The little house on Rusk Holm was built by the Laird to house kelp workers. It has a double box bed and an open fire. There are brick-lined kilns on the outside of the house at each end for burning seaweed to make kelp ash. The ‘Holmie boys’ gathered tangles (a large brown seaweed) from the shore and then dried and burned it. Many tonnes of the ash were exported from Orkney during the 1700s and early 1800s. It was used by the soap and glass making industries and then later exploited for its iodine and alginate content.
Kelp workers’ house on Rusk Holm © George S Burgher, courtesy of Westray Heritage Centre
