Southerness Lighthouse
| Southerness Lighthouse | ||
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| Place: | Southerness , Dumfries and Galloway , Scotland | |
| Location: | Dumfries and Galloway , Scotland , United Kingdom | |
| Geographical location: | 54 ° 52 '22.2 " N , 3 ° 35' 42" W | |
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| Construction time: | 1748-1749; 1842-1843 | |
| Operating time: | 1749-1867; 1894-1936 | |
The Southerness Lighthouse , German Southerness lighthouse , is a lighthouse on a headland in the Scottish village of Southerness in the Council Area Dumfries and Galloway . In 1971 the building was included in the Scottish List of Monuments in the highest category A.
history
A beacon was set up at the site as early as 1749, before the Northern Lighthouse Board was founded in 1786. This makes it the third oldest beacon in Scotland. The early construction period shows the high importance of the lighthouse in terms of traffic technology, at the entrance to the estuary of the Nith and thus to the formerly important port of Dumfries . The stonemason Peter Milligan carried out the work which began in September 1748. Individual reports from the 18th century mention an insufficient light output of the beacon. It is unclear whether it was possibly powered only by coal in the first few decades. From the late 1790s, however, it is known that Burgh Dumfries paid for both the cost of a lighthouse keeper and oil deliveries.
In 1837, James Slight , who was part of Robert Stevenson's group to build the Bell Rock Lighthouse , proposed the redesign of the lighthouse. The short range of only 14.5 km was criticized due to the low height of the beacon of only around eleven meters. The small covered angle was also criticized. At that time, two reflectors were installed, which were a 1.2 m diameter construction made of faceted glass with a metal foil stretched on the back and a silver-plated parabolic reflector with a diameter of 50 cm. In May 1842 it was decided to increase the lighthouse. The work planned by Walter Newall was completed the following year. Presumably the tower was raised by 5.6 m. In 1844 two new reflectors were installed.
For financial reasons, operations were suspended from 1867. It was only with the revival of maritime trade in the late 19th century that the lighthouse was restored and put back into service in 1894 at a cost of £ 250. In 1936 the lighthouse operation was finally stopped.
In 1993 the structure was placed on the Scotland List of Endangered Structures. In 2014, his condition was classified as average with low risk.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
- ↑ a b c Entry on Southerness Lighthouse in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
- ↑ Entry on buildingsatrisk.org.uk
Web links
- Entry on Southerness Lighthouse in Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland database