Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Highlands and Islands
Date 2007
Event ID 929584
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/929584
Buchan Ness Lighthouse
The light at this lighthouse on the coast at Boddam, built for the Northern Lighthouse Board, was first exhibited in 1827 at a height of about 130 ft above high-water level.
The circularmasonry to wer, 118 ft highwith 166 steps, and light keepers’ accommodation, was designed by Robert Stevenson and built by contractor John Gibb. In 1907, on the instructions of David A. Stevenson, a broad red band was painted on the tower to distinguish it as a day mark.
Stevenson’s ‘twinkling’ light, produced from an array of Argand burners with silvered copper reflectors revolvingmore quickly than any previous light, was a success. In 1879 Lord Kelvin considered it one of the three best
revolving lights in the world. In order to accommodate a dioptric lens in 1910 a sector of the lantern had to be projected out in the form of shallow bay.
The lighthouse station is situated on a rocky promontory which was at one time an island and in 1834 was connected to Boddam by means of a timber bridge with nine spans of about 20 ft. The bridge was about 17 ft high and 8 ft wide and was erected by John Gibb under Stevenson’s direction for about £200.
R Paxton and J Shipway, 2007.
Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Highlands and Islands' with kind permission from Thomas Telford Publishers.
