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The Whalebone Arch in a garden at Bragar behind a wooden gate, cottages and a stone wall around it.
Outer Hebrides

Whalebone Arch

An arch made of the jawbones of a blue whale that came ashore in 1920, in a garden by the road at Bragar.

Welcome

The Whalebone Arch at Bragar, on the west side of Lewis, is one of the most unusual gateways in Scotland: two enormous jawbones of a blue whale, set up as an arch in the garden beside two houses by the main road.

The whale came ashore on the coast here, dead, in 1920, with a harpoon still in it; the harpoon's explosive head had failed to go off.

It did go off in the end. The crofter who dealt with the whale and the harpoon took it back to his shed, where the charge finally exploded, luckily when he was not inside. The harpoon now hangs from the top of the arch, and the bones stand in the garden with a small sign at the gate. It is a quick stop by the road, on the right if you are heading south, on the way between the Arnol blackhouse and Callanish, and a good example of an island crannog lies not far away, towards Shawbost.

A short drive awayDalmore BeachA sandy surf beach between cliffs on the west coast of Lewis, with sea stacks and an old cemetery above.12 min by roadSee itGolden sand and dark rocks at Dalmore Beach below rugged cliffs.
Before you go

The arch is beside two houses on the main road through Bragar, on the right coming from the north.

Look from the gate; it is in a private garden.

Getting there
CalMac ferry from Ullapool to Stornoway, 2 hours 45 minutes; or from Skye to Harris and drive north.
Where
By the main road at Bragar.
Access
View from the gate.
Where it is

Bragar, west side of Lewis, HS2 9DF.

Close byAt Bragar, west Lewis.
  1. The thatched blackhouses of Gearrannan from above, by a small bay under a grey sky.Gearrannan Blackhouse VillageA village of nine restored thatched blackhouses by the sea at Garenin, lived in until 1974.9 miles16 min by road
  2. Dun Carloway on its rocky knoll above a loch, the sun behind cloud.Dun Carloway BrochA 2,000-year-old broch tower on a rocky knoll near Carloway, still standing nine metres tall.9 miles13 min by road
  3. Roadside honesty stall selling Hebridean Copper Kettle Fudge, baking and fresh eggs, Isle of LewisHebridean Copper Kettle FudgeA roadside honesty box at Breasclete on Lewis selling fudge made in a copper kettle, along with home baking and eggs.13 miles19 min by road
  4. Alpacas in coloured coats stand on a grassy hillsideCallanish Alpacas14 miles21 min by road
  5. Callanish StonesCallanish StonesA cross-shaped setting of standing stones on a ridge above Loch Roag, raised 5,000 years ago, before Stonehenge.15 miles23 min by road
Directions
Golden sand and dark rocks at Dalmore Beach below rugged cliffs.AttractionsDalmore Beach7.2 miles
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