Old travel Blog photograph of cottages by the beach on St Kilda, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Often described as the islands at the edge of the world, the archipelago of St Kilda is located 41 miles west of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides. The islands were historically part of the domain of the MacLeods of Harris whose steward was responsible for the collection of rents in kind and other duties. Early in World War I the Royal Navy erected a signal station on Hirta and daily communications with the mainland were established for the first time in St Kilda's history. In a belated response, a German submarine arrived in Village Bay on the morning of 15 May 1918 and after issuing a warning, started shelling the island. Seventy two shells in all were fired and the wireless station was destroyed. The manse, church and jetty storehouse were also damaged but there was no loss of life. After World War One most of the young men left the island and the population fell from 73 in 1920 to 37 in 1928. After the death of four men from influenza in 1926, and a succession of crop failures in the 1920s, the last straw came with the death from appendicitis of a young woman, Mary Gillies, in January 1930. On 29 August 1930. On 29 August 1930, the last 36 inhabitants were evacuated to Morvern on the Scottish mainland at their own request.Now uninhabited, St Kilda was home to a community who survived the inhospitable conditions here for thousands of years before the final 36 people were evacuated in 1930.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
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