Editing Hirta (section)

==Tourism==
Visits by tourists in summer became quite common starting in the 1870s when steamships and private yachts began arriving. A new pier was built in 1901, making it easier to land passengers from the larger craft, using rowboats.<ref name="nrscotland.gov.uk"/>

[[File:Village Bay St Kilda7.jpg|thumb|Abandoned Village Bay homes, Hirta, June 2007]]
[[File:A Cleit On St Kilda - geograph.org.uk - 1379478.jpg|thumb|A cleit (storage shed); 2009]]

The remnants of the homes built in the early 1860s in Village Bay (also known as St Kilda Village)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.abandonedspaces.com/towns/hirta-island-of-the-st-kilda.html |title=DAY TRIP TO ST KILDA |date=9 December 2017 |work=Abandoned Spaces |access-date=10 February 2021 |quote=}}</ref> and the remnants of three old chapels, are readily visible.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/travel/st-kilda-travel-guide-holiday-review-572972 |title=St Kilda travel guide 2020: Visit the magical Scottish 'island on the edge of the world' |date=6 August 2020 |work=iNews |access-date=10 February 2021 |quote=}}</ref> A tour operator's Web site states that when facilities in Hirta are open, "the St. Kilda museum, school and church provide a fascinating insight into the St Kildans’ way of life ... the remains of the village, the graveyard and Second World War gun" can also be viewed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://seaharris.com/the-trip |title=DAY TRIP TO ST KILDA |date=15 March 2020 |work=St Kilda Trip |access-date=10 February 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

The Historic Environment Scotland Web site adds that "the plain, two-bay church, with the schoolroom added to its north west in 1898" was "restored as they might have appeared in the 1920s". The Web site also explains that the "arrangement of St Kilda Village along a curving street is the result of mid-19th century improvement ... Distinctive drystone storage structures, known as cleitan, are scattered throughout the landscape. There are over 1,400 ''cleitan'' known throughout the St Kilda archipelago, but they are concentrated in the area around the village". (A [[cleit]] is a small stone building with a thatched roof that was used for drying and storing food.)<ref name="canmore.org.uk"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/archive/websites/venice2002/archives/news/nov/archives_nov.htm |title=Mission to the Back of Beyond: St. Kilda - November 2002 |date=15 December 2002 |work=UNESCO |access-date=11 February 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

The NTS has improved the Village over the years. "They have reroofed [some of] the cottages on the main street, restored the church, and restacked stones that years of gales had toppled from the cleits, or bothies, that dot the volcanic landscape", according to a November 2017 report.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2017/nov/10/st-kilda-volunteering-working-holiday-scotland Volunteering on St Kilda is all about DIY and clearing ditches. Yay! 10 November 2017]</ref> One cottage, #3 on "The Street", was more extensively restored and turned into the museum.<ref>[https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/the-collection-at-the-edge-of-the-world The collection at the edge of the world 21 August 2018]</ref><ref>[https://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst90671.html St Kilda Museum]</ref>

Tourist trips to the island are readily available from several tour operators by boat.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.visitscotland.com/info/tours/day-trip-to-st-kilda-f9877071 |title=DAY TRIP TO ST KILDA |date=15 March 2020 |work=Visit Scotland |access-date=10 February 2021 }}</ref>