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St Kilda, Hirta, Village Bay, Blackhouse A

Blackhouse (19th Century)

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

Classification Blackhouse (19th Century)

Canmore ID 139442

Site Number NF19NW 21.43

NGR NF 10262 99302

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/139442

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 (1 September 2014)

This ruinous drystone range is aligned up and down the slope at an angle to the street. It consists of two buildings; a main unit, originally built as a byre-house, and set into the slope, and a later dwelling attached to the higher N end. Constructed in the 1830s, Black House A was the principal residence of Lachlan Mackinnon’s family during the middle of the 19th century and it continued to be used by his descendants in conjunction with House 1 until 1930 (Lawson 1993, 16; Quine 1988, 242-248). Both units are shown on a plan of 1858 (SAS Mss 158), with an enclosure to the W (much of which survives) and an outhouse and enclosure to the E.

The main unit, rather well-built, measures 6.3m by 3.29m within walls up to 2.2m thick and 1.9m high except on the N where a gable has been added to take the height to 2.7m. Cement on the wallhead above the doorway and some sections of turf capping indicate the position of the edge of the last roof, and the areas above both windows and the SW wallhead have been rebuilt after 1930. There is a byre-drain which runs under the S end-wall and the remains of tethering rings for animals are visible in the E and N walls. The doorway in the E side retains some evidence for the position of a timber frame while the window to its N opens above an unusual niche that may be original. Unusually, there is a second window facing W and cement around it supports the suggestion that it is a secondary feature. The external face of the S end-wall has been reconstructed (Johnstone 1998, 10) but it seems likely, given the lack of corresponding evidence in the internal face, that this was either to provide improved access, or as a repair, and there is no reason, given the lack of historical evidence for the practice on St Kilda, to see it as evidence that the gable was taken down seasonally to aid removal of manure.

The N range, presumably added to accommodate family members, measures 4.35m by 1.81m within walls up to 1.2m thick and 1.9m high. The wallhead is turf-covered except above the doorway, where a layer of cement, now tar spattered, has been added to provide additional waterproofing. The E window retains cement and timber fixtures for the frame, but the W window has been blocked. A drainage hood around the N end of this building feeds into a slab drain outside the main house and the burn to the W. The remains of a manure house and a particularly large midden pit stand outside the range to the E, and there is an enclosure attached to the W, clearly earlier than both House 1 and the N range.

Visited by RCAHMS (GFG, AM, JM) 1 September 2014.

Measured Survey (1 September 2014)

RCAHMS surveyed Blackhouse A (NF19 NW 21.43), Village Bay, St Kilda on 1 September 2014 with plane-table and alidade at a scale of 1:100. The resultant plan was redrawn in vector graphics software.

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