In another clearance in 1810, the tenants of the Dowager Mrs. Chisholm were able to keep their homes as she could not be induced to evict them and so they remained until her death.

The next stage in the development of the croft house was the introduction of a wooden partition that divided the living area from the sleeping area. Also, the hearths were much improved by the addition of dry stone walling to the rear of the hearth and hobs were built of rough stone and clay. Later the fire was raised from the floor by a simple iron grate which would be fashioned by a local smiddy. A feature of the fireplace would be a hanging chimney, whereby a wooden hood would project over the chimney with a flap that could be let down if the chimney smoked. With a shelf to display ornaments etc., it would have made the croft seem far more homely.

Another type of home found in the glens is the butt and ben, which is a two roomed cottage with the butt end being the kitchen, and the ben being the sleeping area. As one could perhaps imagine, the space for furniture would be very small. The box bed would be built into the interior wall and there would be shelves at the head of the bed and at the foot of the bed. The butt end or kitchen contained a cupboard or aumry, where milk and other food stuffs would be stored, and above there would be a shelf or skelf where pottery and other various utensils were kept. The man of the house had a wooden chair with arms (a muckle chair) and the women and children were consigned to stools or creepies. A spinning wheel to provide the family with yarn to clothe them would be an important item in the household. Also a barrel of salt fish and another of oatmeal which were both staple foods, along with a crude lamp called a cruisey complete with a supply of oil and the dried pith of rushes for the wick, would more or less complete the belongings of the crofters. Last but not least, they would most likely have three books in their possession: the Bible; Pilgrim’s Progress and a copy of Rabbie Burns.

A very basic shelter found in the Highlands is the bothy. Nowadays, they are used by hill walkers to provide shelter on the hill, but in days gone by the bothy was used by farm labourers and shepherds. Obviously, there was no electricity and the only running water available was if the bothy was built next to a burn. There would be only a single room with an earth floor, so it was only shelter from the elements that the bothy afforded.

Nowadays, many croft houses and butt and bens can be seen empty on land on which has been built a new house or bungalow. In some instances the crofts have been added to , to provide a substantial sized dwelling, but the charm of the old building is lost.

There are numerous houses in the glens that have a lot of character. These would have been the homes of the factors or estate managers. They are usually handsome houses of stone with slate roofs. The gable ends are adorned with carved barge boards, many with intricate patterns. A lot of the porches on the houses have whole tree trunks as supports, some are painted, some left as they are. With the addition of stag antlers as decoration they look every bit the country house.

There are a good few large houses in the parish. Erchless Castle has already been mentioned, but Guisachan House at Tomich at the south western end of Strathglass is the only one in ruins. The first house was built circa 1755 by William Fraser of Culbokie. It was replaced by Lord Tweedmouth who had all signs of the original house removed. The present house which is now in ruins was built in the latter half of the 19th century, as was the model village of Tomich which was built to house the crofters of the community, whose own dwellings were subsequently demolished. Although the houses that were provided for them in the village were tidy, slate roofed stone dwellings with wooden floors, they seemed to prefer their old tumbledown ruins which they would visit every year. They must have longed for their previous way of life because the procession of the old people to their former houses was a very sad one.