Point, Lewis

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Satellite image of Point Point Western Isles NASA World Wind.png
Satellite image of Point

Point (Scottish Gaelic : An Rubha), also known as the Eye Peninsula, is a peninsula some 11 km [1] long in the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), 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: (listed west to east) Melbost (Mealabost) (Including Stornoway Airport), Branahuie (Bràigh na h-Aoidhe), Aignish (Aiginis), Knock (An Cnoc), Swordale (Suardail), Garrabost, Lower Bayble (Pabail Iarach), Eagleton (Baile na h-Iolaire), Upper Bayble (Pabail Uarach), Shulishader (Sulaisiader, usually referred to as Shader), Sheshader (Seisiader), Flesherin (Fleisirin), Cnoc Amhlaigh, Portnaguran (Port nan Giuran), Aird, Broker (Brocair), and Portvoller (Port Mholair). [2]

Contents

Education

Point is served by Sgoil an Rubha (Point School), a primary school which opened in 2011 in Bayble, built on the site of Bayble primary and junior secondary school. There was a long debate about the new school, leading to a gap of over 10 years between the first plans and the building of the school. The school took a year to build, and was the first of a number of new schools built in the Western Isles. There were three primary schools in Point: Bayble, Knock and Aird. These fed into Bayble junior secondary school, which closed when the new school opened, reflecting the decline in the school-age population. There is now no junior secondary school in Point; Sgoil an Rubha feeds into the Nicolson Institute in Stornoway for secondary education.[ citation needed ]

Heritage Sites

At the eastern end of the isthmus (Am Bràighe in Gaelic) are the ruins of the Eye Church, which are all that remain of a building dedicated to St Columba. This was among the largest pre-Reformation Churches in the Western Isles. Although the present buildings are probably medieval, the Church is reputedly on the site of the cell of St Catan, a contemporary of St Columba. This is the burial ground of 19 of the Chiefs of the MacLeods of Lewis. There are two old carved commemorative slabs, one depicts a warrior, believed to be Roderick, 7th Chief; while the other is Margaret, daughter of Roderick MacLeod of Lewis, who died in 1503.

In recent years, the land reform struggle of the 19th century in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland is being recognised, and the Aignish Riots of 1888 are commemorated by a memorial adjacent to the Eye Church.

Tiumpan Head at the east end of Point and Portvoller from the air Tiumpan Head.jpg
Tiumpan Head at the east end of Point and Portvoller from the air

[ citation needed ]

On the north-west side of the peninsula and 30m offshore is Stac Mor Garrabost. Investigated by archaeologists in 1990s as part of the Coastal Erosion Assessment project and then again in the 2000s for The Severe Terrain Archaeological Campaign (STAC) little is known about the site except that there are the remains of structures on the sea stack. [3]

Notable people from Point

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isle of Lewis</span> Region of Lewis and Harris island, Scotland

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ross and Cromarty</span> Historic county and registration county of Scotland

Ross and Cromarty, is an area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. In modern usage, it is a registration county and a lieutenancy area. Between 1889 and 1975 it was a county.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sleat</span>

