Last updated: January 2026

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

I have met with family members of the fifth tenant of Croft 5 (Neil Macritchie, pictured below) and learned about the dwelling and some of the work that Neil used to do.

When Neil moved into the croft house it had a stone facade, with a deep void beneath the floors that you could almost stand in. In the mid-1980’s a series of grants were provided for improvement works to the house which included the roughcast rendering, covering the original stonework. The void below the floors was filled to provide a much smaller crawl space. A rewire was carried out and night storage heaters installed.

I also learned that the original solid fuel Aga was replaced by a second-hand oil-fed Esse range which was all that heated the hot water and the kitchen (this has since been removed by myself, and a night storage heater fitted in the kitchen (in 2025). The coal fire was later boarded over and an electric bar fire stood in front. Again, this has been removed and the coal fire reinstated by myself (in 2025).

The walled enclosure farthest down the croft was a great spot for growing potatoes apparently, and getting a tractor down there for the harvest somewhat of a challenging job!

Many of apportionments above the croft had access put to them when the B8011 was improved and bypassed Enaclete (around 1995). However Neil didn’t ask for these improvements and so the apportionment for Croft 5 remains detached from any tarmac access. Pop quiz: the B8011 is the longest B road on the Isle of Lewis at 18 miles long.

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:

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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