Rosal is one of the many abandoned villages along the fertile valley of Strathnaver. During the Highland Clearances the villagers were forcibly resettled to inhospitable locations along coastal strips to make way for sheep in the 1700 and 1800s. The eviction of tenants in Sutherland was particularly savage and carried out by the ruthless estate factor, Patrick Sellar. When the Rosal villages were forced to leave, all homes and crops were destroyed to prevent anyone from returning.