St Kilda, Hirta, Village Bay, Cleit 32

NF19NW 21.12 10263 99370

This drystone building, which does not conform to the plan of a true cleit, lies to the W of the Abhainn Ilishgil and stands on a steep slope immediately below an old terraced track which runs towards the area of the old village.

The structure is roughly pear-shaped on plan, the apex being at the N end, where the building is set in to the scarp of the old track. At its greatest extent the interior measures 3.81m by 2.44m, and because the walls are corbelled the corresponding clear span at the wall-head is 1.93m. The N and S ends may have had superimposed gables. A lintelled doorway forms an angled passage through the S end of the E side-wall. Towards the N end of the W side-wall there is a blocked low-level and lintelled opening 0.36m wide and 0.56m above present floor-level. At this point the external wall-face is inset between two short projecting sections of corbelled walling, which represent the remains of a cell entered from within the main structure. There appears to be a similar blocked aperture at the S end of the W wall but with no obvious traces of an associated cell.

In photograhs of 1886 this building is shown thatched, and a view taken in 1957 shows a ridge-pole between the two later gables. At some date after 1886 the door lintel was replaced by a large timber baulk which was in turn replaced by a stone lintel in the mid-1970s. Both these phases of alterations involved much reconstruction of the outer wall-face around the doorway.

G P Stell and M Harman 1988.

NF 101 991 (centre) As part of the Management Agreement with Historic Scotland, the monuments within Village Bay were recorded and monitored, and certain cleits, dykes and enclosures were repaired in 2001 under supervision by members of the two volunteer work parties. Detailed work included the completion of the identification of around 300 cleits for active management, and the production of a report on cleit preservation, as well as rapid assessments of coastal erosion and the deposition of builders' debris within some of the roofless structures along the village street.

Report to be deposited in the NMRS.

A survey was carried out by the National Trust for Scotland on over 300 cleitean (singular cleit) on St Kilda. They are double-walled, drystone-built oval or rectangular structures, used primarily for storage of food and fuel resources. Many have survived well after being abandoned in 1930 when the islands were evacuated. The survey recorded their condition, construction and location.

M Taylor 2001

NF 101 991 (centre) As part of the Management Agreement with Historic Scotland, the monuments within Village Bay were recorded and monitored, and certain cleits, dykes, drains and enclosures were repaired under supervision by members of the volunteer work parties which went out to St Kilda in 2002.

A photographic survey of the coastline in Village Bay was carried out and compared to images taken in 1999. The survey indicated erosion along the NE side of the bay. Two sherds of hand-made pottery were recovered and a layer of burning noted in an exposed section.

The annual monitoring of cleits across the island was carried out and the photographic survey of them continued.

Report to be deposited in the NMRS.

Sponsors: HS, NTS.

S Bain 2002