16/09/2026
**Within these stone walls…**
The first recorded grant of substantial lands for the manse and glebe of Eddrachilles dates back 1725. This was not simply land surrounding the minister’s house: the glebe was a working farm to provide a modest but comfortable life for the minister and his household, The rooms now occupied by The Glebe Kitchen were at the very heart of its daily life from the 1820s.
Our inner dining room was originally the manse kitchen. Its flagstone floor, still in use beneath our guests’ feet today, would have known generations of activity as ministers’ wives ran busy households, often helped by their daughters.
The outer dining room had equally practical beginnings as stalls and a small dairy. Here the flagstone were laid on top of beach sand, sloping away to provide drainage for the stabling. During the first half of the twentieth century, under the Colonel and subsequent members of his family, the little dairy acquired another purpose—as the gun store.
Life continued to change. Children evacuated from the cities during the Second World War stayed here, becoming part of a household carrying on amid the secrets and anxieties of wartime. In the 1950s came the youth hostel warden, welcoming a new generation of travellers to this remote corner of Sutherland.
Eddrachilles later became a family home again. The rooms evolved and a newer kitchen area was established. The house was already taking regular paying guests, including the engineers constructing the A894, before Alastair Wood extended it to create Eddrachilles Hotel.
Guests still tell us tales of Alastair adroitly opening champagne bottles in the “new” dining room with his RAF ceremonial sword—the old flagstones proving admirably suited to absorbing any celebratory splashes.
Across the centuries, many people have cooked and served within these walls. Some are recorded; many more are not. Ministers’ wives and daughters, family members, hostel wardens, cooks, chefs and generations of hotel staff have all contributed to the hospitality of this place.
Today, Head Chef Trevor Williams and his team continue that long tradition—bringing together classic cooking, menus shaped by the ingredients available, and the richness of Scotland’s larder. Our restaurant team lays the tables and welcomes each guest with the courtesy and care that are as important to Eddrachilles as the cuisine itself.
When you dine at The Glebe Kitchen, the old flagstones beneath you are a quiet reminder: these rooms have always been places of work, nourishment and welcome—with the occasional champagne cork flying through the air.
