 In modern times , St Kilda 's only settlement was at Village Bay ( Scottish Gaelic : <unk> a ' <unk> or Loch Hiort ) on Hirta . Gleann Mòr on the north coast of Hirta and Boreray also contain the remains of earlier habitations . The sea approach to Hirta into Village Bay suggests a small settlement flanked by high rolling hills in a semicircle behind it . This is misleading . The whole north face of Conachair is a vertical cliff up to 427 metres ( 1 @,@ 401 ft ) high , falling sheer into the sea and constituting the highest sea cliff in the UK . 
