Clashnessie

Clashnessie is a small crofting community on the North-West coast of Scotland; specifically in the Assynt area of Sutherland.

The township (the old Scottish term for a crofting village) is scattered around Clashnessie Bay and derives its name from the Gaelic 'clais en easaidh' meaning glen (clais) of the (na) waterfall (easaidh), referring to the waterfall at the head of the shallow glen in which most of the houses stand.

Its oldest inhabitant (2006), 92 year-old Alistair McLeod, who was born there, remembers that there were up to thirty houses and families in Clashnessie in his early years. Sadly, most of these houses have now disappeared, including a recently-demolished 'black house' in which he recalls, "Both people and beasts went in the one door; the people turned left (into the one-room living quarters) and the beasts turned right (into the byre). But the place was always spotless, with new paper on the walls every year."

Today Clashnessie has just fourteen houses distributed widely over roughly a square mile area. Three of these houses, however, are of recent construction(with a futher one the way)indicating a reverse in the decline the area had previously experienced because of its extreme remoteness in part of what has been called 'Europe's last great wilderness'.

This current growth is largely due to the appeal its natural beauty and quiet seaside location holds for younger retirees and those seeking an escape from city life in Central Scotland and further afield, including Africa. (Only six of the fourteen houses are permanent homes, the rest being second or holiday homes.)

Nevertheless, Clashnessie retains a strong sense of community and a lasting tug on the hearts of all those who have visted it.

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