The Storehouse of Foulis on the banks of the Cromarty Firth

Sitting on the banks of the Cromarty Firth between Evanton and Dingwall, the Storehouse of Foulis is a fully restored 18th Century building that once housed the rent paid in kind from the Munro estate. Once only visited by horse and cart, the Storehouse now sits alongside the busy A9 with cars zipping past on the main road in and out of the Northern Highlands.

Thought to have been completed around 1740, the Storehouse was built for the Munros of Foulis at a time when rent on the estate was largely paid in goods. The area surrounding Foulis provided good growing and farming conditions because of the rich soil and relatively mild temperatures. Oats and barley received from the tenants were stored here before being portioned out to farm workers and household staff as wages. Surplus goods were shipped off to markets further south via ferry. The Storehouse is positioned towards the sea on the gently sloping shore just above high-tide mark so boats could be safely beached to load goods, floating away on the next incoming tide.

Surviving documents show the export of grain and foods such as salt salmon as well as timber sent by sloop to Fort George in 1753. A letter from Sir Hugh Munro to his factor in October 1795 stated that tenants should be given a receipt for grain brought to the storehouse, bringing as much as they conveniently could at one time. On February 3rd 1796 at a time when oatmeal was scarce, a group over 150 people marched on the Storehouse. They believed it to hold stores of oats but, after threatening to break in to the building, a deputation was allowed in by the storekeeper. Finding only barley and wheat they refused to buy saying that they “… lived chiefly by oatmeal and they did not mind tho’ he should send away all the wheat and barley… provided he left the oats.”

The building is constructed of lime harled sandstone rubble masonry bonded by lime mortar with dressed stone margins around the openings and a Ballachullish slate roof – a fine example of vernacular architecture. All the windows are small with those on the ground floor mere slits to provide necessary ventilation for the grain, and to provide security for the goods stored inside.

By the early 19th Century most rents were being paid in money, but the Storehouse continued to be used to store bulky goods moving in and out of the estate by sea until well into the 20th Century. Today the wooden pillars, capitals and longbeams survive whilst the joists and planking date from the refurbishment in 1998. The building is now a visitor attraction run by Clan Munro, with the store house hosting information about the building’s history, the clan and the area’s wildlife. An accompanying restaurant and farm shop have been built next door, with fresh and local produce for sale. In 2010 Prince Charles visited the Storehouse as part of his role as founder of the North Highland Initiative, which aims to bring together the farm­ing community, local busi­nesses and the tourism industry to promote the economic development by creating and mar­keting a powerful North Highland brand.

Photos taken from The Storehouse of Foulis

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Lilias, Countess of Cromartie

A much-loved and respected pillar of the North Highlands community and wife of the late chief of Clan Mackenzie has died. Lilias, Countess of Cromartie, passed away peacefully on 11th October 2013 at her home Dower House in the clan seat of Castle Leod at Strathpeffer.

Born on the 25th March 1918, Lilias Janet Garvie MacLeod was the eldest of seven children to James Walter MacLeod, Professor of Bacteriology at Leeds University, and Jean Garvie, who were both immensely proud of their Scottish heritage. She grew up in Leeds and later went to boarding school at Esdaile School in Edinburgh. A gifted pianist, Lilias chose to study medicine, enrolling at Leeds University as one of the only female students there at the time.

She married her first husband Dick Richard in 1940, and during the war years worked in London as a medical officer, running family and children’s clinics in Marylebone. Following the break up her marriage, she joined the Strathpeffer Medical Practice where she became a much respected doctor in the tight-knit community, covering a scattered rural area and driving an average of 100 miles a day. It was here she met Roderick MacKenzie, 4th Earl of Cromartie and Caberfeidh Chief of Clan Mackenzie. They married in 1962 and the Countess adapted to the role of chief’s wife with great tact and commitment, bringing Castle Leod back to life as a family home and focal point in the local community, a venue for concerts and charitable fundraising activities.

Castle Leod, seat of Clan Mackenzie

The Earl and the Countess enjoyed 27 happy years of marriage together before the Earl passed away in 1989. In 2000 Lilias visited members of the MacKenzie clan in New Zealand, who spoke very highly if her visit. She was equally impressed with the clan society there.

The Countess had a wide-ranging interest in art and music, supporting the Strathpeffer Pavilion and Eden Court Theatre, performing in the Strathpeffer Amateur Operatic Society and was the first president of the National Association of Decorative & Fine Arts Societies.

Although after her second marriage she felt the roles of Countess, wife of the Mackenzie Clan Chief and continued GP practice to be incompatible, she put her medical background, intelligence and commonsense to good use providing wise leadership for many years on the Highland Hospital Board, as president of the Ross and Cromarty Red Cross and of the District Nurses.

The Countess leaves behind a wide circle of friends and admirers of diverse ages and backgrounds. She is survived by her two sons, Nigel and Roderick, by five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. The current chief is John Ruaridh Grant Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Cromartie (1948). He is the son of Roderick, 4th Earl of Cromartie and his first wife Olga Laurence.

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