About
The Blackhouse at 42 Arnol, on the west side of the Isle of Lewis, is a thatched Hebridean home built between 1852 and 1895, where a crofting family and their animals lived under one roof, preserved almost as they left it in the 1960s: all that remains of a vanished way of life. Thick drystone walls with rounded corners carry a thatch held down by ropes and stones, with no chimney and no windows. Step through low doorways into the living room, where the peat fire at the centre was never allowed to go out and still burns today, then the box beds with their original fabrics, the byre and the barn. Across the way the white house at no. 39, built in the 1920s with chimneys and windows, is furnished as in the late 1950s, beside a ruined blackhouse excavated in 1995. Gaelic-speaking staff are usually on hand, and visitors remember the smell of peat smoke and the stories told at the desk.
Check today’s timesPick a day for times and prices
The site will be closed Thursday 29 to Saturday 31 October.
- Until 30 Oct
- Tue, Wed, Sat 10:00–15:00, last entry 14:30
- 31 Oct–24 Dec
- Tue–Sat 10:00–15:00, last entry 14:30
- 25 Dec–5 Jan
- Closed
Closed Sat 31 Oct
Later dates are in the calendar.
Today, Saturday 24 October
- Blackhouse, Arnol10:00 – 15:00last entry 14:30
Prices, non-members
| Ticket | On the day | Online |
|---|---|---|
| Adult | £8.50 | £7.50 |
| Concession | £6.80 | £6.00 |
| Child | £4.00 | £3.50 |
Opening times may change at short notice.
1 April to 30 September Monday to Saturday 10am to 4.30pm, closed 12 noon to 1pm; 1 October to 31 March Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 3pm, closed 12.30pm to 1.30pm; closed every Sunday, and Mondays in winter; last entry 30 minutes before closing; closed 25 December to 5 January. Historic Scotland notice on 18 October 2026: 'The site will be closed Thursday 29 to Saturday 31 October.' Historic Scotland recommends booking in advance to guarantee entry.
The shop and exhibition have ramped access; the blackhouse is all on one level but has very low doorways and ceilings, narrow passageways and uneven floors, and can be very dark and very smoky from the open fire; the white house is reached over a large rough stone drain cover with a small threshold, and the ruined blackhouses over uneven grass. Toilets and an adapted toilet in the visitor centre; shop with self-service tea and coffee; no cafe or audio guide. Dogs on leads outdoors, not in roofed areas.
Dogs: Dogs are allowed on a lead at all times but not in roofed areas, so not inside the blackhouse, white house or visitor centre; never left unattended. Outdoors around the houses and the ruined blackhouses, on a lead, with a ticket.
Photo: The thatched, rope-weighted blackhouse at No. 42 Arnol behind its drystone wall, with a second thatched roof beyond. Steve Houldsworth, CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blackhouses_at_Arnol_-_geograph.org.uk_-_8089751.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
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