St Kilda, Hirta, Village Bay, Blackhouse R

This roofless gabled blackhouse stands on croft 13 and is flanked by two large cleits (Nos. 78 and 79). A smaller building immediately to the N is now reduced to footings. Blackhouse R was probably constructed by Neil Mackinnon (1785-1846) and it was occupied by his son Malcolm in 1858 (SAS Mss 158), and subsequently by Donald and Kirsty Gillies (Lawson 1993, 30).

The blackhouse measures internally 8.83m from N to S by 3.04m transversely within walls up to 1.9m thick and side- and end-walls 1.7m and 2.5m high respectively. The N end of the building is set into a slope to such an extent that its external height is only 1.2m. There is a central window opening in the E wall flanked by two doorways, the northern of which may be a later insertion or represent the alteration of a window. The S door retains timber dooks showing the position of the door frame. A well-constructed byre-drain runs through the lower third of the building under the S wall and under the street. A single iron tethering pin and a timber peg are set into the S end of the W wall. The floor level is slightly higher in the upper 2/3 of the building and there is a shallow groove running along the edge of the W wall, probably an inserted drain. The position of the edge of the last roof is indicated by turf, tar-spattered cement and sections of timber wall-plates which are clearly in re-use

The blackhouse is depicted on Sharbau’s plan as is the outbuilding labelled as a manure store (SAS Mss 158). The plan supports the suggestion by Johnstone (1998, 28) that the blackhouse has been lengthened.

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

RCAHMS surveyed Blackhouse R (NF09 NE 39), Village Bay, St Kilda between 27-28 August 2014 with plane-table and alidade at a scale of 1:100. The resultant plan was redrawn in vector graphics software.