IFEH ISSUE 6 - International Federation of Environmental Health

So when did it all begin? The St Kilda archipelago, rising to 1397 ft. above sea level at its highest
point, is evidence of volcanic activity going back over 60 million years, similar to the formation of
islands such as Tristan da Cunha and St Helena in the South Atlantic, located on the mid Atlantic ridge
which extends to the Faroe Islands and areas further north towards Iceland and Spitzbergen. There are
still varying degrees of activity along this ridge and adjacent hotspots. The Icelandic ash cloud is very
fresh in our memories and this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Tristan da Cunha volcano
eruption that resulted in the entire population of the world’s most remote island being evacuated, first
of all to South Africa and then to the south of England where they spent two years before returning to
their home island in 1963. Emergency Planning takes on a different meaning in places like Tristan
from the point of view of access and communications. However volcanoes do not feature in the
Western Isles Emergency Plan on the assumption that the St Kilda volcano is now well and truly
extinct.
Over the years, researchers have tried to establish the history of human occupation on St Kilda.
Archaeologists have discovered evidence of Neolithic and Bronze Age activity but the clearest early
evidence of man made structures is in the underground dwellings that point to the Iron Age period.
There is also evidence of early Christian churches and a Viking period evident from the names given
to some of the smaller islands surrounding the larger island of Hirta.
The structures we see today on the “Main Street” on St Kilda are a mix of early and mid 19th century
dwellings.
Prior to the organisation of the island village into sixteen separate holdings, the very basic stone and
thatch dwellings were built very close to each other in clusters. Then, around 1830 there was a move
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