Ornsay is a small tidal island to the east of the
Sleat
Sleat ( ) is a peninsula and civil parish on the island of Skye in the Highland council area of Scotland, known as "the garden of Skye". It is the home of the clan '' MacDonald of Sleat''. The name comes from the Scottish Gaelic , which in tur ...
peninsula on the
Isle of Skye
The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some of ...
in the
Inner Hebrides
The Inner Hebrides ( ; ) is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which experience a mild oceanic climate. The Inner Hebrides compri ...
of
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.
Description
The island provides good shelter to a natural harbour which is overlooked by the village of
Isleornsay. The "Ornsay"
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 ...
stands on the neighbouring islet, Eilean Sionnach. After the lighthouse was automated, Eilean Sionnach Lighthouse Keeper's Cottage became privately owned and is now let as holiday accommodation.
Lighthouse
The lighthouse was built in 1857 by
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
and
David Stevenson. It is a masonry tower with a gallery, lantern and keeper's house. The apparatus entered service on 10 November 1857. The lens system was improved in order to show the light strength according to the distance to be shown. The lighthouse is equipped with a fourteen-day
battery backup to keep the emergency light working. It was modernized in 1988 when
mains power
Mains electricity, utility power, grid power, domestic power, wall power, household current, or, in some parts of Canada, hydro, is a general-purpose alternating-current (AC) electric power supply. It is the form of electrical power that is de ...
was installed. The lighthouse emits a white
occulting light every 8 seconds and was automated in 1962.
Ornsay
Northern Lighthouse Board. Retrieved 20 May 2016
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 ...
References
External links
Northern Lighthouse Board
Uninhabited islands of Highland (council area)
{{UK-lighthouse-stub