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Home , Amhuinnsuidhe, Amhuinnsuidhe Castle, An Lanntair, Balivanich, Dun Carloway, Hushinish

Building our Islands: Architectural Trail 6 5

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4 3 2 1 N Building our Islands project is made possible by support from: The leaflet has been produced by WIAG and Tourism. in association with Outer St Moluag’s Church, St Moluag’s Ness Church is a 12th century St Moluag’s said to have been built by Temple, the son of a Scandinavian King, who Saint had converted to Christianity. Moluag was a Scottish missionary and contemporary of Saint Columba. The building may have been altered up to the 16th century and was restored in 1911-12. Architecture of

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all the locations on the Architectual Trail. Architectual the on locations the all Explore Explore 7 See detailed Stornoway locations map on reverse Stornoway 11 7 14 9 Martin’s Memorial Martin’s Church, The hall, designed by John Robertson, was added to the rear in 1893 and the pinnacles and spire were added in 1911. Gibson Gardens, Stornoway large (in island terms) social A housing project for rent which fits an urban site where a school hostel had been located. Completed in 2012 by local architects Anderson Associates. It was awarded the Outer 2014 Award Hebrides Design for Group Housing. A Stornoway landmark, built in A Memorial Church 1878. Martin’s Bryden. was designed by RA An imposing Gothic church, 13 10

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18 16 22 20 17 Stornoway Ness 26 23 25 27 21 28 24 29 6 4 and has 168 steps to the top. Spray flies over the top of it in winter storms. It was one of the last lighthouses to be automated in 1998. Lighthouse, Thomas Built in 1862 by David and Stevenson. Made from red brick, which was unusual for Scottish lighthouses, it is 37 metres high Nicolson Institute Clock Tower, The Italianate Clock tower remains from the original elementary and infant school built in 1873, with the tower Alexander Ross designed by Dr Adjacent to the Nicolson in 1902. Institute, it is one of the three buildings voted as “their favourite building” as part of the Building our Islands Project. 2017

Stornoway

2 An Lanntair, Stornoway An Lanntair’s award winning building, designed by Nicoll Russell Studios, is inspired by its name, which means “the beacon” in Gaelic. The arts centre houses a multipurpose auditorium and cinema, gallery and café/bar. and Museum, Built in 1847-51 in the Neo- Gothic style popular in the era by Sir JamesVictorian Matheson and substantially altered by Lord Leverhulme. After being used as a school It re-opened in 2016 with the addition of a modern extension for the museum/archives. 3 1

Stornoway

Projections at the Girnal are afoot to renovate it. Islands Project and plans as part of the Building our as “their favourite building” one of three buildings voted tower housed his family. It is tower housed his family. people to Stornoway and the 51). The boatman ferried 51). Gothic Lews Castle (1847- Charles Wilson’s Tudor Tudor Charles Wilson’s Tower, Built in the grounds of The Boatman’s The Boatman’s Locations The natural environment has significantly shaped architectureThe natural environment materials were imported, since there isgravel. Other building sites ranging in age from the Iron Age to the present. in age from the Iron sites ranging mostly using local stone, sand anddesigners and craftsmen, very few housesAs a result of the history of land ownership, selected 29 notable places from the Butt of Lewis to , withthe Butt of Lewis to Barra, notable places from selected 29 the skills and desires of islandThese buildings show modern. needs and aspirations. Architects Group and An Lanntair have teamed up to createAn Lanntair and Architects Group has Trail Architectural This in the . architecture public and private sites, historic andThis trail is a mixture of their changingshow the confidence Islanders have in reflecting Acclaimed photographer John Maher has photographed atAdditional sites and information are available groupArchitects Isles For more information about Western To celebrate the RIAS Festival of Architecture, Western IslesArchitecture, Western of the RIAS Festival celebrate To of to increase awareness our Islands” project the “Building with towns and smaller settlements inand human settlement, windyThe wet and close to the sea. the Outer Hebrides all and the architecture reflects this.climate is harsh on buildings The importance of religionbuilding use. little timber or clay for the buildings chosen, while new buildingsis reflected in some of walled blackhouses,The traditional dry-stone predate 1880. Atlantic longhouse tradition, gave way to built in the North and a fewnewer White-houses with rendered stonewalls span a rangestandard layouts. Modern private homes now and featureof building materials, both local and imported, unique and creative architectural design. variety the buildings, capturing the beauty of the islands’ of architecture. or for more information www.visitouterhebrides.co.uk visit www.lanntair.com The Building our Islands project on Architects Ltd please contact Stuart Bagshaw (Chair), SBA [email protected] In brief In 15 23 Locations Water Tower, An iconic structure built in the early 1970s to service Gearrannan 9 the RAF station in Balivanich. It is no longer in use. Blackhouse It divides local opinion but local support saved it from Village, demolition. Its height makes it Blackhouses were common a notable landmark in the flat dwellings in the Hebrides. Talla na Mara, Niseabost Benbecula landscape. This was the last group to be occupied, being vacated Translated from Gaelic, Talla na Mara means the Centre by the sea. in 1974. Built in the late 19th Overlooking Niseabost beach, the Centre boasts one of the most century, restored and in some photographed locations in the Outer Hebrides. Designed by Rural Design Ltd, the building’s angular form was inspired by the cases rebuilt in the 1990s, the 24 village includes a museum, surrounding landscape. Nunton Steadings, interpretation centre, shop, Nunton café, self-catering blackhouses The current steading was built and a hostel. The House, Borve 16 in the early 1700’s; originally the site was part of a Nunnery Inspired by Scottish coastal from 1300. Converted for the Iron Age buildings, it is probably the Preservation Trust by Carloway first broch built in the UK , Simpson and Brown in 1999 since the Roman era. 21st century A broch is an iron-aged drystone hollow-walled structure found and now used as a craft centre comforts in what could be an ancient only in . Dun Carloway, was likely built in 1st Century AD and tearoom. and had four different phases of building. It is the best preserved ruin. Designed by Stuart Bagshaw Broch in the Outer Hebrides. (Private residence, please view from the road.) 10

25 Our Lady 17 Temple Café, of Sorrows, Northton Garrynamonie A stone building reminiscent Designed in 1965 by architect of a Blackhouse, designed by Richard McCarron, this Stuart Bagshaw in 1999 as an Catholic church has been interpretive centre of William described as “brutalist”, owing MacGillivray, an ornithologist little to traditional Outer from Harris who worked with Hebrides building styles. It was John James Audubon on the largely self-built by the book ‘Birds of America’. parishioners. It is now a café.

The Summer 11 The Girnal, 18 St Michael’s 26 House, Achmore Large iron-roofed 18th century of the Sea, Inspired by the traditional structure, it is thought to have Hebridean summer dwellings been a store or ‘keeping house’ Constructed by the or ‘airidhs’. The larch-clad with two floors and three bays. islanders themselves under house is both colourful and It is one of three buildings voted the guidance of Fr. Allan sculptural with dramatic as ‘their favourite building’ as McDonald using local stone, views over the Harris hills. part of the Building our Islands timber salvaged from wrecks Hand-built by local architect Project. and a lime mortar of burnt Duncan Porteous. shells and sand in 1899-1903. (Private residence: The altar rests on the bow of not open to the public). a lifeboat washed overboard from an aircraft carrier. 19 St Clements Church, Rodel 12 St. Clement’s earliest sections 27 Castle, North Harris date to the 15th Century and it is the Cuithir Houses, finest pre-reformation church in the Barra was Hebrides. Inside is one of the most Built in 2000 for Barra & built in 1865 in the Scottish ambitious and richly-carved tombs Housing Association Baronial style by the architect of the time for the Macleod clan (now part of HHP) by Ben David Bryce and the 7th Earl chief. The carvings depict biblical Tindall Architects following of Dunmore. The public road to stories, a stylised castle, a hunting extensive community passes the front scene and a Birlinn galley. door and through a grand arch. consultation. The curved (Access by prior ends, similar to Viking arrangement only.) longhouses, reduce heat lost 20 from wind chill. Many other Gatliff Hostel, energy-saving design features These two converted are included. blackhouses now form the Berneray hostel site of the Gatliff Isle of Harris 13 trust, and lie in a Conservation Area. The original croft houses Our Lady, Star 28 Distillery, Tarbert probably dated from the 19th Designed by John R. Coleman Century. The roofs are thatched, of the Sea Architects, it occupies a including a thatched sculpture of an otter perched on one roof. strategic position in Tarbert, Our Lady, Star of the Sea, visible to everyone arriving designed by G. Woulfe there. It is a modern take on Brenan and completed in a traditional form. Copper 21 Scolpaig Tower, 1888, is perched atop a crag is used externally at the in Castlebay. The church entrance area – hinting at dominates the bay and is a what lies within. The folly was built on the site beacon for returning boats. of an Iron Age broch by Dr It is built of local granite, and Alexander Macleod in the 1830’s a bell and clock were added to provided work during a famine. to the tower in 1891. Now open to the elements, it is a nesting place for birds. 14 Scalpay Bridge, 29 Scalpay , Scalpay Bridge opened in 1997 Taigh Chearsabhagh, 22 Castlebay and was designed by Halcrow This medieval castle was Crouch. It replaced a bow loaded the seat of the Clan Macneil. ferry as Scalpay’s link to Harris. A former inn with detached stable/ Built in the 15th century it was Its design had to consider storehouse, built on the site of an old abandoned in the early 18th complex geology, environmental salt house. Later used as a bothy and century, with stones used for impact, climactic conditions, an estate workshop, It became derelict shipping ballast. It was rebuilt in the lack of existing infrastructure and was rescued and extended by 1956-70. In 2000 The MacNeil and fit the natural beauty Taigh Chearsabhagh Trust in 1994/95 Clan Chief leased it to Historic of the location. as an arts centre and museum. It also Scotland for an annual rent Design: Bright Brands serves as the local post office and café. of £1 and a bottle of whisky. Photography: © John Maher