Scalpay, Eilean Glas Lighthouse, Former Fog Signal Installation Base

A condition survey of the Eilean Glas lighthouse complex, Scalpay, undertaken on behalf of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar on 4 and 5 June 2015.

Four square concrete pads, arranged in a square, situated on top of a retaining wall (350408). These are the former base of a fog signal installation, which is believed to have been in use in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries .

One of the first four lighthouses constructed by the Northern Lighthouse Commissioners, construction began on Eilean Glas lighthouse in 1787 . It was first lit on 10 October 1789, and the site has continued to operate through successive phases of development to the present day. The development of the lighthouse can be summarised in four phases: the construction of the first lighthouse and associated buildings in 1787-9; the construction of the second (current) lighthouse and associated buildings in 1824; the construction of a new keeper’s cottage and foghorn in the early twentieth century; and the development of technological infrastructure during the twentieth century, including aerial masts and the helipad.

These remains date from the final period of the site’s development, the mid- to late-twentieth century, which reflected the technological advances of this time as they were successively applied to lighthouses. Additions to the station were generally minor in scale, and often short-lived. These were mainly aerial masts and other communications infrastructure, although the mess block (350424) probably also dates from this period. The introduction of helicopters for supplying lighthouses during the second half of the twentieth century resulted in the creation of the helipad (350431) and, eventually, the disuse of the pier. Investments in existing infrastructure were also made, notably the replacement of the air compressors in the engine room of the 1901 building (317295) and the air receivers (350421) in 1952, and the installation of bathrooms and water boilers in both sets of cottages the following year ).

The lighthouse was automated in 1978, which resulted in the majority of structures on the site no longer being required by the NLB . In 1982 and 1984 these were sold into private ownership . At this point a modern foghorn and an aerial mast were still operational; these have since been decommissioned.