View of ruined buildings in pier area from NE Digital image of B 76335

Description View of ruined buildings in pier area from NE Digital image of B 76335

Date 8/1992

Catalogue Number SC 794059

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of B 76335

Scope and Content Pier area, Leverburgh, Harris, Western Isles, from north-east Lord Leverhulme, William Hesketh Lever (1851-1925), the English soapmaker who had founded the town of Port Sunlight, bought Harris in 1920 and aimed to establish a fishing centre at Obbe, or An-t-Ob. The project began in 1920 at a cost of £250,000. Lord Leverhulme had new piers built in the natural harbour at An-t-Ob, and brought the machinery for kippering sheds and the canning factory from the sheds and factory he owned in Stornoway on Lewis. He also built dwelling houses for the workers, the ruins of which are seen here. 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. Leverburgh, once known as Obbe, is at the south-west tip of Harris. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/794059

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap