Scolpaig Tower


(MacLeod's Folly, Loch Scolpaig Tower)

An octagonal Gothic-style folly on a little island in Loch Scolpaig, which forms a prominent feature of the landscape in the northwest of North Uist (Outer Hebrides), Scolpaig Tower (or Loch Scolpaig Tower, also known as MacLeod's Folly) is situated a mile (1.5 km) north northeast of Balmartin. Its construction was organised in 1836 by Dr. Alexander MacLeod, Factor of the North Uist Estate, to provide work for the local population at a time of famine brought on by potato blight. Built on the site of the Iron-Age Dun Scolpaig and surrounded by a low stone wall, the now-roofless structure features a string course between its two storeys, a window in each of the eight faces of the upper storey and a crenellated parapet. It was B-listed in 1971 and can be reached by a stone causeway when the level of the loch is sufficiently low.


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