St Kilda, Hirta, Village Bay, Blackhouse U

One of two blackhouses on croft 16, this roofless drystone building stands at the W end of the township end-on to the street, and set in the slope at its NNW end. It measures 6.56m from NNW to SSE by 3.31m within walls up to 1.9m in thickness at the SW corner and 1.6m in internal height, except at the NNW end where the gable has been raised to 2.7m. The doorway, obliquely set, and the window are in the ENE wall. A straight joint in the outer wall between the doorway and window indicates either a repair or the re-siting of the doorway. There is a clear distinction in the quality of the stonework in the NNW half of the WSW wall and in the gables, presumably reflecting rebuilding. There is a drainage hood around the upper end of the building and turf on the wallhead on the SW in particular indicates the position of the edge of its last roof.

Constructed after 1834, this blackhouse is shown as two contiguous buildings on a plan of 1858 (SAS Mss 158), by which time it was occupied by Angus Macdonald (1815-1863) and his family (see Lawson 1993, 34). By the early 20th century, this building was used as a byre and store by the Macdonald family of House 16.

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

RCAHMS surveyed Blackhouse U (NF09 NE 41), 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.