Kinnaird Head Lighthouse
Kinnaird Head Lighthouse | ||
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Kinnaird Head Lighthouse | ||
Place: | Fraserburgh | |
Location: | Kinnaird Head | |
Geographical location: | 57 ° 41 '51.5 " N , 2 ° 0' 14.2" W | |
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Construction time: | 1786-1787 | |
Operating time: | December 1, 1787–1991 |
The Kinnaird Head Lighthouse , German Kinnaird Head lighthouse , is a lighthouse in the Scottish town of Fraserburgh in the council area of Aberdeenshire . In 1971 the lighthouse was listed in the Scottish List of Monuments in the highest category A.
history
The Cape Kinnaird Head was probably since the 13th century site of a spur Castle of the Comyn . On March 6, 1570, construction of the Tower House Kinnaird Castle began on the site . In 1786, the year it was founded, the Northern Lighthouse Board acquired the Tower House. The Kinnaird Head Lighthouse was built on the basis of the Tower House based on a design by Thomas Smith . On December 1, 1787, the lighthouse began operating. This made the Kinnaird Head Lighthouse the first lighthouse on the Northern Lighthouse Board. With its 17 reflectors arranged in three rows, the beacon operated with whale oil also had the highest luminosity during construction. Its range was 22-25 kilometers.
As an engineer on the Northern Lighthouse Board, Thomas Smith's son-in-law Robert Stevenson was entrusted with the overhaul of the Kinnaird Head Lighthouse in 1824. In the course of this work, the tower was internally revised, a new lantern was installed and dwellings for the lighthouse keepers were built. Alan Stevenson installed a dioptric system in 1851. In 1906 the light was switched to pure white. The range of the white light that flashed every 5 seconds was 22 nautical miles (40 km). In 1929 the tower received the first radio beacon in Scotland. Although Fraserburgh was repeatedly the target of air raids during World War II due to its ammunition factory , the lighthouse survived the war largely unscathed. Only two bombs detonated around 500 meters away caused slight damage.
With the commissioning of the new lighthouse in 1991, the Kinnaird Head Lighthouse was decommissioned. In the meantime it has been made into a museum and opened to visitors as the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
- ↑ a b Entry on Kinnaird Head Lighthouse in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
- ↑ a b c Information from the Northern Lighthouse Board
Web links
- Information from the Northern Lighthouse Board
- Online presence of the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses
- Entry on Kinnaird Head Lighthouse in Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland database