Distant view across harbour from SE

Description Distant view across harbour from SE

Date 5/6/1996

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number D 2261 CN

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 794250

Scope and Content Rodel Hotel, Harris, Western Isles, from south-east The Rodel Hotel, a plain two-storeyed building with an attic, was built in the late 18th century as a dwelling house for Captain Alexander MacLeod who became the new owner of Harris in 1779. To the left of the hotel part of a modern single-storeyed house is visible, and to the right, various outbuildings. Captain MacLeod, who had been the Captain of an East India clipper, wished to develop the Harris fishing industry and he built two piers, one of which is in front of the hotel. In 1786 John Knox from the British Fisheries Society visited Harris and wrote: 'The circumference of this harbour or bason is nearly an English mile; and here ships lie always afloat, and as safe as in Greenland Dock. Here the Captain has made an excellent graving bank, and formed two keys, one at the edge of the bason, where ships may load or discharge afloat, at all times of the tide; the other on the graving bank.' Lewis and Harris are both parts of the same island, collectively known as 'the Long Island', which is the most northerly in the Outer Hebrides. Together they are about 95km in length and around 32km at the widest point. Most of Lewis is quite low-lying, whereas Harris is mountainous. Rodel, or Roghadel, comes from the Old Norse and means 'Red Dale'. The local soil is unlike that in the rest of Harris, being red in colour and very fertile. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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