Crowlista is located in Uig in the west of Lewis, on the north side of Camas Uig and the Traigh Mhor. It is an old settlement, with rocky ground in contrast to the machair around the other parts of the bay. It was the only township in the area not to have been cleared for large-scale farming in the 19th century.

The township was lotted as 25 small crofts circa 1850, in narrow strips of land running west-east to the shore. It was relotted in 1920 and by 1960 several crofts had been amalgamated and sublet and were being worked as 14 units.

There are the remains of two piers and a curing house in Crowlista, indicating the importance of fishing to the village. A Gaelic school was established in the village, replaced about 1880 by the public school, since torn down and replaced by the new Uig school and community centre.