Garynahine ( gd, Gearraidh na h-aibhne) is a settlement on
Lewis
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
, in the
Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Garynahine is situated at a T-junction where roads from
Stornoway,
Uig and the west side of Lewis all meet. The roads are the
A858 and the B8011. Garynahine is within the parish of Uig.
Heritage Sites and Attractions
In the surrounding ares is the
Garynahine Estate which was owned by
Sir James Matheson
Sir James Nicolas Sutherland Matheson, 1st Baronet, FRS (17 November 179631 December 1878), was a Scottish Tai-Pan. Born in Shiness, Lairg, Sutherland, Scotland, he was the son of Captain Donald Matheson. He attended Edinburgh's Royal High Sc ...
from 1844 to 1917, before it was then sold it to
Lord Leverhulme
William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme , (, ; 19 September 1851 – 7 May 1925) was an English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician. Having been educated at a small private school until the age of nine, then at church school ...
. It is currently operated as a sporting estate for hunting, shooting and fishing. On the estate is Garynahine Lodge, a Category B listed building, which is a shooting lodge, since 1925, formerly the 19th century Garynahine Hotel and it may incorporate parts of the inn that existed there from at least 1720.
To the south of Garynahine are three scheduled monuments Cul a'Chleit, Airidh nam Bidearan and
Sron a'Chail. Sron a'Chail is a circle of standing stones surrounding a burial cairn which dates to the late
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
or early
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
. It consists of 5 upright and 1 fallen standing stone surrounding what appears to be a burial cairn. It is better known as the one of the outliers of the Callanish stones ('Ceann Hulavig'), specifically
Callanish IV. It is also near a prehistoric quartz quarry. Airidh nam Bidearan consists of three upright stone slabs and possibly to other nearby stones. Cul a'Chleit is two standing stones on a rocky knoll. It is thought that the stones are probably the remains of a larger circle that was mostly destroyed by the construction of nearby
shieling
A shieling is a hut or collection of huts on a seasonal pasture high in the hills, once common in wild or sparsely populated places in Scotland. Usually rectangular with a doorway on the south side and few or no windows, they were often cons ...
s.
Archaeology
In 2002, Mr Donald Angus Mackay, discovered a number of flat stone slabs, during annual peat cutting, that were thought to be a
cist
A cist ( or ; also kist ;
from grc-gre, κίστη, Middle Welsh ''Kist'' or Germanic ''Kiste'') is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle Ea ...
burial. However, excavations by Northamptonshire Archaeology, working for Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (GUARD) as part of the Historic Scotland Human Remains Call Off Contract (now
Historic Environment Scotland
Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...
), discovered that it was in fact a pit containing what is believed to be a
hazel wicker structure or basket. Analysis of the botanical remains indicated that heather and
Sphagnum
''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, peat moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store wa ...
moss might have been incorporated into or deposited in the structure/basket. Radiocarbon dates suggesting the structure/basket was constructed and deposited during the Late
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
.
Images
File:Abhainn Dhubh - geograph.org.uk - 201266.jpg, Abhainn Dhubh. The river Blackwater at Garynahine.
File:Stone Circle - geograph.org.uk - 1259449.jpg, alt=image of 4 of the stones from Callanish IV, Callanish IV
File:The Track to Eitshal - geograph.org.uk - 1259500.jpg, Track to Eitshal
File:James Cumming (1922-1991) - Garynahine Women - GMA 1033 - National Galleries of Scotland.jpg, Garynahine Women by James Cumming (1922-1991)
References
{{reflist
External links
Canmore - Lewis, Garynahine site recordCanmore - Lewis, Garynahine, Airidh Nam Bidearan, 'Tursachan' site recordCanmore - Lewis, Garynahine, 'Tursachan' site recordGarynahine
Villages in the Isle of Lewis