Last updated: October 2025
Perched on the western shore of Little Loch Roag in the Parish of Uig, the small village of Enaclete (Gaelic Einacleit) has a history tied to crofting, fishing, and resilience.
This page is a brief collection of information and history of Enaclete, with information from various sources including conversations, online records, and records held in the Uig Museum; a superb resource of history if you are visiting Uig with the added bonus of a wonderful tearoom found within the Uig Community Centre!
I know that there shall be many other stories and memories of interest which I look forward to hearing and adding to this page. If you do have any corrections or would like to contribute to the photographs and stories I would love to include them, especially any relating to No.5 Enaclete. Please feel free to comment below or use the contact form.
Early Settlement and Landscape
The landscape around Enaclete is shaped by its shoreline. Numerous stone-built piers and landing places show how vital the loch was for daily life. Inshore fishing and boat transport complemented crofting, with field systems still visible today. The history remains with visible evidence of piers, fanks, and the gables of the blackhouses.
The Crofting Township
By the 19th century, Enaclete consisted of a small cluster of crofts — nine in all. Each croft was a strip of land running up from the shore, providing ground for mixed farming and grazing and access to the sea.
Unlike some of the neighbouring villages, Enaclete was never turned into a single large sheep farm during the Highland Clearances. Instead, around the mid-19th century, families displaced from other cleared districts made their way here. By around 1850 the crofting pattern that is recognisable today was established, with Enaclete becoming home to a new population of settlers.
Twentieth-Century Life
Through the 20th century, Enaclete remained a crofting community. Wartime service left its mark, with local men and women remembered in parish rolls of honour. Everyday life carried on through croft work, fishing, and the running of small services including a sub-post office operated from 1932 at 6 Enaclete.
Ordnance Survey maps from the late 19th and early 20th centuries show the township much as it still looks today: croft houses strung along the single track, fields divided by ditches, all spreading down to the line of Little Loch Roag.
Memories of Croft 5
Tenants of Croft 5 Enaclete:
| 1st Tenant | Donald Maclean |
| 2nd Tenant | Peter Macdonald (1811-1894) |
| 3rd Tenant | Malcolm Macleod |
| 4th Tenant | John “Brace” Macleod (1854-tbc) Joiner, relief postman, and builder of the later dwelling at 5 Enaclete (pictured below) |
| 5th Tenant | Neil “Neilly” Macritchie (1940-2021) Lorry driver (pictured below) |
News and Clippings:
Article from 1922 (estimate)
Photographs:
Further reading and references
- https://hebrideanconnections.com/record/locations/1978/
- https://www.ceuig.co.uk/places/villages/enaclete/
- https://www.trove.scot/place/336955
- http://www.ceuig.co.uk/the-uig-pos-and-their-postmarks/
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