St Kilda () is a remote archipelago situated west-northwest of North Uist in the North Atlantic Ocean. It contains the westernmost islands of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The largest island is Hirta, whose sea cliffs are the highest in the United Kingdom; three other islands (Dùn, Soay and Boreray) were also used for grazing and seabird hunting. The islands are administratively a part of the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar local authority area.

The origin of the name St Kilda is a matter of conjecture. The islands' human heritage includes unique architectural features from the historic and prehistoric periods, although the earliest written records of island life date from the Late Middle Ages. The medieval village on Hirta was rebuilt in the 19th century, but illnesses brought by increased external contacts through tourism, and the upheaval of the First World War, contributed to the island's evacuation.See especially Maclean (1977), Steel (1988), Fleming (2005). Permanent habitation on the islands possibly extends back two millennia, the population probably never exceeding 180; its peak was in the late 17th century. The population waxed and waned, eventually dropping to 36 in 1930, when the remaining population was evacuated. Currently, the only year-round residents are military personnel; a variety of conservation workers, volunteers and scientists spend time there in the summer months."The new residents of St Kilda archipelago" . (29 August 2010). BBC News. Retrieved 29 August 2010. The entire archipelago is owned by the National Trust for Scotland.National Trust for Scotland. Guide.

A cleit is a stone storage hut or bothy unique to St Kilda; there are known to be 1,260 on Hirta and a further 170 on the other group islands.St Kilda – David Quine (Colin Baxter Island Guides) 1995 Two different early sheep types have survived on these remote islands: the Soay, a Neolithic type, and the Boreray, an Iron Age type. The islands are a breeding ground for many important seabird species including northern gannets, Atlantic puffins, and northern fulmars. The St Kilda wren and St Kilda field mouse are endemic subspecies.

It became one of Scotland's seven World Heritage Sites in 1986, and is one of the few in the world to hold joint status for both its natural and cultural qualities."World Heritage: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" . UNESCO. Retrieved 3 January 2007.

Origin of names

The name St Kilda, which is not used in Gaelic, is of obscure origin, as there is no saint by the name Kilda. It occurs for the first time in ("Treasure of Navigation"), a pilot book published by Lucas Waghenaer in 1592. A. B. Taylor suggests that it originated as a copying error for Skilda(r), a name that appears on Nicolas de Nicolay's 1583 map of Scotland, which Waghenaer used as a source. On Nicolay's map, the name denotes an island group closer to Lewis and Harris than St Kilda, possibly Haskeir, Gasker or Haskeir Eagach. Taylor notes that the latter two groups could be compared to shields lying flat upon the water, and gives the Norse word (meaning "shields") as the etymon.

According to another theory, advanced by William J. Watson and others, the name derives from Tobar Childa, an important well on Hirta. Childa is in fact a descendant of , the Norse word for a well, but it is possible that visitors to the island (who would have used the well to take on fresh water) mistook it as the name of a local saint. A number of other theories have been suggested in both the past and in modern times.

PronunciationScottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:Scottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:Scottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:Scottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:Scottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:Scottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:Scottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:Scottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:Scottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:Scottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:Scottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:Scottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:Scottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:Scottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:Scottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:Scottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:Scottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:Scottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:Scottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:Scottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:Scottish Gaelic: Pronunciation:

The origins of Hiort, and its anglicized form Hirta, which long pre-date St Kilda, are similarly obscure. Watson derives it from the Gaelic word , meaning "death", noting that although Alexander MacBain suggested "that the ancient Celts fancied this sunset isle to be the gate to their earthly paradise" the connection was more likely to be to the dangers of living on St Kilda, which "in the Hebrides is regarded as a penitentiary rather than a gate to paradise". It has also been said to mean "the western land", from the Gaelic although this theory presents difficulties. It may not be Gaelic in origin at all, but rather Norse. Taylor derives it from the Norse word , meaning "stags", on account of the islands' "jagged outlines". In support of this theory, he notes that Hirtir appears in the 13th-century as a name for an island group in the Hebrides.

As with St Kilda, a number of other theories have been offered. All the names of and on the islands are discussed by Richard Coates.

Geography

The islands are composed of Tertiary igneous formations of granites and gabbro, heavily weathered by the elements. The archipelago represents the remnants of a long-extinct ring volcano rising from a seabed plateau approximately below sea level."Knowledge of the marine environment" (PDF) Scottish Natural Heritage. Retrieved 2 January 2007.

At in extent, Hirta is the largest island in the group and comprises more than 78% of the land area of the archipelago. Next in size are Soay (English: "sheep island") at and Boreray ("the fortified isle"), which measures ."Protected Areas and World Heritage—St Kilda". United Nations Environment Programme: World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Retrieved 18 March 2007. Soay is northwest of Hirta, Boreray northeast. Smaller islets and stacks in the group include Stac an Armin ("warrior's stack"), Stac Lee ("grey stack") and Stac Levenish ("stream" or "torrent").Quine (2000) pages 99, 109, 111, 125, 137, 145. The island of Dùn ('fort'), which protects Village Bay from the prevailing southwesterly winds, was at one time joined to Hirta by a natural arch. MacLean (1972) suggests that the arch was broken when struck by a galleon fleeing the defeat of the Spanish Armada, but other sources, such as Mitchell (1992) and Fleming (2005), suggest that the arch was simply swept away by one of the many fierce storms that batter the islands every winter.Maclean (1977) page 18.Fleming (2005) page 64.

