A first sight of the Lews Castle sundial at Stornoway, Isle of Lewis. This was a restoration we completed in 2020.
The sundial at Lews Castle, which overlooks Stornoway harbour on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, is a restoration of a piece of nineteenth century garden furniture. The cast iron pedestal was once the base of a water fountain that stood in the castle grounds. In 2019 work started on a major Castle Grounds Regeneration Project, which included the pedestal. This ornate piece would be restored as a sundial. The Stornoway Trust had a special wish to see a timeline history of the Lews estate written on the dial.
We designed and completed the sundial in 2020. This was the period of Covid lockdown so we could not travel to Stornoway to install it ourselves. Instead we sent the dial ahead by courier and arranged for local engineers to do the work for us. We posted an item here at the time, but September 2022 was our first chance to see the sundial in its new position in the sunken garden, while we were on a visit to the island. The restored pedestal and its new dial look good. We also saw the beautifully restored Gothic Revival castle, and the magnificent Museum of the Islands newly built and opened in 2016.