The Bequest of the Bell at Baile na Cille, 1829

The church at Baile na Cille was built in 1829 to accommodate the growing congregation of the evangelical minister Rev Alexander Macleod, who had arrived in Uig in 1824.  Church records include the following:

Dec 17, 1829

Roderick Nicolson Esq residing in Stornoway most respectably expressed his attachment to his native Parish by making a present of a Bell valued at twelve pounds stg for the use of the new church of Uig, built anno domini 1829.

Roderick, a shipowner in Stornoway, was the son of Angus Nicolson and the father of Alexander Morrison Nicolson, whose bequest founded the Nicolson Institute.