Geograph - photograph every grid square

Hirta is the main island of the St Kilda archipelago and was inhabited for, probably, 2,000 years before the population was finally evacuated in 1930. The traditional stone blackhouse were built in 1830s and later replaced c.1860, after a great storm, by sixteen new cottages. The remains of the blackhouses continued to be used as animal byres and for storage. Six of the cottages have been renovated for use by the National Trust for Scotland.

The wall running around the village is the head dyke which was to keep grazing animals out of the cultivated areas. The round enclosure left of centre is the village graveyard.