SOUTH LOCHS – THE HIDDEN JEWEL OF LEWIS

The scenic district of South Lochs, sometimes known as the Pairc, is almost an island – surrounded by Loch Erisort to the north, Loch Seaforth to the west, and the Minch to the south and east. This vast area of some 68,000 acres now has a population of only some 400 mainly Gaelic speakers, concentrated in a number of small coastal townships north of Loch Shell. Its human history is every bit as dramatic as its hills, lochs, moors, and wildlife.

The more discerning visitor can discover something of this hidden jewel by turning onto the B8060 road at the western end of Baile Ailein (Balallan). Brief notes are given below on 10 places marked on the map. Some of these are beside or can be appreciated from the road, while others require quite strenuous walks and in some cases a knowledge of the tides!

South Lochs is also home to a wide variety of wildlife, although this is usually best seen in quiet and remote places away from the road. Look out particularly for Golden Eagles, Sea-Eagles, and other birds of prey; Otters around the coastline; and sometimes Porpoises and Whales. The moor provides an unspoilt habitat for many bog-land plants and insects (dragonflies and butterflies as well as midges!).

We hope you enjoy your visit.

1. LOCH ERISORT INN

Just over a mile from the Balallan road-end, the Loch Erisort Inn is the natural starting point (or end point!) for an expedition into the Pairc. Coffees, teas, and bar meals are served throughout the day, and overnight accommodation is available. The standing stone beside the road opposite the Claitair was only erected recently, but there are other much more ancient standing stones and stone circles in the vicinity (see 2) which recent research is suggesting was part of the same ritual landscape as the better-known Callanish Stones. www.locherisortinn.co.uk

2. OLD VILLAGE OF CLEITER AND STONE CIRCLES

The ruined village of Cleiter, which was cleared in 1838, stands on the hillside opposite the Loch Erisort Inn at NB 288197, and can be approached by a rough track off the old road just to the north of the present road shortly after crossing the Abhainn (river) Chleiteir. There are remains of several pre-clearance houses and a corn-kiln. The area also has several much older archaeological features, including standing stones and a stone circle. On the other side of the main road, the more adventurous may like to visit the remains of two small stone circles and standing stones on the top of Cnoc nan Clach (Hill of the stones) (NB 288189). The view from Cnoc nan Clach across the moorland to the south is awe-inspiring. This whole area has a strategic significance because it forms the narrow neck of land that guards the land entrance to the Pairc.

3. RAVENSPOINT VISITOR CENTRE

The Ravenspoint Centre in the former school at Cearsiadair (Kershader) is the main focus for the scattered population of South Lochs. The building is owned by the community co-op and houses a shop, tea-room, hostel, and visitor attractions. The latter include the local history museum run by Comunn Eachdraidh na Pairc and the Angus Macleod Archive, a wonderful collection of books, papers, photographs and recordings on the history of the area and topics related to it such as crofting, fishing, Harris Tweed, the Clearances and Land Struggle, left by the late Angus Macleod of Calbost (see 7). The archive and related exhibition is open to the public free of charge, and is the place to visit for those wanting to find out more about the genealogy and history of the area. 

4. ARTISTS WORKSHOP, GARYVARD

Down by the shore by the little pier in Garyvard can be seen one of the most recent and most exciting ventures in South Lochs, and indeed Lewis as a whole: a beautifully renovated house and adjacent picture gallery at which some of the top names in Scottish art exhibit their work. This has been inspired by Duane Mead, the American owner of the well-known Rendezvous Gallery in Aberdeen, who saw the opportunity for artists to connect with the Hebridean environment and community by spending time in this beautiful setting. During the summer months an artists in residence programme has been initiated, and there are exhibitions by talented artists, any of the paintings being of local scenes.

5. EILEAN CHALUIM CHILLE (COLUMBA’S ISLAND)

This fertile island near the mouth of Loch Erisort is one of the most important early Christian sites in the Western Isles. It is only accessible on foot for an hour or two either side of low tide across a causeway at NB 390212 at the end of the narrow Crobeag (Crobeg) road, a turning off the Cromor (Cromore) road. Cars should be parked in Cromor (see 6). The island was the site of an early church dedicated to St Columba, with (according to legend) an associated monastery. Sixteenth century records refer to an orchard, and indicate that the church on the island was the only one in Lochs parish, a position it retained until into the eighteenth century. Burials in the graveyard continued well into the second half of the nineteenth century, many coffins being landed at Port nam Marbh (Port of the Dead) on the other side of the island. The ruins of the ancient church and graveyard can be seen a few hundred yards to the west of the causeway.

