Skerryvore Lighthouse
| Skerryvore Lighthouse | ||
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| Place: | Skerryvore | |
| Location: | Argyll and Bute , Scotland , United Kingdom | |
| Geographical location: | 56 ° 19 '23.2 " N , 7 ° 6' 58.5" W | |
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| Construction time: | 1838-1844 | |
| Operating time: | since 1844 | |
The Skerryvore Lighthouse , German Skerryvore lighthouse , is a lighthouse on the Scottish island of Skerryvore . The small, uninhabited archipelago is about 16 km southwest of the island of Tiree in the Atlantic Ocean . In 1971 the Skerryvore Lighthouse was listed in the Scottish Monument Lists in the highest category A. Due to the adverse building conditions on Skerryvore, the tower is considered one of the most important engineering achievements in lighthouse construction. It is also considered the most graceful lighthouse in Scotland.
construction
As the architect, Alan Stevenson was responsible for the design and construction of the lighthouse. Construction began in June 1838 with the construction of a wooden hut on the island to house the workers. As the landing on Skerryvore is only possible in favorable weather conditions, the effort was made to complete the hut as soon as possible. For this reason, a working day lasted 16 hours, with only two breaks of half an hour each. Due to the onset of autumn weather, construction had to be interrupted unfinished in September of the same year. The construction that had been built up to this point was destroyed by a November storm, so that when work was resumed in May 1839, both the hut had to be completely rebuilt and the excavations for the tower foundation had to be carried out. Due to the adverse conditions, construction progressed only slowly. Building materials and cranes were washed into the sea several times. After the dwelling was finally completed in early September 1839, construction work ended for the rest of the year. After the continuation of the work in the spring of the following year, the Duke of Argyll appeared on July 7, 1840 on Skerryvore for the ceremonial laying of the foundation stone. At the end of the construction season, the tower had already grown to a height of around 2.5 m. In the following year, the 37th of the planned 97 rows of stones was completed. The last stone was finally installed on July 25, 1842, after which the lantern was delivered in individual parts and assembled on site. It cost nearly £ 87,000 to build. In 1972 a helipad was installed next to the tower.
The Skerryvore Lighthouse is built from large blocks of granite taken from a quarry on Mull Island . From there they were transported to Hynish on Tiree, where they were finally trimmed and sanded smooth.
business
Alan Stevenson handed over the management of the work to his younger brother Thomas Stevenson , who examined the lighthouse on March 29, 1843 and found it to be watertight. The interior work was done this year. The first crew put the tower into operation on February 1, 1844. During wartime in 1940, a bomb exploded on the lighthouse, which caused little damage. On March 16, 1954, a devastating fire broke out in the Skerryvore Lighthouse and the tower failed for the first time in 110 years of operation. An unmanned lightship temporarily replaced the tower's beacon. The renovation of the tower began in 1956, so that further interim solutions had to be implemented until the summer of 1959, when the tower's new beacon was first put into operation. This was now operated electrically by three diesel generators. In 1994 the lighthouse was finally automated.
Since the lighthouse keepers had no direct means of communication with the outside world, a signal tower was built at Hynish. This tower enabled the transmission of messages by means of light signals. Due to the unfavorable location of the signal tower, a new tower was built on Mull in 1892, which replaced the former. Today the Skerryvore Museum is located in the former signal tower on Hynish. After the development of radio transmission, the signal towers were abandoned and the lighthouse was from now on looked after by a radio station in Oban .
description
The tower consists of large ashlar stones made of granite. At the base, the round structure measures around 12.8 m and tapers steadily up to 4.9 m. It ends at a height of 46 m. A staircase with 151 steps leads to the platform, which is delimited by a surrounding railing and which surrounds the lantern. On this is the beacon, which is also 46 m above sea level and flashes white every ten seconds. It can be seen up to a distance of 42 km from the tower. Inside there are a total of eleven rooms.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
- ↑ a b c d Entry on Skerryvore Lighthouse in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
- ↑ a b c d e Information from the Northern Lighthouse Board
Web links
- Entry on Skerryvore Lighthouse in Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland's database