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Opium, Soap and Big Plans for Lewis. |
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© SCRAN
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In 1923, Viscount Leverhulme gave the island to the people of Lewis and the castle formed part of this gift. The Stornoway Trust was formed to take over the administration of the castle, and, during the Second World War, the castle served as a naval hospital. After the war, the castle became the responsibility of the local authority, and became the original campus of Lews Castle College.
After the college moved to a new home, Lews Castle School took over in the building. However, the story does not have a happy ending. Structural faults, discovered in 1988, forced the Council to close the castle. Since that date, the grand home of Sir James Matheson has remained boarded up and unused, with the substantial cost of renovation deterring any potential tenants.
The castle, as it lies empty, stands as testimony to the failure of the policies of both Matheson and Leverhulme; all across the islands of Lewis and Harris stand the half finished projects of both men who tried to mould the land and people to their own designs, but who failed to recognise the needs and desires of those they were trying to help. As Nigel Nicolson states in his wonderful book on Leverhulme, Lord of the Isles: "Are the people of a backward country the best judges of their own interests? Even if it is assumed that they are not, should 'improvement' be forced upon them?"
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