A cleit is a stone storage hut or bothy, uniquely found on the isles and stacs of St Kilda; whilst many are still to be found, they are slowly falling into disrepair.Kilda Org
/ref> There are known to be 1,260 cleitean on

Hirta Hirta ( gd, Hiort) is the largest island in the St Kilda archipelago, on the western edge of Scotland. The names (in Scottish Gaelic) and ''Hirta'' (historically in English) have also been applied to the entire archipelago. Now without a perman ...

and a further 170 on the other St Kilda-group islands. The outlying island of Boreray has the ''Cleitean MacPhàidein'', a "cleit village" of three small bothies, which were used on a regular basis during fowling expeditions from Hirta.Maclean (1977) page 28. As a result of a smallpox outbreak on Hirta in 1727, three men and eight boys were marooned on Stac an Armin, near to Boreray, until the following May. On St Kilda, which is treeless, the islanders used the wind passing through the cleits to preserve some of their food instead of using salt or smoking.St Kilda Rangers tweet 28 July 2018 The Cleitean were used to dry and to store a wide variety of foodstuffs. These included:Pierreseche. Com
/ref> *cured fish *bird eggs (The eggs were collected from the spring-time nests of

Guillemot Guillemot is the common name for several species of seabird in the Alcidae or auk family (part of the order Charadriiformes). In British use, the term comprises two genera: '' Uria'' and ''Cepphus''. In North America the ''Uria'' species ...

Razorbill The razorbill, razor-billed auk, or lesser auk (''Alca torda'') is a colonial seabird and the only extant member of the genus '' Alca'' of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (''Pinguinis im ...

, and

Fulmar The fulmars are tubenosed seabirds of the family Procellariidae. The family consists of two extant species and two extinct fossil species from the Miocene. Fulmars superficially resemble gulls, but are readily distinguished by their flight on ...

birds by St Kilda men scaling the cliffs. The eggs were buried in St Kilda peat ash. ) *feathers *fishing gear *grains such as wheat, barley and oats, *hay *lamb *manure *peat *potatoes *ropes *seabird carcasses

Construction

Typically the cleitean are found on hilly ground and therefore are typically laid out along the direction of the slope, with their front ends looking uphill and their rounded rear ends looking downhill. On St Kilda, the drystone walls are distinctive for their lack of coursing and seemingly random stone placement - this was deliberate, to ensure that the wind could pass through and thus help to preserve food stores kept there. Occasionally the entrance is found in a side wall. Examples also exist of cleitean built perpendicularly to the direction of the slope, with the entrance in one of the narrower ends. In order to be able to withstand any downward thrust, the end facing downhill is normally built in the shape of an

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

with a strong support. Entrances are very rarely placed in the

apsidal In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

end, in order not to compromise its strength. In his book on St Kilda, David Quine says of the cleitean, "They come in many shapes and sizes, but all have dry stone walls to allow the wind to whistle through, and great stone slabs for roofs, capped with turf to absorb the water."

In history

Whilst she was kidnapped by her husband James Erskine, Lord Grange in the 1730s, Rachel Chiesley, Lady Grange was forced for some time to live in a cleit at Hirta, on St Kilda. The cleit in the Village meadows is said to resemble "a giant Christmas pudding".Fleming (2005) p. 135 Some authorities believe that it was rebuilt on the site of a larger blackhouse where she also lived during her incarceration."St Kilda, Hirta, Village Bay, Cleit 85"
Canmore. Retrieved 8 May 2010. In 1838 the grandson of a St Kildan who had assisted her quoted the dimensions as being , which is a common size for a cleit.

Pictures

Village Bay St Kilda10.jpg, A cleit on Hirta St Kilda Cleit.jpg, A cleit in 1898 Cleits seen from Mullach Bi - geograph.org.uk - 1291651.jpg, Cleits seen from Mullach Bi St Kilda cleit - geograph.org.uk - 229590.jpg, Cleit overlooking the harbour

References

{{Huts St Kilda, Scotland Buildings and structures in the Outer Hebrides Stone houses