The highest point in the archipelago, Conachair ("the beacon") at , is on Hirta, immediately north of the village. In the southeast is Oiseval ("east fell"), which reaches , and Mullach Mòr ("big hill summit") 361 metres (1,185 ft) is due west of Conachair. Ruival ("red fell") and Mullach Bi ("pillar summit") dominate the western cliffs. Boreray reaches and Soay . The extraordinary Stac an Armin reaches , and Stac Lee, , making them the highest sea stacks in Britain."Dual World Heritage Status For Unique Scottish Islands" . National Trust for Scotland. Retrieved 6 January 2007.The heights are from Haswell-Smith (2004), although the National Trust website states and respectively.

In modern times, St Kilda's only settlement was at Village Bay ( or ) on the east side of Hirta. Gleann Mòr on the north coast of Hirta and Boreray also contain the remains of earlier habitations.Maclean (1977) page 19. The sea approach to Hirta into Village Bay suggests a small settlement flanked by high rolling hills in a semicircle behind it. This is misleading.Baxter and Crumley (1988) page 87. "Village Bay and its hills... a stupendous sham, a masterly St Kildan deception." The whole north face of Conachair is a vertical cliff up to high,Keay, J. & Keay, J. (1994) Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland. London. HarperCollins. Pages 840–2. falling sheer into the sea and constituting the highest sea cliff in the UK.This is noted by several authorities including Steel (1988), p. 27, although Keay (1994) erroneously states they are the "highest in Europe". Croaghaun on Achill Island is considerably higher at ; see for example "Geographical Facts and Figures". Wesleyjohnston.com. Retrieved on 9 September 2007.

The archipelago is the site of many of the most spectacular sea cliffs in the British Isles. Baxter and Crumley (1988) suggest that St Kilda: "...is a mad, imperfect God's hoard of all unnecessary lavish landscape luxuries he ever devised in his madness. These he has scattered at random in Atlantic isolation from the corrupting influences of the mainland, west of the westmost Western Isles. He has kept for himself only the best pieces and woven around them a plot as evidence of his madness."Baxter and Crumley (1988) page 7. The lower case pronouns for the deity are in the original text.

Although from the nearest land, St Kilda is visible from as far as the summit ridges of the Skye Cuillin, some distant.Murray (1966) page 163. The climate is oceanic with high rainfall, , and high humidity. Temperatures are generally cool, averaging in January and in July. The prevailing winds, especially strong in winter, are southerly and southwesterly. Wind speeds average approximately 85 percent of the time and more than more than 30 percent of the time. Gale-force winds occur less than two percent of the time, but gusts of and more occur regularly on the high tops, and speeds of have occasionally been recorded near sea level. The tidal range is , and ocean swells of frequently occur, which can make landings difficult or impossible at any time of year."St Kilda World Heritage Site Management Plan 2003 – 2008" (PDF) National Trust for Scotland. Retrieved 24 January 2007. The oceanic location protects the islands from snow, which lies for only about a dozen days per year.

The archipelago's remote location and oceanic climate are matched in the UK only by a few smaller outlying islands such as the Flannan Isles, North Rona, Sula Sgeir, and the Bishop's Isles at the southern edge of the Outer Hebrides. Administratively, St Kilda was part of the parish of Harris in the traditional county of Inverness-shire.Steel (1988) page 199. Today it is incorporated in the Comhairle nan Eilean Siar unitary authorityOrdnance Survey Explorer Map 460, North Lewis/Ceann a Tuath Leòdhais. (formerly Western Isles Islands Council).

History

Prehistory It has been known for some time that St Kilda was continuously inhabited for two millennia or more, from the Bronze Age until 1930.St Kilda: Revised Nomination of St Kilda for inclusion in the World Heritage Site List (January 2003) (pdf) National Trust for Scotland. Retrieved 21 March 2007. In 2015, the first direct evidence of earlier Neolithic settlement emerged, sherds of pottery of the Hebridean ware style, found to the east of the village. The subsequent discovery of a quarry for stone tools on Mullach Sgar above Village Bay led to finds of numerous stone hoe-blades, grinders and Skaill knives in the Village Bay cleitean, unique stone storage buildings (see below). These tools are also probably of Neolithic origin.Fleming (2005) pages 37–56.

The potsherds appear to have been made of local material, rather than material brought from other islands in the Hebrides, suggesting that the islands were settled in the 4th millennium BC. Iron Age pottery is also known. Archaeologist Alan Hunter Blair reported that "the eastern end of Village Bay on St Kilda was occupied fairly intensively during the Iron Age period, although no house structures were found".

13th to 18th centuries