Scottish ghost island where residents fled 90 years ago and have never returned
An island located hundreds miles off the coast of Scotland was inhabited for thousands of years before it was suddenly evacuated
Wiki common/ Otter
An island located hundreds miles off the coast of Scotland was inhabited for thousands of years before it was suddenly evacuated.
Hirta - one of the nation’s six World Heritage sites - is the largest island in the St Kilda archipelago and is home to nine miles of beautiful coastline.
It is known for its rugged terrain, high slopes and turbulent seas, which make it difficult to approach the island.
There is evidence people lived there for thousands of years due to its freshwater springs and inhabitants surviving off meat and eggs from birds and sheep.
The island is known for its rugged terrain, high slopes and turbulent seas
Wiki Commons/ Ian Mitchell
Its largest community was known as The Village and more than 180 people lived there in the late seventeenth century.
The number of residents drastically fell due to disease and migration with the 1861 census showing the population was only 71, declining to 36 in 1930.
The few remaining inhabitants were said to be fed up with the rough life and small number of neighbours so requested to be evacuated to the mainland.
In August, 1930, the remaining inhabitants and the majority of their sheep, left the island aboard the HMS Harebell.
It was after the final residents left that three planes crashed on the island during World World Two.
The island is believed to have been used by the Ministry of Defence, National Trust and scientists performing experiments.
Today, it is visited by tourists and in 2016 a funeral was held for the last surviving resident of the remote Scottish island, who died aged 92.
In 1930, Rachel Johnson was just eight-years-old when she and the other 35 residents were evacuated.
She became the last native of St Kilda left alive following the death in 2013 of Norman Gillies, 88.
Johnson was born on the main island of Hirta, which is 41 miles west of the Uists in the main Outer Hebrides, in July 1922.
Today, it is visited by tourists and in 2016 a funeral was held for the last surviving resident of the remote Scottish island, who died aged 92
Wiki commons/ John Ferguson
The residents of the isolated island petitioned to be evacuated after life became too difficult as many young men had left the island during the First World War and never came back.
The death of four other men caused by the flu and a succession of crop failures made it impossible to live there.
Alexander Bennett, trust's general manager for countryside and islands north, said: "It is a sad day and truly an end of an era to learn that the last if the native St Kildans has passed away.
"I was privileged to have met Rachel on a number of occasions. She was intensely private but extremely kindly.
"On behalf of the NTS and all who care for St Kilda, we offer our condolences to her family and friends."