St Kilda

Rod Smallwood: Nether Moor Images

St Kilda is remote. Very remote – about 65 km west of North Uist, and over 100 km from our starting point in Loch Mhiabhaig on Lewis. It is an archipelago with two main islands – Hirta and Boreray – and many sea stacks. It is home to an enormous number of seabirds – a quarter of the world population of Northern Gannets, and nine-tenths of Europe’s Leach’s Petrels. Hirta was inhabited for two millenia. The population was finally evacuated in 1930. The National Trust for Scotland owns the islands, and the Army have had a base there as part of the missile range on Benbecula since 1957. Getting to St Kilda is now relatively easy, weather permitting, and landing craft regularly service the base. We pay for the military base, and fund the heritage maintenance and tourism, but did not think that the population that produced the heritage was worth supporting on the islands. Strange set of values.

Approaching St Kilda late in the evening, after sunset. Boreray is on the left behind Stack an Armin, with Stac Lee on the right and Hirta just visible in the distance.
Approaching St Kilda late in the evening, after sunset. Boreray is on the left behind Stack an Armin, with Stac Lee on the right and Hirta just visible in the distance. There are still Gannets in the sky.
The store on Village Bay, Hirta.
The store on Village Bay, Hirta. Hirta was the only inhabited island – all the rest are very difficult to land on. Dun, on the other side of the bay, has lazy-bed remains clearly visible. Most of the islands and stacks were visited when possible for grazing the Soay sheep and for harvesting sea birds and their eggs.
Main Street on Hirta.
Main Street on Hirta. All the houses are on Main Street, which is the only street, and curves around above Village Bay. The roofed houses are used by the National Trust for Scotland, and accomodate the working parties.
An Lag, Hirta, looking towards Village Bay and Dun.
An Lag, Hirta, looking towards Village Bay and Dun. In the foreground are cleits, which are found all over Hirta – they are naturally ventilated food stores.
Stac an Armin, almost hidden by Stac Lee, and Boreray from the Gap, Hirta.
Stac an Armin, almost hidden by Stac Lee, and Boreray from the Gap, Hirta. Stac Lee is white from the Gannet guano.
Main Street from Oiseval, Hirta.
Main Street from Oiseval, Hirta. One of the roofed houses is visible at the lower left.
Three of the roofed houses on Main Street,
Three of the roofed houses on Main Street, Hirta.
The graveyard and Dun, Hirta.
The graveyard and Dun, Hirta. Dun is the far island, sheltering the bay.
Walls and cleits, Hirta.
Walls and cleits, Hirta.
Stac Lee, Boreray, and clouds of Gannets.
Stac Lee, Boreray, and clouds of Gannets.

Further reading

A great deal has been written about St Kilda – it was, for visitors, a remote romantic destination on the edge of the ocean.

Tom Steel’s ‘The Life and Death of St Kilda’ was the first book I read about the archipelago. Very interesting with lots of old photos.

Roger Hutchinson’s ‘St Kilda, A People’s History’ is more recent and even better.

The definitve book about St Kilda is Angela Gannon and George Geddes’ ‘St Kilda: The Last and Outmost Isle’.

There are lots of photographs of St Kilda, but few can equal those in Beka Globe’s ‘Land, Sea and Sky’.

For me, the most evocative picture of all, which captures the mixed majesty and terror when paddling a sea kayak between Stac an Armin and Boreray, is Norman Ackroyd’s etching ‘Stac an Armin Evening 2010’ which hangs on our wall. You can find it on page 40 of Norman Ackroyd, ‘The Furthest Lands’ – the catalogue of an exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

Click on a thumbnail to open a higher resolution image.

Posted on Posted in One place: ten images, Scotland, Social History