View from North-West of foghorn engine house, foghorn, fuel tank and perimeter wall. Digital image of C 4266.

Description View from North-West of foghorn engine house, foghorn, fuel tank and perimeter wall. Digital image of C 4266.

Date 24/2/1993

Catalogue Number SC 787265

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of C 4266

Scope and Content Foghorn engine house, foghorn and fuel tank from north-west, St Abb's Head Lighthouse, Scottish Borders This shows the foghorn and foghorn house (far left), the engine house and fuel tank (centre) and part of the perimeter wall (right). The engine house contained Kelvin diesel engines driving Alley & McClellan air compressors to supply compressed air to the foghorn. The earliest fog warning signals were bells on cliff-tops rung to warn mariners during fog. These were superseded by foghorns, with a note produced by forcing compressed air produced by a generator through a diaphragm, with the signal itself controlled by a clockwork mechanism and weight. Mariners would recognise the signal by its musical note and the length of time between blasts. Later lighthouses were fitted with electronic fog detectors and electric horns. St Abb's Head Lighthouse was built in 1862 to designs by engineers David (1815-86) and Thomas Stevenson (1818-87). The squat tower on its single-storeyed base is surmounted by a triangular-paned lantern with domed top, and stands in a dramatic cliff-top position overlooking the North Sea near Coldingham. The complex also includes a foghorn on a single-storeyed base, and a two-storeyed, M-gabled, four-bayed cottage which was used for keepers' accommodation. The light was automated in 1993, and the keepers' houses were adapted for use as holiday homes in 1999. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/787265

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap