The Uig Tower, also known as Captain Fraser's Folly, is a nineteenth century

folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

located in Uig on the island of Skye in the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...

of Scotland. It is a category B listed building.

Location

The Uig Tower stands along the A87, which connects

Portree Portree (; gd, Port Rìgh, ) is the largest town on, and capital of, the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Murray, W.H. (1966) ''The Hebrides''. London. Heinemann. Pages 154-155. It is the location for the only secondary school o ...

and Uig, about two kilometers south of Uig. The tower is positioned on the southeastern side of the bay on its southern headland opposite Rubha Idrigil.

History

Major William Fraser became the owner of the Kilmuir Estate in 1855''Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland''
Uig Tower
and the tower was constructed around 1860 at a place where the local tenants had to go to pay their rents to his Factor.Uig Community Website

. Fraser was, like many other landlords in Scotland, notorious for his contribution to the Highland Clearances, during which tenants were evicted so the land could become available for large-scale sheep farming. The folly is still associated by locals with the Clearances. Fraser lived in a large house called Uig Lodge, which was washed away in a flood in 1877 shortly after the conclusion of the clearances.Trivago, revie
Captain Fraser's Folly
In 1884 Fraser attempted to evict a family at Garafad in Staffin during a rent strike. Fraser called for help from the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

to break the strike, claiming that the local people were in rebellion. In November 1884 a flotilla of naval ships arrived in Uig Bay and the police and marines took up positions in Uig. However, strike was not broken, the family remained in their home, and the police and military left shortly thereafter. The tower was later turned into a family home, but this was abandoned in the 1950s.

Construction

The Uig Tower is a round tower of two floors and was built in

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

style. The tower has narrow vertical slits instead of windows. The gaps resemble loopholes of a castle through which arrows could be fired on attackers, although it has no defensive function and was built purely as a show of wealth. On the outside, the gaps are decorated with cross shapes. The tower is no longer owned by the Uig Hotel but by a local land owner.

Notes

External links

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland - Uig Tower
{{coord, 57.5847, -6.3592, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Buildings and structures in the Isle of Skye Folly buildings in Scotland Folly towers in the United Kingdom Category B listed buildings in Highland (council area) Towers in Scotland