We had an early start for our trip to St Kilda as the boat (Kilda Cruises) left at 7.30am from the pier at Leverburgh which was a short drive from our accommodation. It was scheduled to return a 7.30 pm and as there were no facilities on the boat, or at St Kilda, we had to take our own lunch including some ginger for seasickness as it could be very rough.
The good news as we reached the pier was that the weather was good so we were going to the St Kilda Archipelago.
The St Kilda Archipelago is an isolated group of islands and is all that remains above the sea of a large volcano thought to have been active about 60 million years ago. The underlying rocks – granite, gabbro and dolerite – have been eroded by ice, rain and the sea to form an impressive coastline of four main islands and offshore stacs. Hirta boast the highest sea cliff in the British Isles at Conachair (376m), while Stac An Armin (191m) is the highest sea stac.
It is believed that St Kilda was settled by humans between four and five thousand years ago. St Kilda’s distance of 41 miles from the Outer Hebrides allowed for the development of a unique style of self-sufficient island life that remained much preserved until the archipelago’s eventual abandonment in 1930.
There are traces of Neolithic sites and of Norse presence prior to the settlement of the Gaelic speaking Scots. At its peak the population approached 200 people who carved out a life in this remote place.
The St Kildan’s diet was not fish, as one might expect, as the seas were too treacherous. Instead they survived on seabirds – gannets and fulmars mostly – which they caught and used for food and many other things. The meat was stored, the eggs eaten, the oil was used as fuel for lamps and the feathers were sold to the few visitors that came to the islands. The St Kildans were very economical and used the birds beaks for brooch-pins, the bones for needles and the gannet skins were fashioned into shoes.
In 1697, the Scottish writer Martin Martin, who wrote about the Western Isles, visited and found a vibrant community who he described as “…much happier than the generality of mankind…”. However, life was hard and became even harder as the population declined and contact with the outside world increased in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Disease caused many deaths on the island and stories of a better and easier life on the mainland, Australia and Canada encouraged many to leave. With fewer able-bodied people, the life for those who stayed became harder. Towards the end of the 1920s, the crops failed several times and the islanders nearly starved to death. The decision to evacuate was made and on the 29th August 1930 the remaining 36 islanders were removed to the Scottish mainland.
The islands are now owned by the National Trust for Scotland and are managed in partnership with the Ministry of Defence who lease land for an important radar tracking station. Currently home only to a few members of the defence and conservation communities, St Kilda welcomes many visitors throughout the year who are drawn to the islands for the wonderful wildlife and fascinating history.
The Kirk (church) was built in the late 1820s and has a schoolroom attached which was built in 1898. The Factor’s house was built in the 1860s. The Factor’s job was to represent the Laird and visit each summer to collect the rent.
The islanders lived in Blackhouses built in the 1830s, but 16 improved cottages were built around 1860 after a gale which resulted in a lot of damage. The improved houses were occupied until the evacuation. Six have been re-roofed and are used by the National Trust for Scotland.
One of the re-roofed houses is now a small museum and it is interesting to note that the Main Street, when inhabited, had a post office. I wonder how long it took for the post to be taken to the mainland for delivery as visitors were few and far between.
The islands also have First World War history. In 1918 a German U-Boat shelled the village to destroy a radio mast. A gun and ammunition store were installed and the gun is still there, although a bit rusty.
The extreme isolation of St Kilda means that a limited range of plants and animals exist here. The St Kilda wren lives amongst the ruins of Hirta or on the steep cliffs and is larger than its mainland relative. The St Kilda field mouse still thrives and is nearly twice as big as the mainland mice.
A flock of primitive sheep, found nowhere else in the world, survived on the island of Soay and after the evacuation some were transferred to Hirta where they are completely wild.
The other wildlife that are on and around the islands and stacs are the seabirds. The islands have one of the world’s largest gannet colonies, on Boreray; the oldest and largest colony of Fulmars in Britain; and the biggest colony of Puffins in Britain. These have presumably increased since the islands have been evacuated and the birds are not being used for food.
On our way back to Leverburgh, the boat sailed around the other islands and stacs where one could see another breed of sheep that were left when the islands were evacuated and are also living wild.
The St Kilda archipelago is definitely worth a visit if you are in the Leverburgh area but you need to book in advance, be lucky with the weather and as advised by Kilda Cruises, allow two days for the trip, just in case the weather is bad on the intended day.
Words and photos: Copyright John Cruse 2024