Academic literature on the topic 'Arnol Blackhouse (Arnol Scotland)'

The detailed recording of No. 39 Arnol was instigated by Historic Scotland prior to its consolidation as part of an extended visitor centre based around the nearby Blockhouse Museum at No. 42. Although occupied as a dwelling for a relatively short time, probably between the 1880s card 1920s, the building was modified many times. The original structure seems to have been constructed to a typical blackhouse pattern with an adjoining barn, byre/dwelling and fosglan (entrance area). Both the dwelling area and fosglan have been significantly lengthened. The extension in the fosglan proved to be unstable. It collapsed and was blocked off by a partition wall. The eastern end of the dwelling area was extended at some point in the early 20th century and a window inserted as part of ongoing modernisation. Excavation of the interior of the building revealed different floor surfaces and features such as partitions, loom platforms and hearths. Sections through the floors and walls have provided detailed information regarding the methods used in the construction of this and other similar buildings.

The Hebridean blackhouse is a well-known part of the eighteenth and nineteenth century landscape of the Western Isles, described by numerous early travellers and preserved for posterity at Arnol in Lewis. Survey and excavation of blackhouses on the Isle of Barra, however, suggests that here at least, the majority of blackhouses did not conform to the 'norm' of a long building with accommodation shared by animals and humans. Despite the large families of the Catholic population of Barra, the houses are shorter and provide less internal space than blackhouses further north in the island chain. Animals were more often housed in separate byres. Similarly, the human use of space in the Barra blackhouses shows some variations from the pattern described by nineteenth century sources. As to the origins of the blackhouse, unexcavated sites on Barra suggest two possible future routes of enquiry.