Located on a dangerous reef, some 11 miles (18 km) SSW of the island of Tiree, Skerryvore lighthouse was built in 1844 and can be seen for more than 20 miles (32 km). It was designed and built by Alan Stevenson (1807-65), one of the notable 'Lighthouse Stevenson' dynasty and uncle of author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94). Skerryvore is an astonishing feat of engineering; built of granite, it is 41.75m (137 feet) in height and the walls are 3m (9½ feet) thick at the base. It took 150 men seven years to build. The Institute of Civil Engineers declared Skerryvore to be "the finest combination of mass with elegance to be met within architectural or engineering structures". The foghorn at Skerryvore was the last in Scotland to be decommissioned on the 4th October 2005. The light is now remotely monitored from the Northern Lighthouse Board Headquarters in Edinburgh.
Use the tabs on the right of this page to see other parts of this entry
If you have found this information useful please consider making
a donation to help maintain and improve this resource. More info...
