Lewis and Harris

The lands around Stornoway were probably settled since 6000 BC and there are many monuments which show prehistoric man's presence. A Neolithic burial cairn and some evidence of Bronze Age occupation were found here. The Callanish Stones in the Loch Ròg area were erected roughly 5,000 years ago, thus dating from the late Neolithic or the early Bronze Age. In the 9th century, Norsemen dominated the Isle; they eventually converted to Christianity. In the early 13th Century, the Nicholson family, or MacNicols, built Castle Lewis at Stornoway harbour. In 1607, Stornoway became a burgh of barony. In 1844, Sir James Matheson purchased the Island and built Lews Castle between 1847 and 1857. By…