On the most remote isles in Scotland, there stands a kirk that needs our help.
The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA is raising $100,000 to make sure the conservation of St Kilda’s kirk is completed without delay. Read on to learn more about the project and donate today to show your support.
There is no place like St Kilda
Towering out of the storm-tossed waters of the Atlantic, St Kilda’s cliffs and sea stacks clamor with the cries of hundreds of thousands of sea birds. A community existed here for at least 4,000 years before the final 36 islanders were evacuated in 1930. St Kilda offers an exceptional example of how, even in the most extreme conditions, people were able to live for thousands of years using available natural resources to their advantage.
St Kilda was a challenging place to live and remains a challenging place to care for.
Constant work is required to monitor and address damage caused by time and weather. This is complicated by St Kilda’s remoteness and its status as a dual UNESCO World Heritage Site – the only in the United Kingdom.
Now, we’re seeing this challenge at St Kilda’s church. For islanders, the kirk was the center of the community. Today it provides a warm welcome and place of reflection for the islands’ many visitors.
St Kilda Today
The remains of St Kilda’s buildings provide a tangible and powerful link to the islands’ history, its people, and their way of life, a distinctive existence shaped by the unusual physical and geographic setting.
St Kilda’s 19th-century kirk, which today serves as a central element of the visitor experience, has sustained significant water damage and is in urgent need of repairs.
We Must Act Now
Unfortunately, the increased frequency of winter storms has caused extensive damage to the kirk’s roof. Restoring the kirk is critical to protecting the islands’ rich history and providing safe access for visitors and staff.
Our conservation plan includes repairing the roof while discreetly modernizing the gutters and drainpipes to ensure increased amounts of rainfall can be shed from the building. St Kilda can only be reached during the summer, so work will need to take place over multiple years. Its remote location makes getting materials and workers to the island extremely difficult and expensive.
To save the building and ensure its continued place in the life of the island, we must make repairs as quickly as possible. Will you help?
Americans Protecting Scotland's Islands
A Tradition of Support
There is a long history of American support for the Hebridean Islands
The islands of Staffa, Pabbay, Berneray, and Mingulay were all gifted to the National Trust for Scotland via bequests from Americans. We have made important contributions to preservation initiatives on Canna and Iona. Most recently, funding from the United States enabled the acquisition of the Treshnish Isles, another seabird sanctuary.
Did you Know?
NTS Cares for Over 400 Islands and Islets
These islands have been intrinsic to Scotland’s culture over thousands of years. But in the short time since the start of this century, sea levels have risen by more than six inches, a growing threat to the historic buildings that that dot the bays of our islands.
Your donation to our appeal can be restricted to help repair St Kilda’s kirk or earmarked to ensure National Trust for Scotland rangers can continue their vital work to protect all our islands from the very real threats they face every day.
Can we count on your support?
We now have the critical opportunity to reduce the number of winters that St Kilda’s kirk is exposed to Atlantic storms without adequate protection. Acceleration of the project – which is only possible through philanthropic support from Americans like you – will have a significant impact.
We’re raising $100,000 to make these repairs as soon as possible. Please join us in saving this exceptional piece of Scottish history by making a tax-deductible gift today.
A Special Thank You
Donors of $200 or more will receive a print by the artist Eilidh Jamieson. The original artwork is a combination of acrylic and watercolor created for a recent exhibition held in her hometown of Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides. It captures the serene solitude that St Kilda offers, a haven away from the bustling world. Sized 11.7 x 16.5 inches, the unframed and matte laminated print highlights St Kilda bay in a stunning gold material that creates a striking and unusual artwork when viewed in different light. Visit ejaydesign.com to view her work and learn more about the artist.
The Islands at the Edge of the World
The archipelago of St Kilda, lying 110 miles off the west coast of Scotland, is breathtaking. Formed from the rim of an ancient volcano some 65 million years ago, its intensely dramatic landscape features some of the highest sea cliffs in Europe.
The poignancy of St Kilda’s history and the remarkable fossilized landscape, its outstanding natural beauty, its isolation and remoteness, leave visitors in awe of nature and of the people that once lived in this remarkable place.