The extensive sandy beach at Traigh Uige, from Carnais, Harris, Outer Hebrides, Western Isles. Scotland. SCO 6336
Uig is a 'bay backed machair and hills' on the western coast of the island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. The name derives from the Norse word Vik meaning 'a bay'. Uig Beach (Scottish Gaelic: Tràigh Uige) is surrounded by the villages of Crowlista (Cradhlastadh), Timsgarry (Timsgearraidh), Ardroil (Eadar Dha Fhadhail) and Carnish. The large beach is one of Scotland's leading kite-buggy locations, being large, flat, and frequently subject to suitable winds. It is best known as the site where the Lewis Chessmen were found. Before 1831, a local crofter discovered a buried hoard of chess pieces, uncovered following a storm. The chessmen are now in the British Museum and the Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, with replicas in the Uig Heritage Centre in Timsgearraidh. They are mostly carved from walrus tusks and probably originated in Norway sometime in the 12th century, although when and how they came to be in Uig is unknown. Bhaltos (or Valtos) is the largest village in Uig and is home to about 35 people. Since 1999 the land on the Bhaltos peninsula, comprising also the smaller villages of Cliobh (Cliff), Cnip (Kneep), Riof (Reef) and Uigen, has been owned by the community and managed by the Valtos Trust. A well preserved wheelhouse at Cnip, and two nearby brochs, make the area important archaeologically. In 1979 a rich female Viking burial was discovered on Kneep headland. Uig Beach is perhaps best know as the site where the Lewis Chessmen were found, and now there is a large sculpture beside the beach parking area. These chessmen were unearthed around 1831, from a stone chamber behind the beach. 93 pieces exist, some in the Royal Museum in Edinburgh but most in the British Museum. They date from the Viking occupation and were carved from walrus ivory and whales' teeth and shaped as seated kings and queens, mitred bishops, knights on horses, castles and pawns in the shape of obelisks.
Size: 5620px × 3733px
Location: Uig Beach, Carnais, Harris, Outer Hebrides, Western Isles. Scotland.
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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