St Kilda, Scotland

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This article is about the Scottish island of St Kilda. For alternative uses of the term Saint Kilda, see Saint Kilda (disambiguation)

The St Kilda (Scottish Gaelic: Hiort) archipelago, in the North Atlantic is at the outermost limits of the British Isles. It is at 57°49′ N 8°34′ W, situated 64 km west-north-west of North Uist. Only Rockall is further away from the Scottish mainland. The entire archipelago is owned by the National Trust for Scotland. The St Kilda World Heritage Site covers a total area of 225 square kilometres including the land and sea. The land area is 8.546 km².

The name St Kilda is believed to be derived from the Norse word skildir, meaning "shields." One suggestion is that a mark on an early map made the Norse word "Skilda" look like "S.kilda" and a previously unknown saint was created.

Hirta is the largest island in the group, followed by Soay (2 km northwest of Hirta) and Boreray (6 km northeast of Hirta); there are several smaller islets including Dun, Levinish, Stac Lee and Stac an Armin. The only settlement on St Kilda was on Hirta and called Village Bay (Scottish Gaelic: Bàgh a' Bhaile).

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St Kilda had been continuously inhabited since prehistoric times, but the population dwindled with emigration to the United States and Australia; between 1830 and 1843, moreover, 80% of the children died in infancy of tetanus as a result of bad midwifery practice, and such deaths continued at a lesser pace until 1891. The population declined to such a level that the economy broke down. There were food shortages recorded in 1912 and an outbreak of influenza in 1913. Then, on 29 August 1930, the last 36 remaining inhabitants were evacuated, at their own request, to the Scottish mainland.

The islands were purchased by the Marquess of Bute in 1931, and he later bequeathed them to the National Trust for Scotland in 1957.

After reading about the evacuation, Michael Powell made in 1937 a film about the dangers of island depopulation. However, The Edge of the World was actually shot on Foula.

There are no permanent residents today but the main island of Hirta is occupied all year round by the people who work on the military base (now almost entirely a civilian workforce), and scientists who carry out research on the feral Soay sheep population. The military base is part of the Hebrides missile tracking range (headquarters in Benbecula), where test firings and flights are carried out. The MOD lease St. Kilda from the National Trust for Scotland for a nominal fee.

The archipelago was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986 and this status was extended to the surrounding marine environment in 2003. It is a breeding ground for many important seabird species including Gannets (the world's largest colony), Puffins and Leach's Petrels. The small island of Dun is home to the largest colony of Fulmars in Britain. Moreover, there is a variety of wren (Troglodytes troglodytes hirtensis) which is endemic to St Kilda.

The St Kilda archipelago is also the site of the most spectacular sea cliffs in the British isles. The highest point in the archipelago is Conachair at 430 m. The whole north face of Conachair is a vertical cliff over 300 m high, falling sheer into the sea. Boreray reaches 384 m, and Soay reaches 378 m.

In addition there are several offshore stacs, vertical pillars of rock. Stac An Armin, the tallest of these, is 196 m high. Another, Stac Lee, is 172 m.

In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, St Kilda was named as the 9th greatest natural wonder in Britain.

External links

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