Site type LIGHTHOUSE
Canmore ID 4722
Site Number NC27SE 3.00
NGR NC 25955 74726
Council HIGHLAND
Parish DURNESS
Former Region HIGHLAND
Former District SUTHERLAND
Former County SUTHERLAND

Canmore Mapping
View this site on a map

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Archaeological Notes

NC27SE 3.00 25955 74735

Lighthouse [NAT]
Foghorn (to N, at NC 2595 7499)
FS (to N, at NC 2594 7477)
Mast (to SW, at NC 2591 7470)
OS 1:10,560 map, 1962.

NC27SE 3.01 NC 25971 74735 Keepers' Cottages
NC27SE 3.02 NC 25944 74660 Cottages and Support buildings
NC27SE 3.03 NC 25934 74621 Cottages and Support buildings
NC27SE 3.04 NC 25955 74782 Foghorn

(Location cited as NC 259 747). Cape Wrath Lighthouse: built 1827-8, engineer Robert Stevenson. A short tower of local granite on a semi-circular base, with a corbelled parapet.
J R Hume 1977.

The Cape Wrath lighthouse was built at a cost of £14,000 with a reflector system which alternated a light of natural appearance with one tinged red. It was often obscured by fog of low cloud so that the construction of a new (low) light was begun; this involved the construction of a vertical shaft in the cliff to accommodate a lift, a covered way over the rocks with two connecting bridges, and a tower and foghorn house on the extreme end of the reef. Blasting and quarrying had begun and the shaft sunk to a depth of 50ft (15.2m) in June 1914 when work stopped 'for the duration' in the face of a disagreement with the contractor; it was never restarted.
R W Munro 1979.

NC 25971 74741. Cape Wrath lighthouse was built in 1828 and was manned up until March 2000. The lighthouse is still in use and is in very good condition.
R Street 2001.

The lighthouse is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Sutherland, 1874, sheet I), and the Object Name Book (ONB) describes it as 'This name applies to a house erected by the Commissioners for Northern Lights in the year 1825. The tower, or light house proper, is of a circular shape and about 50 feet high and has 24 lights, 12 white and 12 red revolving every minute. The house adjoining is occupied by the light keepers and stands at an elevation of three hundred feet above sea level. The property of the Commissioners of North Lights (Name Book 1874)'.
In addition the Object Name Book describes Cape Wrath: 'This name applies to the most north westerly point of land in Scotland. The coast at this point, and for several miles to the east and west is bold and rocky. The cliffs rising perpendicular at some places to a height of about four hundred feet. Previous to the erection of the lighthouse in the year 1825, on this headland mariners navigating these seas and who did not know the coast well were often driven on to these rocks and dashed to pieces. Since the erection of the light house 'wrecks' are of rare occurrance in this quarter. This promontory, or headland, is on his Grace the Duke of Sutherland's property (Name Book 1874)'.
Information from RCAHMS (ITMP), January 2008

This lighthouse was built by Robert Stevenson in 1828, being one of his programme of eighteen new lights constructed between 1812 and 1833. It was converted to automatic operation in 1998. Situated on the NW point of mainland Scotland, and above high cliffs, it is distinguished by its height of 523ft (159m) above sea level.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 28 August 2008.
K Allardyce and E M Hood 1986; K Allardyce 1998; B Bathurst 1999; S Krauskopf 2001.

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Architectural Notes

Notes and Activities

1828	CONSTRUCTION

Notes Light established 1828.
K Allardyce 1998

Further details

23 July 1962

AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Notes Oblique aerial photography by Cambridge University.

Further details

30 July 1975

AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Notes Oblique aerial photography taken by CUCAP (Cambridge University Committee for Aerial Photography)

Further details

31 March 1998

MODIFICATION

Notes Automated in 1998.
K Allardyce 1998

Further details

28 April 2004

AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Notes Oblique aerial photography by RCAHMS.

Further details

January 2008

AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERPRETATION

Notes Description of site derived from oblique aerial photographs.

Further details

4 August 2008 to 14 August 2008

PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORD

Notes Digital images (photographs) taken during the course of the RCAHMS survey of the Cape Wrath Training Centre (CWTC) in August 2008, but featuring archaeological sites and buildings lying outwith the survey area.

Further details

4 August 2008 to 11 August 2008

PHOTOGRAPHIC SURVEY

Further details

Books and References

Allardyce and Hood, K and E M (1986) At Scotland's edge: a celebration of two hundred years of the lighthouse service in Scotland and the Isle of Man, Glasgow
Page(s): 26, 126-7, 154 Held at RCAHMS J.6.4.ALL

Allardyce, K (1998) Scotland's edge revisited, Glasgow
Page(s): 76 Held at RCAHMS J.6.4.ALL

Bathurst, B (1999) The lighthouse Stevensons: the extraordinary story of the building of the Scottish lighthouses by the ancestors of Robert Louis Stevenson, London
Page(s): 117 Held at RCAHMS J.6.4.BAT

Beaton, E (1995) Sutherland: an illustrated architectural guide, Edinburgh
Page(s): 97 Held at RCAHMS Quick

Close-Brooks, J (1995a) The Highlands, Exploring Scotland's Heritage series, ed. by Anna Ritchie Edinburgh
Page(s): 34 Held at RCAHMS A.1.4.HER

Hume, J R (1977a) The industrial archaeology of Scotland, 2, the Highlands and Islands London
Page(s): 313 Held at RCAHMS J.4.11.HUM

Krauskopf, S (2001) Scottish Lighthouses, Belfast
Page(s): 4, 11, 15, 20, 24, 25, 46, 54, 55, 56, 59 Held at RCAHMS J.6.4.KRA

Munro, R W (1979) Scottish lighthouses, Stornoway
Page(s): 83, 85, 87, 89, 100, 218-19, 275, 278 Held at RCAHMS J.6.4.MUN

Ordnance Survey (Name Book) Object Name Books of the Ordnance Survey (6 inch and 1/2500 scale)
Page(s): Book No. 16, 1, 3 Held at RCAHMS Ref

Renton, A (2001) Lost sounds: the story of coast fog signals, Latheronwheel
Page(s): 180 Held at RCAHMS J.6.4.REN

Street, R (2001) Cape Wrath Expedition 2001: Operation Auk Archaeological Survey
Page(s): 15

[Admiralty] (1980) Admiralty list of lights and fog signals: volume A: British Isles and north coast of France from Dunkerque to entrance to Goulet de Brest including North Sea oil and gas production installations, {s.l.}
Page(s): 252, no. 3880 Held at RCAHMS J.6.4.ADM

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