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St Kilda, Hirta, Village Bay, Blackhouse H

Blackhouse (Post Medieval)

Site Name St Kilda, Hirta, Village Bay, Blackhouse H

Classification Blackhouse (Post Medieval)

Canmore ID 139386

Site Number NF19NW 21.30

NGR NF 10120 99362

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/139386

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Western Isles
  • Parish Harris
  • Former Region Western Isles Islands Area
  • Former District Western Isles
  • Former County Inverness-shire

Archaeology Notes

Activities

Field Visit (August 2014)

This roofless blackhouse stands on the street immediately W of the burn that runs from Tobar Childa. Positioned on croft no. 8, it was one of two blackhouses, the second of which stood immediately to the W. That building, the main dwelling in 1858 (SAS Mss 158), was demolished in advance of the construction of House 8 and its remains were excavated in the 1980s (Emery 1996).

Set into the natural slope and with a floor that slopes, the black house measures 6.24m from N to S by 2.91m transversely within walls up to 1.4m thick and 1.8m high on the sides and 2.6m high at the ends Unusually, the walls incorporate large stones in the lower courses. the gables are later additions. Turf on the side walls indicates the position of the last roof and cement has been used to seal the area over the openings and at the gables. There is a door and window in the W wall, a position dictated by the stream, a byre-drain under the S wall, and two tethering pins in the E wall. Timbers protruding from the outer wall of the gables were presumably used for securing the roof covering.

There is little evidence in this building for remodelling and it seems likely that it is the structure depicted on Sharbau’s plan as a ‘manure house’ (SAS Mss 158). However, it was presumably constructed between 1834 and 1858 as a byre-dwelling for a second branch of the Macdonald family, though note the record of cottars living between crofts 7 and 8 (Lawson 1993, 9 and 24).

Visited by RCAHMS (GFG, AM, JM) August 2014.

Measured Survey (29 August 2014 - 31 August 2014)

RCAHMS surveyed Blackhouse H (NF19 NW 21.30), Village Bay, St Kilda between 29-31 August 2014 with plane-table and alidade at a scale of 1:100. The resultant plan was redrawn in vector graphics software and published at a scale of 1:200 (Gannon and Geddes 2015, 101).

Watching Brief (13 September 2016 - 22 September 2016)

NF 10121 99362 (Canmore ID: 139386. SMR ID: NTS 2334). A watching brief was carried out, 13–22 September 2016, on the repair of the S gable of Blackhouse H on Village Street, following its partial collapse after heavy rain. The SE corner appeared to have been rebuilt in more recent times, whereas the SW corner is more likely to have remained unaltered since the early 20th century. One body sherd of ‘craggan’ ware was retained, but in line with agreed NTS/ HES finds disposal policy for St Kilda the few sherds of glass, pottery and stone tools also found were recorded and then reburied within the repaired wall.

Report: Comhairle nan Eilean Siar HER, NRHE and NTS

Funder: The National Trust for Scotland and HES

Jonathan Wordsworth – The National Trust for Scotland

(Source: DES, Volume 17)

References

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