A fine white-harled mansion overlooking Uig Sands, on the west coast of Lewis, Uig Lodge was built in 1876 by Sir James Matheson (1796 - 1878) for his sporting guests. It comprises an L-plan two storey building, with a central Italianate tower reaching three storeys, grey slate roofs, wall-dormers and a touch of crowstepped gabling above the entrance. It has been B-listed since 1993. The Lodge was later purchased by William Hesketh Lever (Viscount Leverhulme, 1851 - 1925), along with the rest of Lewis, who gave it as a wedding present to his niece. It became the centre of the Uig Estate. Author Arthur Ransome (1884 - 1967) came here to fish and watch birds in 1945-46, while researching the last book in the Swallows and Amazons series, Great Northern and was greatly inspired by the surrounding landscape. The lodge was run as a hotel for a few years in the 1970s before being bought by the family of the current owners who let it to holiday-makers and fishing parties.
