- Lews Castle
Lews Castle is a Victorian era castle located west of the town of Stornoway,
Isle of Lewis ,Scotland . It was built in the years 1847-57 as a country house for SirJames Matheson who had bought the whole island a few years previously with his fortune from the Chinese Opium trade.In 1918, the Lewis estate including the castle was bought by industrialist
Lord Leverhulme from the Matheson family. He gifted the castle to the people of Stornoway parish in 1923.During
World War II the Castle was taken over as accommodation for air and ground crew of700 Naval Air Squadron , who operated a detachment of sixSupermarine Walrus aircraft from a slipway at Cuddy Point in the Grounds. The base was referred to asHMS Mentor . It was also used for accommodation for students ofLews Castle College in the 1950s.Today the building is owned by the local council,
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and is category Alisted building .External links
* [http://www.lews-castle.com/ Lews Castle Trust]
* [http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/features/featurefirst5266.html Overview of Lews Castle] from The Gazetteer for Scotland
* [http://www.stornowayhistoricalsociety.org.uk/features/castle/ History] from Stornoway Historical Society
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