Arnol Blackhouse Museum

I made a detour on the way home from work today, to visit the village of Arnol (Isle of Lewis) and to photograph the old Blackhouse Museum there. As you can see, the roof is thatched and weighted down with stones, and the walls are made with dry local stone (no cement). They were not called "Blackhouses" until the "white houses" came to be built with lime and mortar! There is a double-thickness of walls, with earth rammed between the two walls for insulation. The animals were kept at one end and the people at the other. There was no chimney, so the interior of the house tended to be a bit smoky, but they were warm and cosy. This one was lived in until comparatively recently,now it is a visitor attraction.