Mealista ( gd, Mealasta) was a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

in the west of the

Isle of Lewis The Isle of Lewis ( gd, Eilean Leòdhais) or simply Lewis ( gd, Leòdhas, ) is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides archipelago in Scotland. The two parts are frequently referred to as ...

. It is currently largely uninhabited due to the

Highland Clearances The Highland Clearances ( gd, Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860. The first phase resulte ...

, which occurred there in 1838. The beach is a visitor attraction.

History

Mealista is a name of Norse origin, ''melr-stadhr'', meaning 'lyme-grass steading'. Mealasta lends its name to

Eilean Mhealasta Eilean Mhealasta (Mealista Island) is an uninhabited island off the west coast of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. It takes its name from Mealista, a nearby township on Lewis. History Nearby Mealista had a shrine to St Catan, but it is no ...

which is just to the southwest. The area of Mealasta is known to be the location of a medieval settlement Tigh nan Cailleachan Dubha, the House of the Black Women, is one of the medieval ruins, which is purported to have been a nunnery, but that is doubted. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, fourteen of the survivors of the merchant ship ''

SS Geraldine Mary SS is an abbreviation for ''Schutzstaffel'', a paramilitary organisation in Nazi Germany. SS, Ss, or similar may also refer to: Places * Guangdong Experimental High School (''Sheng Shi'' or ''Saang Sat''), China * Province of Sassari, Italy (ve ...

'' reached shore at Mealista in August 1940. The ship had been torpedoed, off the coast of Ireland, by the German U-Boat U-52. During WWII several hundred people were stationed at Mealista and Brenais, to operate wireless and radar installations. There was a cinema, a bar, regular dances, but the area was again abandoned after the war.

Teampall Mhealastadh

Outside of Mealista is Teampall Mhealastadh, the remains of small chapel and graveyard. Most of the tombstones are now buried.

References

External links

Canmore - Mazeppa: Mealasta, Lewis, Atlantic site record
Villages in the Isle of Lewis Cleared places in the Outer Hebrides {{WesternIsles-geo-stub