Town in Outer Hebrides, Scotland
Stornoway
Stornoway's black pudding has EU-protected status, its castle was built on opium money, and Donald Trump's mother grew up down the road.
Key information
- County
- Outer Hebrides
- Nation
- Scotland
- Population
- about 7,000 (2011 Census)
- Known for
- Black pudding, Harris Tweed, Lews Castle, the Sabbath, and the ferry to Ullapool
- What locals are called
- Leòdhasaich (Gaelic for people of Lewis)
- Famous people
- Alexander Mackenzie, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, Lord Leverhulme (benefactor)
About Stornoway
The pudding that won European protection
Stornoway black pudding is a legally protected product. In 2013 it was awarded Protected Geographical Indication status, putting it in the same club as Parma ham and Champagne. To carry the name, it has to be made in Stornoway. The recipe is beef or sheep suet, oatmeal, onion and blood, with a peppery bite. It is a staple of a Scottish breakfast, and chefs far from the Hebrides order it specially. Made by local butchers, it is one of the most famous foods in the Outer Hebrides, and a good reason to leave the ferry terminal hungry.
A castle paid for by opium
Looming over the harbour, among woodland that is unusual on such a windswept island, is Lews Castle. It was built in the 1840s for Sir James Matheson, who made his fortune as a founder of the trading house Jardine Matheson, which grew rich on the opium trade with China. Matheson bought the whole of Lewis in 1844 and planted the trees, built roads and put money into the town. The castle reopened after a major restoration in 2016, and now houses Museum nan Eilean, where pieces from the Lewis Chessmen are displayed. Those walrus-ivory pieces were found at Uig on Lewis in 1831 and are now among the most famous chess sets in the world.
The town the lord gave away
In 1918 the soap magnate Lord Leverhulme bought Lewis with grand plans for canneries, fishing fleets and a modern Stornoway. Many islanders, hungry for land after the First World War, resisted him. He gave up in the early 1920s. In 1923 he handed Stornoway and its surrounding estate to the people. The Stornoway Trust still runs it on the community's behalf, which makes the town unusual among Scottish places. The lord's name stays on the map, but it is the islanders who own the land.
New Year's Day 1919, just outside the harbour
Stornoway's saddest story came on 1 January 1919. HMY Iolaire was carrying hundreds of men home from the war when she struck rocks known as the Beasts of Holm at the harbour entrance, in a storm, within yards of the shore. More than 200 men died. Many had survived four years of war only to drown in sight of their families. It remains one of the worst peacetime disasters in British waters, and the loss shaped Lewis for a generation. Memorials mark the spot, and the anniversary is remembered each year.
Tweed, Gaelic and a quiet Sunday
Stornoway is the main town of Lewis and the largest in the Outer Hebrides. It is a place where Gaelic is still spoken in shops and on the street, and where the Gaelic name, Steòrnabhagh, appears on the signs. The name comes from Old Norse and recalls the Viking era, when sailors used the sheltered bay. Stornoway Harbour is still the heart of the town, with fishing boats, ferries and a busy waterfront. Harris Tweed is woven by islanders in their own homes. The Harris Tweed Authority, which guards the famous Orb mark, is based in Stornoway. Sunday has long been observed quietly here, rooted in the island's strong Presbyterian tradition. Visitors planning a day out should expect to find the town at rest.
Two famous Stornowegian connections, one big explorer
Alexander Mackenzie was born in Stornoway in 1764. In 1793 he became the first European to cross North America north of Mexico, reaching the Pacific a dozen years before Lewis and Clark. Canada's Mackenzie River carries his name. Another famous link is Mary Anne MacLeod, born in 1912 in the village of Tong, just outside Stornoway. She left for New York as a young woman in the 1930s, and became the mother of Donald Trump. Stornoway is also a coastal weather station in the Shipping Forecast, so its name is heard on the radio by people who may never have visited.