Lewis

URRAS Eaglais na h-Aoidhe has received £ 5,700 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for an exciting project, Understanding Our Community’s Past.

This is part of a wider project – Building a Future from the Past – based on Eaglais na h-Aoidhe (St Columba’s Ui Church and graveyard) which is located at Aignish in the Isle of Lewis.

Made possible by the National Lottery, the project focuses on a geophysical survey, the results of which will lead to a better understanding of the archaeology and historical development of the church and its environs, and its importance to the community.

Urras Eaglais na h-Aoidhe was founded in 2001 and its aims are to safeguard, consolidate and conserve St Columba’s Ui Church.

The church is a medieval scheduled ancient monument and one of the most important archaeological sites in the Isle of Lewis.

It is believed that no fewer than 19 members of the clan Macleod of Lewis are buried here and one of the most significant carved grave slabs is that of Roderick Macleod, seventh chief of that clan, who died in 1498.