The Outer Hebrides or Western Isles, sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. The islands are geographically coextensive with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. They form part of the archipelago of the Hebrides, separated from the Scottish mainland and from the Inner Hebrides by the waters of the Minch, the Little Minch, and the Sea of the Hebrides. Scottish Gaelic is the predominant spoken language, although in a few areas English speakers form a majority.
The Isle of Lewis or simply Lewis is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides archipelago in Scotland. The two parts are frequently referred to as if they were separate islands. The total area of Lewis is 683 square miles (1,770 km2).
Harris is the southern and more mountainous part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Although not an island itself, Harris is often referred to in opposition to the Isle of Lewis as the Isle of Harris, which is the former postal county and the current post town for Royal Mail postcodes starting HS3 or HS5.
Callanish is a village (township) on the west side of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Callanish is within the parish of Uig. A linear settlement with a jetty, it is on a headland jutting into Loch Roag, a sea loch 13 miles west of Stornoway. Callanish is situated alongside the A858, between Breasclete and Garynahine.
Stornoway is the main town of the Western Isles and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland.
Point, also known as the Eye Peninsula, is a peninsula some 11 km long in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The majority of Point is connected to the rest of the Isle of Lewis by a narrow isthmus, one mile in length and at one point barely 100 metres wide. The peninsula is just 6 km east of the regional capital of Stornoway, however the district of Point actually starts at the Parkend estate on Stornoway's outskirts. Point is home to around 2,600 people and is one of the few districts of the Western Isles where the population is increasing. There are about 17 villages and hamlets in Point: Melbost (Mealabost), Branahuie, Aignish (Aiginis), Knock, Swordale (Suardail), Garrabost, Lower Bayble, Eagleton, Upper Bayble, Shulishader, Sheshader (Seisiader), Flesherin (Fleisirin), Cnoc Amhlaigh, Portnaguran, Aird, Broker (Brocair), and Portvoller.
HMY Iolaire was an Admiralty Yacht that sank at the entrance to Stornoway harbour on 1 January 1919, with the loss of at least 201 men out of the 283 on board. The overcrowded vessel was trying to negotiate a difficult route under exceptionally bad weather conditions. The disaster cost the Isle of Lewis almost the whole of its young male population.
Melbost is a traditionally Gaelic-speaking village in Point on the east coast of the Isle of Lewis, in Scotland's north-west. It is largely a crofting township and is about 2+1⁄2 miles east of Stornoway at the head of an isthmus connecting with the Eye Peninsula. Melbost is technically in the district of Point, however it is not located on the Eye Peninsula itself. The RAF Stornoway war memorial is located in the village.
Gress, a hamlet on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland, is adjacent to the larger village of Back. Gress is within the parish of Stornoway. Between 1919 and 1921, Gress – along with nearby Coll and Tong – was the scene of several land raids.
The Lewis War Memorial is a war memorial dedicated to the men from the Lewis area who lost their lives in World War I and those who survived the war only to drown while returning home during the 1919 sinking of HMY Iolaire. Completed in 1924, the memorial is situated at the highest point of the town of Stornoway.
The Hebrides were settled early on in the settlement of the British Isles, perhaps as early as the Mesolithic era, around 8500–8250 BC, after the climatic conditions improved enough to sustain human settlement. There are examples of structures possibly dating from up to 3000 BC, the finest example being the standing stones at Callanish, but some archaeologists date the site as Bronze Age. Little is known of the people who settled in the Hebrides but they were likely of the same Celtic stock that had settled in the rest of Scotland. Settlements at Northton, Harris, have both Beaker & Neolithic dwelling houses, the oldest in the Western Isles, attesting to the settlement.
North Tolsta is a village in the Scottish Outer Hebrides, on the east side of the Isle of Lewis. North Tolsta is within the parish of Stornoway. Tolsta is notable for its long sandy beach Traigh Mhor At the end of Tolsta's long sandy beach there are five caves, only visitable during low tide. They are known locally as "The Caves of Life." The village of Bail' Ùr Tholastaidh is to the north. The village has a two churches and a post office and community shop.
Sandwick is a village in the Scottish Outer Hebrides, on the Isle of Lewis and a quasi-suburb of Stornoway. Sandwick is situated within the parish of Stornoway.
Parkend is a hamlet in the Sandwick region of the Isle of Lewis, although like Melbost, it is not a part of the Eye Peninsula. Many people erroneously believe it to be a suburb of Stornoway, on the island of Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Parkend is within the parish of Stornoway. Parkend is situated on the A866, and the adjoining Holm Road allows access to the nearby Holm Village. The Parkend Industrial Estate is adjacent to the small housing estate.
Branahuie is a village on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Branahuie is within the parish of Stornoway, and is situated on the A866. It is also close to Stornoway, Stornoway Airport and Melbost.
Borve is a village on the west side of the Isle of Lewis in Scotland, 17 miles from the island's only town, Stornoway.
Fivepenny is one of the many villages in the Lewis district of Ness and part of the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Fivepenny is within the parish of Barvas, and is situated on the B8014, between Port of Ness and Eoropie.
Lionel is a village in the Ness area of the Isle of Lewis. Lionel is within the parish of Barvas. Lionel is situated near the northern end of the A857, at the junctions with the B8013 to Eoropie and the B8015 to Eorodale and Skigersta.
Lewis and Harris, or Lewis with Harris, is a single Scottish island in the Outer Hebrides, divided by mountains. It is the largest island in Scotland and the third largest in the British Isles, after Great Britain and the island of Ireland, with an area of 841 square miles (2,178 km2), which is approximately 1% of the area of Great Britain. The northern two-thirds is called [the Isle of] Lewis and the southern third [the Isle of] Harris; each is referred to as if it were a separate island and there are many cultural and linguistic differences between the two.
The Outer Hebrides are a unique religious area in contemporary Scotland and Britain. The northern island is dominated by Calvinist 'free churches', and has been described as "the last bastion of Sabbath observance in the UK". It is also home to a unique form of Gaelic psalm singing known as precenting. The southern islands of South Uist and Barra are the last remnants of native pre-Reformation Scottish Catholicism. Barra was once dubbed "the island the Reformation did not reach".
