St Kilda, Hirta, Village Bay, Blackhouse N
Blackhouse (19th Century)
Site Name St Kilda, Hirta, Village Bay, Blackhouse N
Classification Blackhouse (19th Century)
Canmore ID 300975
Site Number NF19NW 21.48
NGR NF 10055 99341
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/300975
- Council Western Isles
- Parish Harris
- Former Region Western Isles Islands Area
- Former District Western Isles
- Former County Inverness-shire
Publication Account (1988)
NF19NW 21.48 10055 99341
Along with Blackhouses M and O, this group of drystone buildings lies end-on to the street, occupying a site between Houses 10 and 11 in the area to the W of the main consumption dyke. Blackhouses M and N are contiguous, sharing a common side-wall. It is clear from Sharbau's plan that in 1858 these houses were used by Donald MacQueen and John Gillies. House 10 nearby, which replaced another blackhouse in this group continued to be occupied by the MacQueens, and House 11 by the Gillies household.
Blackhouse N, virtually a lateral annexe, measures internally 4.98m in length, its width tapering from 2.03m to 1.46m S to N and the walls being up to 1.68m thick. The external SW angle is square. The doorway, which is near the S end of the W side-wall, has a slabbed threshold and three stone lintels, and there is a window a little to the N in the same wall.
Outside a slabstone path runs between Black Houses N and O and continues up the slope past the NE corner, possibly leading to the rubbish pit in that area.
G P Stell and M Harman 1988.