Sleat is a peninsula and civil parish on the island of Skye in the Highland council area of Scotland, known as "the garden of Skye". It is the home of the clan MacDonald of Sleat. The name comes from the Scottish Gaelic Slèite, which in turn comes from Old Norse sléttr, which well describes Sleat when considered in the surrounding context of the mainland, Skye and Rùm mountains that dominate the horizon all about Sleat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knock, Isle of Lewis</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Knock, from the Gaelic, An Cnoc, is a village in Point peninsula on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Point is connected by road across a narrow isthmus to Stornoway, the main administrative centre of the Western Isles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portnaguran</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Portnaguran is a settlement situated within Point, on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Portnaguran is the township at the north-easternmost point of the peninsula. It lies 1 mile (1.6 km) southwest of Tiumpan Head and just south of the headland called Geòdha 'ic Sheòrais or sometimes Small Head amongst locals. Portnaguran is situated at the north-eastern end of the A866, within the parish of Stornoway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aignish</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Aignish is located northwest of Knock and east of Stornoway on the east coast of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The township is at the island side of the isthmus connecting to the Eye peninsula. Aignish is within the parish of Stornoway, and is situated on the A866 between Stornoway and Portnaguran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shawbost</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Shawbost is a large village in the West Side of the Isle of Lewis. The village of Shawbost has a population of around 500 and lies around 20 miles west of Lewis's capital Stornoway. Shawbost is within the parish of Barvas. A recent development in the village was the renovation of the old school into the new community centre. The scattered settlement is split into three sections: North Shawbost, South Shawbost and New Shawbost. There is a small museum of folk life and nearby is a small stone circle. The village is overlooked by a small hill named Beinn Bhragair, 261 m high. Shawbost is a prominent village on the Isle of Lewis, due to the school, community centre, beach and Harris Tweed mill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aird, Lewis</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Aird is a village in the Scottish council area of Eileanan Siar. It is located on the Eye Peninsula on the east coast of the Isle of Lewis. Aird is within the parish of Stornoway, and is situated on the A866 near the northern end of the road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carloway</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Carloway is a crofting township and a district on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The district has a population of around 500. Carloway township is within the parish of Uig, and is situated on the A858.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flesherin</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Flesherin is a small village on the Point peninsula of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Located near Portnaguran, the village has a population of around 100. Flesherin is within the parish of Stornoway. Flesherin is home to the famous accordionists Tommy Darky and John 'Tonkan' Macdonald. Flesherin is also home to the mother of Stuart Braithwaite, from the Glasgow rock band Mogwai and Ronnie McKinnon the famous Scotland football player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melbost</span> Human settlement in Scotland

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+12 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bayble</span> Village in Point on the Isle of Lewis

Bayble is a village in Point, on the Isle of Lewis, 6 miles east of Stornoway. Bayble is also within the parish of Stornoway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ross-shire</span> Historic county in Scotland

Ross-shire, or the County of Ross, was a county in the Scottish Highlands. It bordered Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south, as well as having a complex border with Cromartyshire, a county consisting of numerous enclaves or exclaves scattered throughout Ross-shire's territory. The mainland had a coast to the east onto the Moray Firth and a coast to the west onto the Minch. Ross-shire was named after and covered most of the ancient province of Ross, and also included the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. The county town was Dingwall.

Derick Smith Thomson was a Scottish poet, publisher, lexicographer, academic and writer. He was originally from Lewis, but spent much of his life in Glasgow, where he was Professor of Celtic at the University of Glasgow from 1963 to 1991. He is best known for setting up the publishing house Gairm, along with its magazine, which was the longest-running periodical ever to be written entirely in Gaelic, running for over fifty years under his editorship. Gairm has since ceased, and was replaced by Gath and then STEALL. He was an Honorary President of the Scottish Poetry Library, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the British Academy. In June 2007, he received an honorary degree from Glasgow University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garrabost</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Garrabost is a village in the Point peninsula isthmus on the east coast of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The village is one of the largest in Point, comprising Upper and Lower Garrabost, and Claypark. Garrabost is within the civil parish of Stornoway. The church parish for Point is called Knock, and both Knock Church of Scotland and Knock Free Church of Scotland are located in Garrabost. Garrabost is situated on the A866, between Stornoway and Portnaguran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Branahuie</span> Human settlement in Scotland

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Frater</span> Scottish poet

Anne Frater is a Scottish poet. She was born in Stornoway (Steòrnabhagh), in Lewis on the Western Isles. She was brought up in the village of Upper Bayble in the district of Point, a small community which has also been home to Derick Thomson and Iain Crichton Smith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sgìre an Rubha</span>

Sgìre an Rubha is one of the 11 wards of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. Created in 2007, the ward elects two councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system. Originally a three-member ward, the number of members elected in Sgìre an Rubha was reduced following a boundary review and it has elected two councillors since the 2022 Comhairle nan Eilean Siar election.

References

  1. Extreme points are Gob na Creige GR499292 and Ceann an t-Siumpain GR573378 ie 11.3 km apart, not 11 miles as in the community website
  2. A Guide To Point: An Rubha, The Eye Peninsula, Isle of Lewis. Liz Chaplin (Ed). 2014. Published by Urras Eaglais na h-Aoidhe in conjunction with Point Community Council.
  3. "Vol 36 (2009): STAC: The Severe Terrain Archaeological Campaign - investigation of stack sites of the Isle of Lewis 2003-2005 | Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports". journals.socantscot.org. Retrieved 27 August 2021.

58°13′N6°12′W / 58.217°N 6.200°W / 58.217; -6.200