Caring for St Kilda

Caring for St Kilda’s church

Situated on Village Bay, the church on St Kilda, built in 1827 and designed by engineer Robert Stevenson, served the island until its evacuation a century later. Unfortunately, weather and time have taken their toll, and repairs are urgently needed to the church’s roof.

This will be challenging. St Kilda is a dual UNESCO World Heritage site and Village Bay is recognised as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, meaning it is legally protected because of its historic importance. The island’s remote location makes securing labour and materials complex too. Nevertheless, we aim to have materials delivered to the Western Isles before the spring and plan to start building work in June.

Donating today can help us repair the roof and replace the gutters. Once the church is watertight, we can begin to restore it to its former glory.

Saving Our Seabirds

St Kilda is home to nearly 1 million seabirds, including the UK’s largest colony of Atlantic puffins. However, our seabirds are under unprecedented threats from the spread of Avian flu to decreasing food stocks from overfishing or breeding grounds disappearing to human development.

Seabird surveys and monitoring activity is vital in increasing our knowledge of seabirds and how we can help protect their vulnerable populations. However, they often nest on far-flung rocky outcrops.

That’s why we’re trialling innovative ways to monitor their activity through remote and unobtrusive new methods. On St Kilda, we are funding drone work, and our rangers are being trained to use the equipment. We undertook a gannet survey using a drone last summer (the first since 2013!) and sadly discovered hundreds of dead gannets on the tops of St Kilda’s lofty gannetries. Without this technology, this would have been impossible to see. Supporting St Kilda will help us continue this vital monitoring so we can learn more about our seabirds and ensure we’re doing everything we can to boost their resilience.

Did you know?

St Kilda’s main island Hirta has more than 1,200 cleits. A circular stone structure with a unique St Kildan turf roof, cleits were mainly used for storage but occasionally as bothies for St Kildans. We carry out an ongoing programme of monitoring and maintenance to keep them standing and protect them against the elements. Supporting St Kilda can help us with this ongoing work.