Captain William Fraser purchased the Kilmuir estate in the north of the Isle of Skye in 1855. For £80,000 he was reported to have acquired an estate which was ‘one of the most susceptible to improvement in the Highlands’ and one which was sure to be a ‘profitable investment’ – a euphemistic way of saying that the tenants could be evicted and the land used for more lucrative purposes. Soon after purchasing the estate Captain Fraser erected this round tower overlooking Uig Bay.

The original purpose of the tower is not clear, although it must have been both belvedere and eye-catcher. It is named simply as ‘Tower’ on the 1875 Ordnance Survey map, but it may have had a defensive purpose: it was described as a ‘Martello Tower’ in 1880 when it was bedecked with flags, and a cannon salute fired from it, to welcome a grandee to Uig. By 1882 it was in use as an office for the estate factor, and this is where the crofters came to pay their rent.

Fraser was keen to capitalise on his investment and, like other landlords involved in what became known as ‘the Clearances’, he withdrew the grazing rights of the traditional crofters and doubled their rents. The aim was to force the crofters off the land in favour of more profitable sheep-farming. Unsurprisingly there was ‘agitation’ on the estate, and the crofters demanded the return of their hillside grazing rights or a reduction in rent.

In April 1882 ‘dramatic scenes’ occurred when the crofters marched up to the tower on the day their rent was due. Led by a piper playing a ‘lustily stirring air’, they waved their money under the factor’s nose, but refused to pay a penny until their demands were met. In 1884, as the dispute dragged on, hundreds of Marines and constabulary landed at Uig with a view to ‘over-aweing the people’. In 1887 the North British Daily Mail, firmly in support of the crofters, called Fraser (by now promoted to the rank of Major) ‘the most conspicuous example of a sordid, avaricious and peremptory land-merchant, hungering for a big return on his capital’. There is not space here to tell the whole story, but eventually legislation was passed protecting the rights of tenant crofters in Scotland.

The tower had become known as Captain Fraser’s Folly, but by the later years of the nineteenth century it had a new purpose as a dwelling known simply as ‘the Tower’. In December 1908, William Ross, gamekeeper, got married and took his bride to his unusual circular home. They are recorded there in 1921, sharing their home with their son and daughter and two grandsons. When the photographer John Peat Munn visited in 1938 he found William Ross, who must by then have been in his early eighties, ‘at home’ after 45 years in the tower.

For some years the tower was in the ownership of the Uig Hotel, just across the road, but it is now in separate ownership and the ‘keep out’ signs suggest that a warm welcome will not be on offer. It can however be viewed from the roadside.

There’s an excellent history of crofting on the Isle of Skye here.

Thank you for reading. Please scroll down to the comments box below to share any thoughts.

Overlooking the picturesque harbour of Portree, on the Isle of Skye, stands a little tower. It was built in the 1830s by Dr Alexander Macleod, a much-admired man who was known locally as An Dotair Ban, the fair-haired doctor. As well as practicing medicine, Macleod (1788-1854) was also employed as a factor to look after local estates and was respected as an engineer and land-improver.

The tower stands on an outcrop of rock which goes by two different names, one romantic and one rather less so: to some it is ‘Fancy Hill’ whilst to others it is ‘the Lump’. The latter comes from it’s Gaelic name of Meall na h-Acairseid which translates as ‘harbour lump’. The land was owned by Lord Macdonald, whose estate Macleod managed.

In 1834 a local paper reported that plans were afoot to ‘erect a Beacon, or tower on the summit’, and funds were to be collected by public subscription. The paper was a little coy about naming the ‘gentleman who has taken a warm interest in this local ornament or improvement’, but presumably it was Macleod. His idea was ‘that it should be a neat little octagon tower’ about 20 feet in height with windows of coloured glass. For reasons of economy the panes were to be made of many small diamonds of discarded broken glass, which could be ‘got at Liverpool at 2s the pound’. It is thought that the tower and associated landscaping works were part of a wider plan to establish Portree as a resort.

By November 1835 the tower was complete and the hill had been ‘finely planted and laid out in tasteful winding walks’. The pleasure ground was soon noted in tourist literature and in 1851 Anderson’s Guide to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland noted the ‘neat octagonal tower’ and the ‘tastefully formed walks’. The author concluded that ‘a vacant hour cannot well be more pleasantly spent than in a lounge on Fancy Hill’.

In 1899 Macleod’s grandson, Dr M.D. Macleod, gave an address in which he recalled that his late grandfather had ‘a great love for building and embellishing the appearance of places by erecting Celtic towers and such-like where their presence would improve the landscape’ (he also built the folly Scolpaig tower on North Uist). Macleod also recounted that his grandfather had intended the tower to house a natural history museum.

A little more than a decade after Macleod’s death the tower was deteriorating, and it was described as ‘in ruins’ in 1867.  In 1875 another subscription was opened to improve Fancy Hill, and repair the tower which was ‘falling into decay’. At that date it was first suggested that the top of Fancy Hill would be the ideal location for the Isle of Skye Highland Games, which were then in the very early stages of planning. From 1877 the games were held on another site, but in June 1892 it was reported that a piece of ground on the Lump was being levelled ‘at considerable expense’. The games have been held on this spot now for more than a century – paused only for war and the Covid pandemic.

The tower, known initially as the Beacon, or simply the Tower, later became known locally as the Apothecary’s Tower, in memory of Macleod. Sadly the coloured glass, if ever fitted, is long gone, but the shell of the tower was rebuilt after further storm damage towards the end of the last century. A steel staircase gives access to the battlements with superb views over Portree’s beautiful harbour and beyond.

The Folly Flâneuse can think of nothing better than a sunny stroll to a folly after an excellent cup of coffee. If you are in the area then Birch is the place for refreshments https://birch-skye.co/

Thank you for reading and do please get in touch with any thoughts – the comments box is at the bottom of the page.