Rinn nan Gruban

A stack of peat behind the Black House in Arnol.

Black houses were heated by a peat fire on the floor of the living room. The smoke escaped through a hole in the roof. This example in Arnol village of a black house, which was lived in by a crofting family until 1966, is now maintained by Historic Scotland who still keep the home fires burning in the traditional way, with peat.

The A858 where it passes the side road from Arnol.

Just so that Anne NB3149 : Loch na Muilne doesn't feel too deprived, you can see red-necked phalaropes on the loch, if you're very lucky! A family who had been sharing the hide with us had almost reached their camper van a quarter of a mile away when two birds appeared from out of the bogbean and swam across several yards of open water to the next patch. If you zoom in and look to the near side of the flat water off the further mat of bogbean, you can just about make out the birds - honest!

The junction of the road from Arnol with the A858.

Arnol (Scottish Gaelic: Àrnol) is a small settlement on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis. Once a thriving township with over forty crofts, it now has a much lower number of active crofters and several ruined houses can be seen in the area.

Arnol (Scottish Gaelic: Àrnol) is a small settlement on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis. Once a thriving township with over forty crofts, it now has a much lower number of active crofters and several ruined houses can be seen in the area.

Looking across the fields from the Arnol Blackhouse car park.

Arnol (Scottish Gaelic: Àrnol) is a small settlement on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis. Once a thriving township with over forty crofts, it now has a much lower number of active crofters and several ruined houses can be seen in the area. Taigh Tughaidh Àrnoil (The Arnol Blackhouse Museum) is at the north end of Arnol township on a site managed by Historic Environment Scotland and designated as a scheduled monument (SM90022 Link Historic Environment Scotland). The site comprises a group of domestic buildings including two traditional blackhouses and two stone-and-mortar-built croft houses (whitehouses). The two blackhouses were both built around 1880. Blackhouse no 42, on the east side of the road, is one of the best preserved blackhouses anywhere. It was one of the last to be built without windows or a chimney, linking it to medieval buildings that used an open hearth. Since being taken into state care in 1962, it has been restored to give visitors a sense of rural life over the last century. The byre roof was rebuilt in 1990. Adjacent to this, is a single-storey croft house into which the inhabitants of the blackhouse moved around 1962. This building is now uninhabited and has been refurbished internally for use as a visitor centre. On the western side of the road, Blackhouse no 39 was abandoned much earlier and now stands roofless. The croft house associated with this blackhouse was built in the 1920s and lies next to the road. It has two storeys and is covered by a pitched roof covered with felt. More information can be found in the Historic Environment Scotland Statement of Significance Link (pdf file).

The roof is made from heathery turf, which is weighed down by rocks and ropes. Few trees grow in the area because of the boggy landscape and high winds; islanders needed to be resourceful with what was available

The restored blackhouse, 42 Arnol.

The building consists of a byre-house, laid out north-south, with a central lobby dividing the byre from the living room and bedroom. A barn is attached to its east side. The people who lived in the blackhouses also kept animals for the household. These might have been sheep, goats, cows or horses. The animals were kept in a separate room, but still under the same roof which meant that they could be kept safe from the wind and the weather, and could also benefit from the warmth of the house. The animals kept in this room, also called a byre, would have eaten their meals here in winter. This might have been hay or other cereals, or it might have been seaweed, harvested from the rocks on the nearby shore. Link Life in the Black House: Arnol, Isle of Lewis

The design of the blackhouse is similar to houses found in stone-age settlements, suggesting that little had changed in the lifestyle of the islands for many years. When it was inhabited, a whole family would live in this room, making the most of the warmth of the fire. The fire burns peat and was kept burning all through the day and night. It was the way to cook the family meals, as well as being the gathering point during the long evenings. Link Life in the Black House: Arnol, Isle of Lewis

Arnol (Scottish Gaelic: Àrnol) is a small settlement on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis. Once a thriving township with over forty crofts, it now has a much lower number of active crofters and several ruined houses can be seen in the area. Taigh Tughaidh Àrnoil (The Arnol Blackhouse Museum) is at the north end of Arnol township on a site managed by Historic Environment Scotland and designated as a scheduled monument (SM90022 Link Historic Environment Scotland). The site comprises a group of domestic buildings including two traditional blackhouses and two stone-and-mortar-built croft houses (whitehouses). The two blackhouses were both built around 1880. Blackhouse no 42, on the east side of the road, is one of the best preserved blackhouses anywhere. It was one of the last to be built without windows or a chimney, linking it to medieval buildings that used an open hearth. Since being taken into state care in 1962, it has been restored to give visitors a sense of rural life over the last century. The byre roof was rebuilt in 1990. Adjacent to this, is a single-storey croft house into which the inhabitants of the blackhouse moved around 1962. This building is now uninhabited and has been refurbished internally for use as a visitor centre. On the western side of the road, Blackhouse no 39 was abandoned much earlier and now stands roofless. The croft house associated with this blackhouse was built in the 1920s and lies next to the road. It has two storeys and is covered by a pitched roof covered with felt. More information can be found in the Historic Environment Scotland Statement of Significance Link (pdf file).

Blackhouse no 39 lies west of the road, but unlike no. 42 it was already abandoned as a house by the 1960s. It is now roofless. It consists of three parallel units built with random rubble walls packed with earth and clay; a central byre-house, lying east-west, is flanked on the north and south by shorter annexes.

This croft house was built in the 1920s to replace the blackhouse at number 39 after housing regulations changed in the early 20th century so that houses and byres were no longer allowed to share a roof; it was occupied until 1976. The roof is made from slate and timber, imported from the mainland, unlike the heather and driftwood used to make the roofs of the black houses. These new houses were called “white houses”, or “taigh-geal”, because of their contrasting structure and colour in the landscape. Whitehouses slowly replaced blackhouses and offered a different, often better standard of living. However, these walls don’t have the double structure that helped to insulate the black houses from the weather.

The inside of NB3149 : Crofter's Cottage at Arnol has been furnished as it would have been in the 1950s and 1960s