Abstract

AbstractThe St Kilda World Heritage Site is an archipelago of four islands lying about 65 km off the Outer Hebrides in northwest Scotland. In the middle of the nineteenth century, while undertaking a bathymetric survey in HMS Porcupine, members of the Royal Navy became involved both in the charitable assistance of the St Kildan community and in the pursuit of archaeology and ethnography. One product of this activity, a plan of the principal settlement of St Kilda made in 1860 and now held in the National Museum of Scotland, has proved a key resource for archaeologists interested in architectural and agricultural aspects of Improvement on the archipelago. In this paper, the plan is contextualised within the interests of the Navy on St Kilda, thus distinguishing it from contemporary estate and national surveys. By examining the plan itself, and making a close study of family history and archaeological evidence, the authors argue that it depicts a complex and dynamic landscape which stands in contrast with popular narratives about life and landscape in the Hebrides.