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Museums and history
in the Outer Hebrides.

It’s 20:45 in the Outer Hebrides.
Outer Hebrides

Callanish, Carloway and the St Kilda street.

History in the Outer Hebrides runs back five thousand years. On a ridge above Loch Roag, the Callanish Stones are set out in the shape of a cross, raised before Stonehenge. A few miles north, the broch at Carloway still stands nine metres tall on its rocky knoll, two thousand years on. Out in the Atlantic, St Kilda keeps the village street its people left in 1930, with the church, the schoolroom and a small museum. In Castlebay, Barra's heritage centre has recordings of islanders, home baking and a view of Kisimul Castle. Boats to St Kilda sail only in settled weather, so keep a day spare.

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Place of the day16 hours ago

Callanish Stones.

A cross-shaped setting of standing stones on a ridge above Loch Roag, raised 5,000 years ago, before Stonehenge.

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From our guide7 hours ago

Barra Heritage Centre.

Dualchas, the Barra Heritage and Cultural Centre, looks out over the bay to Kisimul Castle and tells the story of Barra and Vatersay through the people who live there. The displays follow island life down the years, with a reconstructed sitting room from an island home and recordings of islanders sharing their memories. The staff are local and full of stories. Finish in the tearoom with homemade soup or a fresh scone. It is a lovely way to spend a wet hour in Castlebay.

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From our guide3 hours ago

Dun Carloway Broch.

Dun Carloway is a broch, a round drystone tower of a kind built only in Scotland, and it has stood on its rocky knoll near Carloway for around two thousand years. In places it still reaches nine metres, close to its full height. Where part of the wall has fallen away, you can see exactly how it was made, with two walls one inside the other and galleries and a stair between them. By tradition the Morrisons of Ness took refuge here during a cattle raid in the 1500s. Duck through the low entrance and look up.

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From our guideJust now

St Kilda.

Fifty miles out in the Atlantic beyond Harris, the St Kilda islands are the remotest part of the British Isles and a World Heritage Site. People lived on Hirta for thousands of years, until the last thirty-six islanders left in 1930. Their village street is cared for by the National Trust for Scotland, with a church, a schoolroom and a small museum. The cliffs and stacks hold huge seabird colonies, with gannets on Boreray and puffins in summer. Day trips run from Leverburgh in calm weather, about three hours each way, so keep a spare day.

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