Ardnamurchan Lighthouse, Steading

Ardnamurchan Lighthouse, Alan Stevenson, 1848 Massive pink granite tower rising from a fissured plateau, visible from the road for many miles as a lantern suspended above bare rock. At its base are the flat-roofed keepers' dwellings, built to a model house type devised by Robert Stevenson and developed with more specifically antique references by his son, Alan, an amateur classical scholar. Their proto- Modernist detail is spare but bold, redolent of the Egyptian style; the lamp's base is discreetly decorated with stylised Egyptian figurines. The plan is elegant and compact, with 'stores' projecting radially in a half wheel from the base of the tower, the central open court enclosed to the east by a rectangular accommodation block, converted to lighthouse exhibition/museum plus self-catering accommodation by Ardnamurchan Lighthouse Trust, 1997. Contemporary steading range with barn, byre and workshop for each keeper, now converted to cafe/shop. Each of the townships clinging to Ardnamurchan's remote northern coast is a reminder of the programme of clearances from villages like Bourblaig that was imposed on the estate's impoverished tenants during the 19th century. Patterns on the landscape, clusters of ruined buildings and abandoned rigs, mark the old, unlotted townships. Linear holdings provided for those evicted during the 1820s and 50s characterise townships created at that time, such as Portuairk (reached by road only in 1950-1) and Sanna, whose children walked over the hills to school at Achosnich. Most dwellings intact today are those 'improved' with housing grants and loans available after 1926, now mostly holiday cottages. Achnaha remains a honeycomb of broken walling, although a barn (still in use) and a house have recently been re-thatched. Eastwards, where the landscape is refreshed with sweet green grazings, townships were cleared c.1850 for the Swordle and Ockle farms (some holdings being reassigned after the Great War).

Taken from "Western Seaboard: An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Mary Miers, 2008. Published by the Rutland Press http://www.rias.org.uk

NM46NW 4.03 41644 67279