Noss Head Lighthouse
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The Noss Head Lighthouse is an active 19th-century
lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...
near
Wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placenames ...
in
Caithness Caithness (; ; ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Scotland. There are two towns, being Wick, Caithness, Wick, which was the county town, and Thurso. The count ...
in the
Highland council area Highland (, ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom. It was the 7th most populous council area in Scotland at the United Kingdo ...
of Scotland. It is located at the end of Noss Head, a peninsula on the north-west coast of Caithness that overlooks Sinclairs Bay, three miles north-east of Wick. It is notable as being the first lighthouse that was built with a diagonally-paned lantern room.


History

The need for the lighthouse was promoted by the Northern Lights Commissioners. The light first entered service in 1849, and consists of an cylindrical tower, which is painted white. It supports a single gallery and a lantern with a black cupola. There are 76 steps to the top of the tower. Adjacent to the tower are a pair of keeper's cottages and subsidiary buildings, bounded by a walled compound. The lighthouse was built by Mr. Arnot of Inverness, with the construction being overseen by the notable lighthouse engineer
Alan Stevenson Alan Stevenson FRSE MInstCE (28 April 1807 – 23 December 1865) was a Scottish civil engineer, known for designing and building lighthouses in and around Scotland. Life Alan Stevenson was born in Edinburgh on 28 April 1807, the eldest son ...
(uncle of Scottish author
Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...
), who for the first time used diagonal glass panes and framing for the exterior lantern. Considered to be both stronger, and less likely to interrupt the light from the optic, the design was employed as the standard for all future lighthouses built by the Board. As a way to provide work for those local people who had been affected by the
Highland potato famine The Highland Potato Famine () was a period of 19th-century Scottish Highland history (1846 to roughly 1856) over which the agricultural communities of the Hebrides and the western Scottish Highlands () saw their potato crop (upon which they ha ...
, and needed
Poor Relief In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...
, labourers were hired at a rate of 3s/6d per day (£ as of ) to construct an access road from Wick to the lighthouse. In 1987 the light was converted to automatic operation. This same year, all of the former keepers’ cottages and related structures were sold, along with the 39 acres of land upon which they were built. The sole exception being Noss Head Lighthouse Tower which is still owned and operated by the
Northern Lighthouse Board The Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) is the general lighthouse authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man. It is a non-departmental public body responsible for ocean, marine navigation aids around coastal areas. History The NLB was formed by ...
(NLB). Following automation, the original
Fresnel Augustin-Jean Fresnel (10 May 1788 – 14 July 1827) was a French civil engineer and physicist whose research in optics led to the almost unanimous acceptance of the wave theory of light, excluding any remnant of Newton's corpuscular th ...
lens and mechanical drive train from the lighthouse were removed and are now exhibited on two floors of the Wick Heritage Centre, one of the few lens and drive train from this period that are still in full working order. Between 1997 and 2014, the Clan Sinclair Trust created a residential study centre for research into the clan's history in the buildings on the site. The study centre was closed when the owner, Ian Sinclair, died in 2014. Since then, the land and the buildings on the site, other than the tower, have all passed into separate private ownership. Between October 2017 and May 2018, the Northern Lighthouse Board undertook repairs and maintenance of the main Lighthouse Tower. On 23rd May 2017, the entire lighthouse station, with the sole exception of the tower was purchased by a private company for £200,000. In order to ensure renovation of the whole lighthouse station, the Northern Lighthouse Board were hosted by the private owners of the adjacent (former) lighthouse keepers' homes. The private owners in liaison with Northern Lighthouse Board renovated all of the buildings at the same time. As a consequence, the lighthouse station had a complete renovation and not just piecemeal. This was celebrated when the Northern Lighthouse Board asked the private owner if they were happy for the local Member of The Scottish Parliament, Mr David Stewart MSP to inspect both the renovated tower and restored (former) lighthouse keepers' houses. Permission was gladly given and Mr Stewart MSP visited Noss Head Lighthouse Station to inspect the works that had been completed. http://trachighlevelmaintenance.com/news/msp-david-stewart-visits-noss-head-lighthouse-with-trac-and-the-nlb/ In October 2017 the main rotational light at Noss Head Lighthouse Tower was extinguished by the Northern Lighthouse Board and a new, static LED beam was installed.


Operational details

With a focal height of 53m above sea level, the light can be seen for 25 nautical miles. Its
light characteristic A light characteristic is all of the properties that make a particular somewhat navigational light identifiable. Graphical and textual descriptions of navigational light sequences and colours are displayed on nautical charts and in Light Lists ...
is made up of a flash of light every twenty seconds. The colour being white or red, varying with direction. The light and tower is maintained by the Northern Lighthouse Board, and is registered under the international Admiralty number A3544 and has the NGA identifier of 114-3012.


Listed buildings

The Lighthouse Tower, former First Assistant and Second Assistant Keeper's Cottages, along with the Stable Block are protected as a
category A listed building Category, plural categories, may refer to: General uses *Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy * Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) * Category (Kant) * Categories (Peirce) *Category (V ...
, and considered to be of national or international importance. The original 1849-built Principal Keeper's Cottage and Occasional Keeper's House were demolished in the 1960s, and a modern detached rectangular single-storey newbuild replaced these to the west of the main lighthouse tower. The 1960s-built structures are not listed, although they are within the environs of the category A listed properties, and as such require appropriate protocols to be observed in relation to their maintenance and upkeep. “The engine house adjacent to the lighthouse house was restored and extended in 2024-25 by the Chartered RIBA Architect Hugo Hardy.”


In popular culture

In 2010, French author Sophie Jomain published the first of a series of fantasy romances with the overall title of "Les Étoiles de Noss Head" or "The Stars of Noss Head". The heroine, a 17-year-old Parisienne called Hannah, is staying with her Scottish grandmother in Wick when she falls for the mysteriously handsome Leith Sutherland. Leith is the grandson of the lighthouse keeper at Noss Head, and also a werewolf. Hannah and Leith have a pivotal encounter in the Lighthouse. The books are widely available in French, but have not been translated into English.


Language

The most commonly spoken language is
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
and
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...


See also

*
List of lighthouses in Scotland This is a list of lighthouses in Scotland. The Northern Lighthouse Board, from which much of the information is derived, are responsible for most lighthouses in Scotland but have handed over responsibility in the major estuaries to the port aut ...
*
List of Northern Lighthouse Board lighthouses This is a list of the currently operational lighthouses of the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB). The list is divided by geographical location, and then by whether the lighthouses are classed by the NLB as a 'major lighthouse' or a 'minor light'. F ...
*
List of Category A listed buildings in Highland This is a list of listed building#Scotland, Category A listed buildings in the Highland (council area), Highland council area of northern Scotland. In Scotland, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially design ...


References


External links


The Scottish Lighthouses



Northern Lighthouse Board

Hugo Hardy Architect
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noss Head Lighthouse Lighthouses completed in 1849 Category A listed buildings in Highland (council area) Category A listed lighthouses