6. CROMOR DUN AND WALK TO EILEAN ORASAIDH

Cromor is one of the crofting townships off the scenic but winding minor road which leaves the B8060 at Eishal (NB 381177) and runs via Marbhig and Calbost to Grabhair. Shortly after entering Cromor, the remains of a galleried dun (fort) or broch can be seen on a small island in Loch Chromor at NB 402206. The causeway which connected the dun to the shore is still visible under the water, but cannot now be used. Tradition suggests that several dun sites of this type in the Western Isles were still occupied in medieval times.

Cromor is also the starting point (at NB 400218) for a way-marked walk to Eilean Orasaidh (ebb-flow island) which lies due east at the mouth of Loch Erisort. This is a rough walk across both rocky and swampy ground but giving superb views of the islands in Loch Erisort and on a clear day across the Minch to the mainland mountains. Remains of feannagan (cultivation beds) can be seen in a number of places. As the name suggests, Eilean Orasaidh can only be reached on foot at low tide.

7. CALBOST TOWNSHIP

The crofting township of Calbost, the birthplace of Angus Macleod (see 3) symbolises for many the history of depopulation in South Lochs over the past century. When Angus was born in 1916, Calbost was a crowded settlement of approaching 200 people, but by the time of his death in 2002 only one house in the village was permanently occupied. Lack of economic opportunities, particularly the collapse of fishing, and the disruption of  two World Wars, led to large-scale emigration. The ruins of many of the former houses, and the previously cultivated crofts, can be seen from the road. Much of the material in the Angus Macleod Archive and related publications is based on Calbost. For example the book ‘Back to the Wind, Front to the Sun’ (available at the Ravenspoint Centre) gives a lavishly illustrated account in Angus’s own words of traditional crofting communities and the rich social and cultural life associated with them.

8. GRABHAIR

Grabhair (Gravir), which can be reached either directly by the B8060 or from the minor road via Marbhig and Calbost, is the largest village and a centre for services in South Lochs. The Free Church (built in 1882 by local people to accommodate some 750 people, but which now has a regular congregation of nearer 50); the current Pairc primary school; and a health centre can all be seen from the main road. The houses along Glen Gravir, following the valley away from the sea, are built on fishermen’s holdings established in the 1930s by the Government as part of the move to allocate more land to landless families in over-populated districts before and after the First World War. But within a few decades congestion had given way to depopulation and Glen Gravir like other parts of South Lochs now contains many houses which are empty for much of the year. 

9. LEUMRABHAGH TOWNSHIP

Leumrabhagh (Lemreway) is at the end of the B8060 in a magnificent setting giving extensive views to the rugged and now totally depopulated country south of Loch Shell, the Shiant Isles, Skye, and the mainland. The village was cleared in 1843 as part of the expansion of the Pairc sheep-farm, but re-settled in the 1850s by families cleared from other settlements, particularly Stiomrabhagh (see 10). The present crofts on both sides of the bay date from the re-settlement. Like Calbost and other villages, there has been a huge decline in population over the past century, from over 300 in 1901 to less than 50 today. The modern pier was constructed in the 1990s in connection with fish-farming, an enterprise which provided some 30 jobs in Lemreway until quite recently.

10. STIOMRABHAGH DESERTED VILLAGE

Perhaps the most evocative place of all in the dramatic history and landscape of South Lochs, the deserted village of Stiomrabhagh (Steimreway) (NB 347115) is accessible on foot only after a strenuous walk over rough terrain. A way-marked route of some 2 miles each way starts from the steps in Orasaigh (Orinsay) township at NB 362120. Stiomrabhagh, situated on a beautiful ‘green oasis’ of land next to a coastal lagoon, had a population of nearly 100 in 1851 before it was totally cleared for the Pairc sheep-farm. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when overcrowding and land shortage was at its most acute in Lewis, there were several unsuccessful attempts by descendants of the cleared families to occupy Stiomrabhagh illegally. Eventually, in the early 1920s, six families returned, building new houses from some of the ruins of the former village. The new settlement was not recognised by the Government, and no road or other services were ever provided, access being either by boat or over the rough moorland. By the 1940s land was more readily available elsewhere, and the last family left during the Second World War. Extensive remains of both periods of settlement can be seen at Stiomrabhagh today.