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In 1882-4, Frances Groome's Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland described Carloway like this:
Carloway, a district in the N of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Ross-shire, extending from the upper part of Lochs parish north-westward to the Atlantic, and from Loch Roag north-eastward to the boundary with Barvas. Its coast is penetrated, 3 miles east-north-eastward from the mouth of Loch Roag, by a sea-inlet called Loch Carloway; and its interior is more mountainous than almost any other part of Lewis, and has numerous intersections of soft and moorish tracts and fresh-water lakes. ...
The arable lands form a small proportion of the entire area, lie chiefly along the shore, and are low and sandy. A circular Scandinavian fort here is larger and more entire than almost any other antiquity of its class in Scotland, and has a strong stone, turf-covered rampart 30 feet high. A village called Carloway stands at the head of Loch Carloway, and has a Free church. The father of blind Rory, the harper, mentioned in one of Sir Walter Scott's novels, resided in the district, and was the original translator of the Psalms into Gaelic. Pop. of registration district (1861) 2204, (1871) 2702, (1881) 2974.
Carloway is now part of NA H EILEANAN AN IAR Council. Click here for graphs and data of how NA H EILEANAN AN IAR has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Carloway itself, go to Statistics.
How to reference this page:
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Carloway, in Na H Eileanan An Iar and Ross and Cromarty | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/21761
Date accessed: 09th April 2026
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Carloway".
