Stornoway, South Beach

23 ¼” high x 22 ½” wide (framed)

Here on No.1 pier we see the original Fish Market and attendant buildings. In 1893 the 
fishing trader’s demands led the Pier and Harbour Commission to build a new market 
designed by their engineer Alexander MacDonald and built by the local firm of Ross and 
Mackenzie. It was opened in 1894. This image shows the harbour at a time when the 
herring industry was in full swing, with the new piers packed with barrels awaiting shipping. 

The image initially concentrated on the harbour area, but it soon became clear that I needed 
the view across the inlet to the castle grounds beyond. James Matherson commissioned Charles Wilson, a Glasgow architect, to build Lews Castle on the site of Seaforth Lodge. The foundation stone was laid in November 1847 and took six years to complete. The castle in reality is not visible from this angle, but through the naïve eye of an artist everything is possible. The castle actually overlooks north beach but that didn’t stop me shifting it a few hundred yards south. 

The large conservatory was designed by James Cranston of Birmingham and was erected in 
1866 echoing London’s larger Crystal Palace. Although the conservatory no longer exists, the 
extensive castle grounds and castle still form an important focal point to the town of Stornoway