Publication Account
Date 1985
Event ID 1016538
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016538
The Cloch is one of the three lighthouses built to protect the difficult waters at the head of the Firth of Clyde, the other two being on Little Cumbrae and at Toward Point, Cowal. Increased traffic on the Clyde in the later 18th century led to demands from Glasgow shipowners for more lights on the river; consequently, in 1795 Cloch Point was chosen as 'unquestionably the most proper situation' and the light was first shown on 11th August 1797. A Greenock river pilot, Allan McLean, was selected as the first keeper at a salary of £30 p.a. and, besides his duties as a keeper, he was allowed to continue to act as a pilot, so long as this did not interfere with his other duties.
The lighthouse was built by Kermack and Gall; it consists of a short, round tower with corbelled walkways, and it is now accompanied by two sets of keepers' houses. The earlier houses are used as stores and the later are easily identified by their crowstepped gables.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: The Clyde Estuary and Central Region’, (1985).
